Egypt men's national football team

History

1920s: International successes before continental domination

The inaugural Olympic football tournaments of 1900 and 1904 have seen the participation of European and North American club teams respectively. However, for a long history between 1908 and 1948, the Olympic Games were the world’s most prestigious Association football competition. Hence, Full "National A" teams used to participate in Olympic football tournaments.

In light of this, the first Egyptian national football team was constituted in 1920. The Pharaohs became the first African football team to compete in the Summer Olympics in Belgium. Egypt became the first country in the world outside Europe and the Americas to participate in the Olympics. The opening match of their campaign was a close 2–1 loss against the Italians.

Egypt then made its second Olympic appearance at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. In the second round, the Egyptians have astonishingly defeated the global elites Hungary 3–0. But they were ultimately eliminated in the quarter-finals against Sweden.

The Egyptian team made history at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam by finishing in 4th place, becoming the first African and non-European team to reach the semi-finals of a major global football tournament.

1934–1952: First World Cup appearance

After the creation of the FIFA World Cup in 1930, the FIFA has restricted the participation of elite players in the Olympics to prevent the prestigious Olympic football tournament from eclipsing its newly born international cup.

Between 1952 and 1980, national amateur teams were the type of team allowed by FIFA to participate in the Olympics. However, countries from the Warsaw Pact, mainly Eastern Europe, competed with essentially professional players nominally employed by organs of the state such as armed forces.

While in 1984 and 1988, national teams (with UEFA/CONMEBOL restrictions) were allowed to participate. Then in 1992, the FIFA decided national U23 teams can participate. But since 1996, national U23 team with 3 overage players are allowed to compete at the Olympics.

Since the inauguration of the FIFA World Cup, Egypt has qualified for the FIFA World Cup 4 times: in 1934, in 1990, in 2018, and in 2026. In the 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification, Egypt became the first African country to qualify for the World Cup, beating Mandatory Palestine in the first leg by a score of 7–1 in Cairo and the second leg by a score of 4–1 in Jerusalem.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Pharaohs featured iconic pioneers of Egyptian football, including Mohamed Latif, Mostafa Taha, Mahmoud Mokhtar El-Tetsh, Mustafa Mansour, and Hassan El-Far. They lost to Hungary 4–2 in their first and only match in 1934, with the two Egyptian goals scored by Abdulrahman Fawzi.

In the qualification process for the 1938 World Cup. The Egypt national football team competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, officially finishing in equal 9th place. They played only one match, a Round of 16 fixture on 5 August 1936, where they were defeated 3–1 by Austria, with Abdel Karim Sakr scoring Egypt's lone goal. Egypt finished in joint-ninth place overall at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. They began their campaign with a 7–1 victory over Turkey but were subsequently eliminated in the next round, suffering a 2–1 loss to Denmark in extra time. The Pharaohs featured several notable stars of the era: forwards: Yehia Emam, Hanafy Bastan, El-Sayed El-Dhizui, Abdel-Karim Sakr, Ahmed Mekkawi, and Abdel Aziz El-Hammami. Egypt withdrew. They did not enter 1950 qualification.

1952–1970: First African Cup titles and another Olympic achievement

The Egypt national football team competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, finishing in joint 9th place. The Egyptian squad defeated Chile 5–4 in a thrilling match in Lahti, where El-Sayed El-Dhizui scored a hat-trick, and Ahmed Mekkawi and Sharif El-Far added a goal each. Egypt then was eliminated after losing 3–1 to Germany on 20 July 1952. The Pharaohs won the gold medal at the inaugural 1953 Arab Games hosted in Alexandria. Managed by Abdelrahman Fawzy, the Egyptian squad dominated the tournament, securing victories against Palestine by a score of 8–1, Libya 10–2, and defeating Syria 4–0 in the final. The squad featured key players from the era's top clubs, including Hanafy Bastan, El-Sayed El-Dhizui, Sharif El-Far, and Ad-Diba.

