Egypt is Africa's oldest national football team and has won the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times. The team has made three appearances in the FIFA World Cup and was the first-ever African and Middle Eastern team to make such an appearance.
The first Egyptian national football team was constituted in 1920, the first African football team created to compete in the Summer Olympics in Belgium. The opening match of their campaign was a loss against the Italians.
In the qualification process for the 1938 World Cup, Egypt withdrew. They did not enter 1950 qualification. In 1954 qualifying, they faced Italy but failed to qualify. Egypt 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.[4] They withdrew for the 1958, and one year later, Egypt were AFCON champions again. There were only three teams in that tournament, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, who were undefeated.[5]
Egypt captain Hanafy Bastan holding the African Cup of Nations trophy in 1957
Between 1958 and 1961, the country had a political union with Syria and went under the name of United Arab Republic, though the Egyptian team's records are attributed to Egypt only by FIFA as it was represented by Egyptian footballers.
Egypt withdrew for the 1962, 1966 and 1970 World Cup tournaments. The country entered 1974 World Cup qualification, but did not qualify. They lost their first final in the Africa Cup of Nations in 1962.[6] Their fourth AFCON appearance came in 1963 in Ghana. Egypt was placed in Group B with Sudan and Nigeria, defeating Nigeria 6–3, but drawing 2–2 against Sudan. Despite being undefeated in the group stage, they were ranked second, behind Sudan by goal difference. Egypt, as runners-up in Group B, participated in the third place match, playing against Ethiopia, winning 3–0.[7] For the 1965 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt qualified for the tournament, but withdrew because of their diplomatic relationship with hosts Tunisia.[8] They also withdrew in 1968.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11] However, Egypt returned for 1974, hosting the event, eventually finishing in third place.[12]Two years 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.[13] This is the first Africa Cup of Nations tournament that Egypt lost three consecutive games. They then failed to qualify for 1978.[14]
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.[15]Four years later, Egypt defeated Cameroon and Ivory Coast, and drew Togo, eventually finishing fourth behind Algeria.[16] 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.[17] 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,[18] 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.[18] 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.[19] Egypt won their fourth title in 1998, defeating South Africa in the final.[20] 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.[21]
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, Egypt would eventually win the tournament on penalties, and would also win the 2008 and 2010 tournaments.[22][23] They would then fail to qualify for the next three AFCONs.
Egypt qualified for the 2017 tournament, drawing against Mali in their first match in Group D.[24] Successive 1–0 wins against Uganda and Ghana saw the Pharaohs qualify to the quarter-finals as group winners.[25][26] 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.[27]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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]
Héctor Cúper, who was criticized due to his defensive strategies against Saudi Arabia, was sacked.[32] The Egyptian Football Association was also criticised due to having its base in Chechnya, far from where Egypt's matches were played.[33] The Egyptian media and the public heavily criticized EFA's management of the team.[34][35][36]
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.[37] 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.[38] They would then qualify for the 2026 World Cup for their fourth appearance.[39] 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".[40]
Note:1 A committee of six former Egypt internationals.
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations between 21 December 2025 – 18 January 2026.[41] Caps and goals are correct as of 17 January 2026, after the match against Nigeria.
12Matches against UAE and Morocco (in 1988), Kuwait (in 1989), Mali (twice in 1994) and Ghana (in 1997) are not considered full internationals by FIFA but they are recognised by the Egyptian FA.[43]
↑In the Egypt-Libya match, the match was abandoned due to a mass brawl between the two teams, their referees, and their fans. Libya was expelled from the tournament, while Egypt withdrew after several of its players were injured, in protest against Algerian police brutality and stadium security.
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