Egypt

The Story

Egypt has the most decorated football history in Africa — seven African Cup of Nations titles, more than anyone — and a World Cup record that is, in a word, painful. Three appearances total before this one: 1934 (lost in the first round), 1990 (three draws, sent home), 2018 (eliminated in the group, Mo Salah playing through injury). For a country that produces this much football culture, that has Cairo's Ahly–Zamalek as the loudest derby in Africa, that has won the continent more than anyone — the World Cup has been a 90-year cold streak.

Hossam Hassan, the legendary striker turned manager who took over after Rui Vitória was let go following the 2024 AFCON exit, has built this team around exactly one organizing principle: get Salah to the tournament healthy, give him Marmoush as a partner, and play the kind of compact, counter-punching football that has worked for African sides at every World Cup since Senegal '02. Hassan himself was Egypt's striker at the 1990 World Cup. He knows the wound he's trying to close.

Here's what to know about this Egypt team: they are dangerous, they are thin, and they are entirely built around a 34-year-old who is the most beloved athlete his country has ever produced. If Salah is on, Egypt advances and the Pharaohs become the story of this tournament. If he isn't, it'll be a long flight home. There is no third option.

3 Players to Know

Mohamed Salah

He turns 34 during the tournament. He is, by every reasonable metric, the best African player of his generation — Champions League winner, two-time Premier League winner, Liverpool's all-time leading scorer in the Premier League era, and Egypt's everything. The 2018 World Cup ended with him in tears after a group-stage exit. The 2022 cycle ended with Egypt missing out on penalties to Senegal. This is his last shot. He has said so himself. The entire Egyptian campaign is built around the question of whether the Salah who's still scoring 25 a season for Liverpool can do it for one more month in June.

Omar Marmoush

The 27-year-old who Manchester City paid Eintracht Frankfurt £59m for in January 2025, and who has slotted in next to Haaland like he'd been there for years. Born in Cairo, raised in Egypt's youth system, broke through in the Bundesliga, now scoring Premier League goals on the same team as the world's best No. 9. He is, finally, the second forward Egypt has needed for a decade — the player who takes the pressure off Salah being the only one who can win them a match.

Mohamed El Shenawy

The 37-year-old Al Ahly goalkeeper who has been Egypt's No. 1 across two decades and counting. Won the African Champions League with Ahly more times than he probably wants to count. His penalty saves in the 2021 AFCON quarter-final against Ivory Coast are still on Egyptian highlight reels. Quietly the second-most-important player on this team behind Salah, and the reason a thin defense has held up for a generation.

The Food

Signature Dish

Koshari is the answer and it is not close. Rice, brown lentils, macaroni, vermicelli, chickpeas, fried onions, garlic vinegar, tomato sauce with a chili kick — five carbs in one bowl, somehow not heavy, sold for the equivalent of a dollar from carts all over Cairo. The other two essentials: ful medames (slow-cooked fava beans with cumin, lemon, olive oil — the national breakfast), and ta'meya, which is the Egyptian original of falafel made with fava beans instead of chickpeas, greener inside, crispier outside, and quietly better than the Levantine version most Americans know.

Where to Eat in DFW

Mubrooka in Richardson — the first Egyptian restaurant in Texas. They do koshari the right way (proper portion, real garlic vinegar, the spicy red sauce on the side so you can ruin it yourself), ta'meya served hot, and ful that tastes like someone's grandmother made it. Order the koshari large; you will not regret it. For something more Mediterranean-broad if Mubrooka's full on a match day, Baboush in Dallas covers the room.

Fan Culture

Egyptian fans bring Cairo's Ahly–Zamalek derby energy to international matches — drums, flares (well, the chant version of flares), and a relationship with their team that is closer to family obligation than fandom. "Pharaohs! Pharaohs!" rolls through the crowd in a steady wave. The 2018 World Cup, when Salah played the opener with a freshly dislocated shoulder from the Champions League final, is still talked about like a national wound. There will be Salah jerseys everywhere — Liverpool red, Egypt red, Roma yellow if you find an old-school. There will also be a quiet, almost prayerful intensity when he steps to a free kick. This crowd knows exactly what they're watching.