In 1954 qualifying, they faced Italy but failed to qualify. The Egyptian team won the gold medal at the 1955 Mediterranean Games held in Barcelona. This marked Egypt's first-ever tournament championship in Mediterranean Games football. The squad was managed and represented by a golden generation of Egyptian football, featuring key players such as defender Hanafy Bastan, Essam Baheeg, and Raafat Attia. In 1957, The Pharaohs first participated in the first Africa Cup of Nations tournament in 1957. In their first game, a semi-final, they faced Sudan, winning 2–1; Egypt won 4–0 in the final.

Egypt withdrew for the 1958 World Cup due to the fact that they had to play Israel in qualification, who was a political enemy (see Egypt–Israel relations article). One year later, Egypt won the AFCON tournament for the second time in a row. There were only three teams in that tournament, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, who were undefeated. Between 1958 and 1961, the country had a political union with Syria and went under the name of United Arab Republic (UAR), though the Egyptian team's records are attributed to Egypt only by FIFA as it was represented by Egyptian footballers.

The Egyptian squad competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome under the name UAR. They finished third in Group C, recording one win, one draw, and one loss to be eliminated in the preliminary round. Additionally, they were tied in 13th place with Chinese Taipei, Tunisia, and India. (see Rome 1960 Olympics Football Results) In the 1962 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt lost 4-2 to Ethiopia, marking the first time to get eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations. The Pharaohs withdrew from the 1962, 1966 and 1970 World Cup tournaments afterwards.

1970s

In the 1970 Africa Cup of Nations, hosted again in Sudan, Egypt were in Group B along with Ghana, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as Congo-Kinshasa at the time. In their opening match, Egypt defeated Guinea 4–1 and drew Ghana 1–1, before defeating Congo-Kinshasa 1–0. Egypt topped the group, thus advancing to the next round, where they faced Sudan. Egypt eventually lost their first game in the AFCON by a score of 2–1, then in the third place match, won against Ivory Coast 3–1.

The Pharaohs won the inaugural 1972 Arab Cup of Nations hosted in Baghdad. They defeated the host country, Iraq, 3–1 in the final, with goals scored by Hassan El-Shazly and two goals from Abdel Aziz Abdel Shafi. In the same year, Egypt failed to qualify for the AFCON for the first time in 1972 after being eliminated by Morocco by an aggregate score of 5–3.

The Pharaohs won the Bronze medal at the 1973 All-Africa Games. The next year, Egypt entered 1974 World Cup qualification, but did not qualify. However, Egypt returned for 1974, hosting the event, eventually finishing in third place. Egypt won the 1975 Arab Cup of Nations, which was the third and final edition of the tournament. Hosted in Tunisia, the Egyptian team claimed their second title by defeating Iraq 1–0 after extra time in the final. Under the captaincy of Taha Basry and with a squad featuring Hassan Shehata, who was the tournament's top goal scorer. Egypt dominated the tournament by defeating South Yemen 5–0 and Saudi Arabia 2–1. They advanced to the final by defeating Sudan 3–1, and securing the title on with a 1–0 victory over Iraq, with the winning goal scored by Mahmoud Abdel Dayem. One year later, in Ethiopia, they were in Group A with the hosts, Guinea, and Uganda. Egypt defeated Uganda 2–1, but drew against Uganda and Ethiopia. Egypt advanced to the final round, and lost all matches. This is the first Africa Cup of Nations tournament that Egypt lost three consecutive games. They then failed to qualify for 1978.

1980–2006: African titles and World Cup appearance

Egypt reappeared for the 1980 African Cup of Nations, defeating Ivory Coast and Tanzania, but losing to hosts Nigeria 1–0. They progressed to the semi-finals to face Algeria, who defeated the Egyptians on penalties. Four years later, Egypt defeated Cameroon and Ivory Coast, and drew Togo, eventually finishing fourth behind Algeria.

Egypt's 1982 World Cup qualifying campaign ended in the third round after initially advancing past the first and the second rounds, where they lost to Morocco 1–0 on aggregate over two legs. In 1983, Egypt won the Bronze Medal at the 1983 Medditeranean Games. In 1984, the Egyptian national football team reached the quarter-finals of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and finished in fourth place at the 1984 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Ivory Coast.

