Egypt at the FIFA World Cup
International football delegation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Egypt has qualified for the FIFA World Cup on four occasions: in 1934, where it became the first Middle Eastern and African team to play in the World Cup, 1990, 2018, and 2026.[1][2][3][4][5][6] To date, they have produced 4 draws, 5 losses, and 2 wins in the competition, beating New Zealand and Australia in the 2026 World Cup.
When they qualified for the second time in 1990, they became the team with the longest-ever gap between two FIFA World Cup matches: 56 years and 16 days had passed.[7] This was surpassed in 2022 by the qualification of Wales for the first time in 64 years. They have never qualified consecutively.
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FIFA World Cup record
| FIFA World Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
 1930 |
Withdrew due to storm | |||||||
 1934 |
Round of 16 | 13th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
 1938 |
Withdrew | |||||||
 1950 |
Did not enter | |||||||
 1954 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 1958 |
Withdrew[8] | |||||||
 1962 | ||||||||
 1966 | ||||||||
 1970 |
Did not enter | |||||||
 1974 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 1978 | ||||||||
 1982 | ||||||||
| 1986 | ||||||||
 1990 |
Group stage | 20th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 1994 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 1998 | ||||||||
  2002 | ||||||||
| 2006 | ||||||||
 2010 | ||||||||
 2014 | ||||||||
 2018 |
Group stage | 31st | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
 2022 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 2026 |
in progress | TBD | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
  2030 |
To be determined | |||||||
 2034 | ||||||||
| Total | Round of 16 | 4/23 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 16 |
Overview of matches
| Year | Round | Opponents | Score | Egypt scorer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Round of 16 |  Hungary | 2–4 | Fawzy (2) |
| 1990 | Group F |  Netherlands | 1–1 | Abdelghani |
 Republic of Ireland | 0–0 | |||
| England | 0–1 | |||
| 2018 | Group A | Uruguay | 0–1 | |
| Russia | 1–3 | Salah | ||
| Saudi Arabia | 1–2 | Salah | ||
| 2026 | Group G |  Belgium | 1–1 | Ashour |
 New Zealand | 3–1 | Ziko, Salah, Trézéguet | ||
 Iran | 1–1 | Saber | ||
| Round of 32 |  Australia | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–2 (p)) | Ashour | |
| Round of 16 | Argentina | 7 July |
Uruguay 1930
There was no qualification for the first World Cup. Rather, teams were simply invited. Egypt had started their travel to Uruguay, but a storm delayed their boat to Marseille.[9]
Italy 1934
There was no Group stage. The first round was the Round of 16.
First round
      Hungary
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  Egypt
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Italy 1990
Group stage
Group F
Group F, featured the Netherlands, England, the Republic of Ireland and Egypt. In the six group games, five ended in draws. England beat Egypt 1–0, thanks to a 58th-minute goal from Mark Wright – and that was enough to win the group.[10]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 |
| Republic of Ireland |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Netherlands |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
 Egypt |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
The Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands finished with identical records. With both teams assured of progressing, they were split by the drawing of lots to determine second and third place. ---
| Netherlands | 1–1 | Egypt |
|---|---|---|
Kieft  58' |
Report | Abdelghani 83' (pen.) |
    Netherlands
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    Egypt
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Assistant referees:
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     Republic of Ireland
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 Egypt
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Assistant referees:
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     England
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Egypt
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Assistant referees:
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Russia 2018
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uruguay |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Russia (H) |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 | |
| 3 | Saudi Arabia |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 3 | |
| 4 | Egypt |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 0 |
     Egypt[12]
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 Uruguay[12]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[12]
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Russia vs Egypt
     Russia[15]
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    Egypt[15]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[15]
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Saudi Arabia vs Egypt
| Saudi Arabia | 2–1 | Egypt |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
|
    Saudi Arabia[18]
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Egypt[18]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[18]
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United States/Canada/Mexico 2026
Group stage
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5[a] | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Egypt |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 5[a] | |
| 3 | Iran |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | New Zealand |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 1 |
Notes:
- Tied on head-to-head result (Belgium 1–1 Egypt). Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Man of the Match:
Emam Ashour (Egypt)[20]
Man of the Match:
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)[21]
Man of the Match:
Ramin Rezaeian (Iran)[22]
Egypt finished as Group G runners-up on goal difference behind Belgium, reaching the World Cup knockout stage for the first time and earning a round of 32 meeting with Australia.[23][24]
Knockout stage
- Round of 32
Man of the Match:
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)[25]
- Round of 16
Record players
Before their 2026 participation, no player was able to play more than one tournament. The team of 1934 was only able to play one match because of a different tournament format.
An Egyptian player with a notable record is goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary. On 25 June 2018, he became the oldest player ever to play in a World Cup match with 45 years and 5 months.[26][27] He saved a penalty in the first half of the match against Saudi Arabia, but ultimately Egypt lost 1–2.
| Rank | Player | Matches | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohamed Salah | 6 | 2018 and 2026 |
| Trézéguet | 6 | 2018 and 2026 | |
| 2 | Mostafa Shobeir | 4 | 2026 |
| Emam Ashour | 4 | 2026 | |
| Mohamed Hany | 4 | 2026 | |
| Yasser Ibrahim | 4 | 2026 | |
| Ramy Rabia | 4 | 2026 | |
| Omar Marmoush | 4 | 2026 | |
| Mostafa Ziko | 4 | 2026 | |
| Marwan Attia | 4 | 2026 | |
| Hamza Abdelkarim | 4 | 2026 | |
| 3 | Magdi Abdelghani | 3 | 1990 |
| Gamal Abdelhamid | 3 | 1990 | |
| Ahmed El-Kass | 3 | 1990 | |
| Hossam Hassan | 3 | 1990 | |
| Ibrahim Hassan | 3 | 1990 | |
| Hany Ramzy | 3 | 1990 | |
| Ahmed Shobair | 3 | 1990 | |
| Hesham Yakan | 3 | 1990 | |
| Rabie Yassin | 3 | 1990 | |
| Ismail Youssef | 3 | 1990 | |
| Mohamed Abdel Shafy | 3 | 2018 | |
| Mohamed Elneny | 3 | 2018 | |
| Ahmed Fathy | 3 | 2018 | |
| Ali Gabr | 3 | 2018 | |
| Tarek Hamed | 3 | 2018 | |
| Ahmed Hegazi | 3 | 2018 | |
| Kahraba | 3 | 2018 | |
| Marwan Mohsen | 3 | 2018 | |
| Abdallah Said | 3 | 2018 | |
| Ramadan Sobhi | 3 | 2018 | |
| Amr Warda | 3 | 2018 | |
| Hamdy Fathy | 3 | 2026 | |
| Ahmed Fatouh | 3 | 2026 | |
| Mohanad Lasheen | 3 | 2026 | |
| Zizo | 3 | 2026 |
Top Goalscorers
Scoring a brace on May 27th 1934 at Egypt's first-ever World Cup match (2–4 defeat against Hungary in Naples), made Abdulrahman Fawzi the only African goalscorer at a FIFA World Cup finals for decades.[28] It took 92 years for another Egyptian, Mohamed Salah, to exceed his tally.
| Player | Goals | 1934 | 1990 | 2018 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Salah | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Abdulrahman Fawzi | 2 | 2 | |||
| Emam Ashour | 2 | 2 | |||
| Magdi Abdelghani | 1 | 1 | |||
| Mostafa Ziko | 1 | 1 | |||
| Trézéguet | 1 | 1 | |||
| Mahmoud Saber | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |