Home Articles BlogEgypt at the 2026 Soccer World Championship: Roster, Predictions, and Statistics

Egypt at the 2026 Soccer World Championship: Roster, Predictions, and Statistics

29 Jul, 09:46

It's hard to consider the Egyptian national team a serious contender for success at the 2026 World Cup. Yes, the team is strong in the African zone, but the high average age of the squad and the presence of only one bright star hinder expectations for significant achievements at the World Cup. This summer, Pharaohs will only play in the leading event among national teams for the fourth time in their history.

The bookmaker overlooked the Egyptian team when compiling the ranking before the tournament. Salah and his team are at the bottom of the overall list. Let's not fantasize and just analyze the composition of the African team and offer a forecast for their performance in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

In short:

This is the fourth World Cup for the Egyptian national team. Previous successful qualifications were in 1934, 1990, and 2018
Mohamed Salah will play his second, and likely last, World Cup. Egypt's best player of all time will turn 34 in June
Hossam Hassan coaches the team. The former striker has the best goal record in Egypt's history (68)
The team will play in Group G with Belgium, Iran, and New Zealand
The odds for Egypt to advance from the group stage are 1.35

Egypt's squad for the 2026 World Cup

Goalkeepers: Mohamed El-Shenawy, Mostafa Shobeir (both Al Ahly Cairo), Walid Soliman (Zamalek), Mohamed Alaa (El Gouna).

Defenders: Mohamed Hany, Yasser Ibrahim (both Al Ahly Cairo), Rami Rabia (Al Ain), Hossam Abdelmaguid Abdelsalam, Ahmed El-Fotu (both Zamalek), Mohamed Abdelmonem (Nice), Tarek Alaa (ZED).

Midfielders: Marwan Attia, Emam Ashour (both Al Ahly Cairo), Mahmoud Saber (ZED), Nabil Emad (Al-Najma), Hamdi Fathi (Al-Wakra), Karim Hafez (Pyramids).

Forwards: Mahmoud Trezeguet, Mostafa Ziko (both Al Ahly Cairo), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Hesseem Hassan (Real Oviedo), Omar Marmoush (Manchester City), Hamza Karim (Barcelona), Ibrahim Adel (Nordsjælland), Mostafa Ziko (Pyramids).

Head Coach: Husam Hassan

Main Star

For many years, the main player in the team has been Mohamed Salah. Despite his age, he is going to the World Cup as the main striking force. Another question is his form. The past season was controversial for the star, and his era at Liverpool has come to an end. In addition, there is an injury that the forward suffered at the end of April. The player has already returned to the squad and continues to gain fitness. At the moment, Salah has two goals in World Cup matches.

Main Problem of Egypt

Egypt does not produce players for European championships. And this is the main problem that has been hindering development in recent years. The team consists of a core of players from the local championship, which is clearly not characterized by high speeds. Due to a lack of skill, the team lacks variability, and often this leads to problems in important matches.

Young Talent

Hesseem Hassan. It is on him that great hopes are pinned in the coming years. The footballer is already 24, but in the current Egypt squad, this is quite a young age. Hesseem was born in France and for a long time played in the Villarreal system, and now he plays for Spanish Real Oviedo. He has 37 matches in the championship this season plus three assists.

Who will miss the 2026 World Cup

All the leading players of the team are included in the squad. However, there are some nuances. A big question remains about the form of Mohamed Salah, who is just gaining form after an injury. The striker returned to the squad quite recently. He has only one actively played match (74 minutes played) to his credit.

Form of the Egypt National Team

Qualification

Egypt went through the qualifying stage for the 2026 World Cup without any problems. The team took first place out of six possible in the group and did not suffer a single defeat in ten matches, while only drawing twice. Let's note the perfect defense (only two goals conceded during the specified period).

Recent Results

After the end of the qualifiers, Pharaohs participated in the Africa Cup at the end of 2025 - beginning of 2026. The result - fourth place and a loss in the bronze match to Nigeria (the fate of the medals was decided in a penalty shootout). In March, Egypt played two friendly matches and surprised with the results, beating Saudi Arabia (4:0) and drawing with Spain (0:0).

Preparation for the World Cup

The Egyptians will have a measured preparation before the start of the World Cup, as they have planned only two friendly matches. First, a match will be played against the Russian national team in Cairo in front of their own fans (May 28), and then the team will play against Brazil in Cleveland (June 6).

World Cup 2026 Match Schedule

Date (CET time)	Opponent	Stadium	Odds for victory
June 15, 21:00	Belgium	Lumen Field (Seattle, USA)	4.90*
June 22, 03:00	New Zealand	BC Place (Vancouver, Canada)	1.71*
June 27, 05:00	Iran	Lumen Field (Seattle, USA)	2.41*

Egypt's chances of advancing from the group

The bookmaker highly rates Pharaohs in the group. Currently, Egypt has the second odds to advance to the playoffs in their quartet (1.35). Against this backdrop, the opening match with Belgium will be a warm-up, and then the main battle will begin. Salah and his teammates are far from guaranteed second place in the group, as each of the competitors can surprise with their football.

Odds for the Egyptian team at the 2026 World Cup

Bet	Odds
Will advance from the group	1.35
Will take first place in the group	4.70
Will take second place in the group	2.50
Will score more than 4 points	2.30
Will reach the ⅛ finals	3.30
Will reach the ¼ finals	10.00
Will reach the semifinals	30.00
Will reach the final	75.00
Will win the World Cup	300.00

Scores24's prediction for the Egyptian team

The main event for the Egyptians within the group stageThe stage will feature a match against Iran (assuming New Zealand is initially considered the underdog). To advance from the second place, it's desirable to earn six points, however, it's possible to advance from the third place, for which four points (or even less) would be sufficient. Overall, we believe that Egypt is quite capable of achieving the task of advancing from the group from the second place with odds of 2.50*.

Another selection - individual total over 1.5 goals in the match against New Zealand with odds of 1.75*. The Oceanic team does not have a top-notch defense, and their ticket to the World Cup was largely due to the increase in the number of participants. Here, the Africans simply must fully realize their advantage.

More predictions for all matches of the 2026 World Cup will be available in the tournament section starting from June 9.

If you are interested in detailed analyses of the chances of the top national teams at the 2026 World Cup, you can also read the following articles:

*Odds are approximate, may vary across different bookmakers, and are актуal at the time of publication.

FAQ

Who is the coach of the Egyptian national football team?

Husam Hassan. Has been coaching the team since February 2024. He replaced Rui Vitória after the team was eliminated in the ⅛ finals of the Africa Cup by Congo.

Who is the captain of the Egyptian national football team?

Mohamed Salah. The legendary footballer has played 113 matches for the national team and is heading to his second World Cup.

How many times has Egypt won the World Cup?

Not once. The team has no significant achievements in the World Championship, and the upcoming World Cup will be only their fourth in history.

Who is the top scorer?

Hossam Hassan (68 goals). The current head coach holds the title of the top scorer in the history of the Egyptian national team. However, Salah is very close behind (65).