In 1986, Egypt hosted; they lost to Senegal 1–0. However, Egypt went on to win their two remaining games in the group stage, 2–0 against the Ivory Coast and Mozambique. Egypt advanced to the final for the first time since 1962, eventually winning.

The Pharaohs won their first Gold medal at the 1987 All-Africa Games. In 1989, Egypt qualified for the 1990 AFCON, losing all group stage matches, thus making Egypt fail to obtain at least one point for the first time in the Africa Cup of Nations, while appearing in the World Cup that same year. After beating Algeria 1–0 in the playoffs, they were drawn in Group F, with Ireland, England and the Netherlands. They scored only one goal in the tournament; a 1–1 draw with UEFA Euro 1988 champions Netherlands gave the Egyptians their first point in the World Cup. This was followed by a draw against Ireland and a 0–1 loss to England.

The team lost both of their matches in the 1992 AFCON. In the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, Egypt defeated Gabon 4–0 and drew Nigeria 0–0. They lost to Mali 1–0 in the quarterfinals. They secured their second Gold Medal at the 1995 All-Africa Games. At the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations hosted in South Africa, they reached the quarter-finals. The Pharaohs then secured their fourth title at the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations, defeating South Africa in the final.

The Egyptian team entered the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations as defending champions, reaching the quarter-finals, before being eliminated by a 1-0 defeat to Tunisia. The tournament took place in Ghana and Nigeria, where Egypt was eliminated from the knockout stage by a 22nd-minute penalty kick in the quarter-final. The Egyptian team reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations hosted in Mali. Managed by the legendary Mahmoud El-Gohary, the squad featured a mix of domestic stars and emerging talents, including the likes of Essam El Hadary, Hany Ramzy, Hazem Emam, and Mido. Egypt qualified for the 2004 AFCON in Tunisia, and were placed in Group C with Algeria, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon. With a 2–1 win against Zimbabwe, the team then lost 2–1 to Algeria, and drew 0–0 against Cameroon, failing to qualify for the quarter-finals due to Algeria scoring more goals than Egypt in the group stage, after being equal on points and goal difference.

2006–2010: Modern golden generation

The Egyptian national football team experienced its most dominant historical era between 2006 and 2010, winning an unprecedented 3 consecutive Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) titles.

Managed by Hassan Shehata, this "Golden Generation" relied on a brilliant core of domestic stars, and won the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was hosted in Egypt; the hosts were in Group A with Libya, Morocco, and the Ivory Coast. After accumulating seven points in the group stage, the Pharaohs would eventually win the tournament on penalties. Followed by the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, in which Egypt secured its sixth title by defeating Cameroon 1-0 in the final. In the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the Pharaohs became the first and only African nation to win three consecutive tournaments, sealing their seventh overall AFCON title by beating Ghana 1-0 in the final.

2010–2018: Post-golden generation

In light of political turmoil, they would then fail to qualify for the next 3 AFCONs (before this Egypt was the sole African country to never miss an African Cup of Nations). Egypt qualified for the 2017 tournament, drawing against Mali in their first match in Group D. Successive 1–0 wins against Uganda and Ghana saw the Pharaohs qualify to the quarter-finals as group winners. Egypt faced Morocco at the quarter-final stage, and defeated them for the first time in 31 years to set up a semi-final clash with Burkina Faso. Mohamed Salah's goal against the Stallions was canceled out by an Aristide Bancé strike; however, veteran goalkeeper Essam El Hadary saved two spot-kicks in the penalty shootout to earn a spot in the final for Egypt. Egypt then faced Cameroon, and lost the final for the second time.

