History at the World Cup
This will be Egypt’s third appearance at the FIFA World Cup. Egypt entered their first ever World Cup in 1934 but failed to make it past the first round, losing their only game. After this appearance, Egypt entered a dark age for nearly 56 years, before qualifying for the 1990 World Cup. However, they once again fell out early, failing to get through the group stage. Egypt’s performances took a hit after the tournament and they once again disappeared from the upper echelons of football. The brilliance of Mo Salah has brought Egypt out of the shadows and into the World Cup in 2018. Egypt will be looking to reach a stage they have never reached before, namely the Round of 16.
Current Form
Egypt have played 9 official matches since the start of 2017, and their form has been worrying to say the least. They have won just 2 games during this span, and the opponents they have beaten, Uganda and Congo, haven’t been competitive on the international stage. They have also lost 4 games during this stretch, including losses to Tunisia, a fellow participant in the World Cup, and lowly Uganda. They will be inspired by their performances against Portugal and Greece(their two most recent friendlies), however, as although they lost by a solitary goal in both of these games, they put up a spirited fight against higher ranked opposition. Egypt have 3 more friendlies before the World Cup to highlight their skills, which are against Kuwait, Columbia, and Belgium.
Squad
Manager: Hector Cuper
Goalkeepers: Essam El-Hadary, Mohamed El-Shenawy, Sherif Ekramy
Defenders: Ahmed Fathy, Ahmed Elmohamady, Ali Gabr, Saad Samir, Ahmed Hegazi, Ramy Rabia, Mohamed Abdel-Shafy, Karim Hafez, Omar Gaber
Midfielders: Tarek Hamed, Mohamed Elneny, Mahmoud Trezeguet, Ramadan Sobhi, Abdallah El-Said, Amr Warda
Attackers: Mahmoud Kahraba, Ahmed Hassan Koka, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, Amr Gamal
Danger Man
Mohamed Salah has been a God for Liverpool this season, and if Egypt want to reach the knockout phase for the first time in their history, Mo Salah is the man to do it. He has been in red hot form, scoring 32 times in the Premier League, the highest ever in a Premier League season. With his quick touches and good pace, he will pose a threat to any opposing team.
Rankings
FIFA- 46 (current) 9 (highest)
ELO- 52 (current) 6 (highest)
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