Egypt. The pre-tournament read.

Egypt arrive at the 2026 World Cup with the same paradox the country's football has carried for sixty years — the continent's most-decorated AFCON nation has never converted that confederation strength into a World Cup result. Hossam Hassan inherits the project from Rui Vitória with one explicit brief: build the team around Salah for what is almost certainly his last tournament. Marmoush at City is the post-Salah striker, the midfield around Elneny is the legacy structure, the back-line is the rebuild. Group G is winnable: Belgium is the seeded test, Iran the experienced pot-2 piece, New Zealand the pot-4 underdog. The tournament turns on whether Salah, at 34, finds the version of his Liverpool form that has not yet shown up at international level in the way it does at club.

AGENT-AUTHOREDAgent-authored tournament read. Treat the framing and group outlook as editorial judgement; sourced facts are separated below.

Top three starsGROUNDED

Liverpool · Right wing / forward
Mohamed Salah
Captain, talisman, Egypt's all-time leading scorer, and on the verge of his 34th birthday four days after the tournament opens. The 2026 World Cup is his second (after Russia 2018) and almost certainly his last as a starter.
Manchester City · Centre-forward
Omar Marmoush
Joined Manchester City from Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2025 in a £75m transfer. The post-Salah striker — direct, two-footed, the player every Egypt tactical conversation in the build-up year was organised around.
Al-Jazira · Central midfield
Mohamed Elneny
The senior midfield voice. Eight years at Arsenal followed by a move to Abu Dhabi in summer 2024; the long-serving holding-midfielder Hassan trusts to anchor the team's three-man midfield in big games.

Qualifying scorer sketchAGENT-AUTHORED

Agent-authored figures · needs verification before match-use.

01 Mohamed Salah · Liverpool9 g · —

Road to 2026

29 JAN 2024
Eliminated by DR Congo (1-1, 7-8 on pens) in the AFCON 2023 round of 16
Salah missed both knockout games with a hamstring injury sustained in the group stage. The longest penalty shootout of the tournament; Egypt out of the AFCON they were favoured to win in their region.
6 FEB 2024
Rui Vitória dismissed as head coach
Eighteen months into a project that finished AFCON 2023 in the round of 16. The federation went looking for a name with Egyptian football credibility.
8 FEB 2024
Hossam Hassan appointed head coach
Egypt's all-time leading goalscorer takes the senior team. Brief: build the team around Salah, win in the knockout, retire.
8 OCT 2025
Djibouti 0-3 Egypt — qualification confirmed
Ibrahim Adel opens the scoring on eight minutes; Salah doubles the lead six minutes later and adds a third on 84. Egypt become the third African side after Morocco and Tunisia to book a place in 2026. Salah finishes the campaign as the leading scorer of CAF qualifying with nine goals.
5 DEC 2025
Drawn into Group G with Belgium, Iran, New Zealand
Belgium are the seeded test — Kevin De Bruyne at 34, Egypt's Salah also at 34. Iran are the experienced pot-2 piece; New Zealand the pot-4 underdog. The route through the round of 16 is genuine.

Did you knowGROUNDED

Egypt have won the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times — most recently in 2010 (a third consecutive title, beating Ghana 1-0 in Luanda). The country has reached two AFCON finals since (2017, 2021) and lost both — the 2021 final on penalties to Senegal.
Egypt's previous three World Cup appearances (1934, 1990, 2018) all ended in group-stage exits. Mohamed Salah is the only player in the current squad to have featured at any of them.
Hossam Hassan remains Egypt's all-time leading goalscorer; Mohamed Salah sits second on the list and closing. The pair are now Egypt's head coach and captain respectively.
Mohamed Salah turns 34 on 15 June 2026 — four days after the World Cup opens. The 2026 tournament is his second World Cup; he played at Russia 2018 (injured in the opening match, the team eliminated in the group stage) and almost certainly his last as a starter.

Manager + squad

In charge since 1 FEB 2024

Hossam Hassan

Egypt's all-time leading goalscorer, with Mohamed Salah second on the list and closing — now Salah's head coach. Took the job in February 2024 with an explicit brief: build the team around the captain for what is almost certainly the last World Cup of his career. Pragmatic 4-3-3, Salah cutting in from the right, the midfield arranged to feed him.

Squad status

Provisional squad announced — final cuts pending

The rest of Group G

Belgium
Iran
New Zealand

← All 12 groups