On 8 October 2017, Egypt qualified for the 2018 World Cup after topping Group E over Uganda, Ghana and Congo. In the World Cup, Egypt was drawn with Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and the hosts, Russia in Group A. They started their first game against Uruguay, without Salah, who was injured in the UEFA Champions League final. Egypt lost 1–0, and goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy was voted man of the match. He refused the reward due to sponsorship by Budweiser. Salah returned to the starting lineup when Egypt faced hosts Russia. After being down 3–0, Salah scored Egypt's first World Cup goal in 28 years. Egypt's third and final match was a Red Sea derby against Saudi Arabia, also out of contention after two losses. Essam El Hadary became the oldest player in the World Cup at 45 years and 161 days. Despite Salah scoring a goal, the Egyptians lost 2–1.

Héctor Cúper, who was criticized due to his defensive strategies against Saudi Arabia, was sacked. The Egyptian Football Association was also criticised due to having its base in Chechnya, far from where Egypt's matches were played. The Egyptian media and the public heavily criticized EFA's management of the team.

2018–present: World Cup reappearance

In the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, hosts Egypt were knocked out by South Africa in the round of 16, despite three wins in the group stage. In the 2021 Africa Cup, Egypt advanced to the final after dire performances in the group stage and beating Ivory Coast on penalties after a 0–0 draw. Egypt then beat Cameroon 3–1 on penalties after a scoreless draw, to reach their 10th final, beating Ghana's record of final appearances. Egypt suffered their first of two losses to Senegal in 2022, both on penalties (in the AFCON final and in World Cup qualifying), with both winning penalties scored by Sadio Mané.

The Pharaohs would then qualify for the 2026 World Cup for their 4th appearance. During the 2026 World Cup group stage, Egypt's match against Iran in Seattle was designated by the local host-city organisers as the tournament's official "Pride Match". Egypt won their first-ever World Cup match against New Zealand in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Egypt advancing to the knockout stage, in the round of 32, defeated Australia in penalties. In round of 16 against Argentina, despite scoring 2 goals, conceded 3 goals in the last 10 minutes of the match and were eliminated from the World Cup.

Team image

Kits and crest

Egypt's home kit is traditionally a red jersey, white shorts, and black socks, whilst their current away kit is predominantly white, having been green traditionally. Egypt's jersey is emblazoned with the crest of the Egyptian Football Association. The color of the home jersey used to be green before the early 1950s, the colors of Egypt's old flag.

Home stadium

For the first 40 years of their existence, Egypt played their home matches all around the country, until the opening of the Cairo Stadium in Cairo in 1960. The stadium became Egypt's permanent home stadium during the 1960s. Several matches were also played on the grounds of the 86,000 seated Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria. In 2024, the Misr Stadium in Egypt's proposed new capital was opened, and started to host several matches for the national team, besides the Cairo Stadium.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Win

Draw

Loss

Fixture

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for 2026 FIFA World Cup squad.

:Caps and goals are correct as of 7 July 2026, after the match against Argentina.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months.

Records

As of 7 July 2026

Players in bold are still active with Egypt.

Competitive records

Summer Olympics

Egypt withdrew from the 1956 Football tournament and boycotted the 1980 Olympics, after qualifying for both.

Head-to-head record

The following table shows Egypt's all-time international record, correct as of 7 July 2026.

Honours

Intercontinental

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations

Runners-up (2): 1987, 2007

Continental

CAF African Cup of Nations

Champions (7): 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010

Runners-up (3): 1962, 2017, 2021

Third place (3): 1963, 1970, 1974

African Games

Gold medal (1): 1987,1995

Bronze medal (1): 1973

Regional

Arabophone Cup

Champions (1): 1992

Third place (1): 1988

Arabophone Games

Gold medal (4): 1953, 1965, 1992, 2007

Silver medal (1): 1961

Palestine Cup of Nations

Champions (2): 1972, 1975

Mediterranean Games

Gold medal (1): 1955

Silver Medal (1): 1951

Bronze Medal (1): 1983

Mediterranean Cup

Third place (2): 1949, 1950–53

Friendly

Nile Basin Tournament (1): 2011

LG Cup (1): 2005

Friendship Tournament (1): 1994

Korea Cup (1): 1993

Capital of Egypt Cup (1): 2026

Awards

African National Team of the Year (3): 1998, 2008, 2017

Africa Cup of Nations Fair Play Award (1): 2017