Egypt

The Road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Egypt were the ninth-ranked team among African nations at the outset of qualification, and as such were not widely fancied to claim one of the five continental spots up for grabs. The task facing the Pharaohs appeared to get even harder when, having beaten Chad in the second qualifying round, they were drawn in the same group as Ghana, Uganda and the Republic of Congo for the final qualifying group.

Ultimately, Egypt secured a spot at Russia 2018 with room to spare. They beat Congo in their opening group game before defeating Ghana 2-0 at home. Although they suffered a shock defeat in Uganda, they gained revenge by beating them in the return game at home. The poor form of Ghana, considered their main rivals, meant Egypt headed the group going into the last two games and could secure qualification with a game to spare if they beat Congo at home.

The game appeared destined to end 1-1, but striker Mohamed Salah converted a penalty deep into injury time to secure qualification for his team for the first time since Italia ‘90. They subsequently drew the final game at home against Ghana, topping the group four points ahead of Uganda in second and six clear of a disappointing Ghana in third.

Stars

Egypt are often referred to as the “Mohamed Salah team”. The Liverpool forward – whose career has taken in spells at Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina and Roma – is undoubtedly the team’s top star. Salah has been in stunning form for his club this season, and has also scored more than 30 times in his national team outings – and counting.

Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny has seen limited playing time at the London club, but is very much a lynchpin for his national team. Egypt’s defensive potential at the World Cup will depend on the midfield man screening the backline, and his country will hope he gets more game time before the World Cup.

Egyptian keeper Essam El-Hadary turns 45 just before the beginning of the World Cup, and has been his country’s number one for over 20 years. Surprisingly, El-Hadary can also be deployed as a forward, and once converted a penalty in a CAF Super Cup game back in 2002. There was a time when fans urged him to quit the national team when he moved to play for Switzerland’s Sion, but they had a change of heart when he helped Egypt become four-time African champions in 2008 (they claimed their fifth title the following year).

Coach

Argentina’s Hector Cuper took the reins as Egypt’s new head coach in March 2015. It was troubled time for the Pharaohs, who had failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations three times in a row. Cuper was the experienced name the team were looking for, having been in charge at Mallorca, Inter Milan and Valencia – the latter of whom he guided to the Champions League final twice.

Cuper’s appointment brought about a marked improvement – the Egyptians reached the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, where they lost in the final to Cameroon. The Egyptian Football Association was satisfied with the team’s progress and asked 62-year-old Cuper to guide the team to the World Cup, which he subsequently did.

Past Achievements

Egypt competed in World Cup qualifiers before World War II and reached the finals in 1934, but were knocked out by Hungary in the first round. To reach the World Cup four years later they faced Romania, but Egypt protested because the games were scheduled for the month of Ramadan. While FIFA was considering how to resolve the issue, the Egyptians invited an Austrian club for a friendly game. The federation was outraged and disqualified Egypt.

Egypt then faced a lengthy period of absence from the World Cup Finals – sometimes they failed to qualify, and on one occasion boycotted the tournament together with other African nations which demanded a special quota for the continent; another incident saw them refuse to play on Israeli territory, while sometimes weather conditions pevented qualifiers from taking place; on other occasions, the team simply didn’t show up for the game.

The Pharaohs finally qualified again for the 1990 edition in Italy, and were drawn in a group with England, Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands. Egypt drew against the Dutch and Irish, but were defeated 1-0 by England, meaning they headed home.

Egypt came close on several occasions to returning to the World Cup, but each time fell agonizingly short. In each of three qualification campaigns they suffered just one defeat, but that proved enough to end their hopes of qualifying.

Russia 2018 will be a welcome return for the North Africans to world football’s biggest stage – as evidenced by the jubilant scenes across the nation when Egypt booked their qualification berth back in October.