Egypt
Egypt are a CAF national team and record seven-time Africa Cup of Nations winners, the most successful nation in the tournament’s history, now entering their first World Cup since 1990.
The Pharaohs’ record of seven AFCON titles is unmatched, with their run of three consecutive wins from 2006 to 2010 the most dominant period any African nation has produced at the continental championship. That 2010 side, which beat Ghana 1-0 in the final in Luanda with a Mohamed Gedo goal, was built on a generation of players from Al-Ahly and Zamalek, the two Cairo clubs that have dominated Egyptian football for over a century. Al-Ahly alone has won the CAF Champions League a record 13 times, making them the most successful club in African football history. The pool of talent at those two clubs has historically supplied the national team’s core.
Mohamed Salah is the reason Egyptian football is globally discussed in the current era. The Liverpool forward has become one of the best players in the world since 2017, and his international record with Egypt reflects both his talent and the gap between him and the squad around him. Egypt reached the 2017 AFCON final, losing to Cameroon, and qualified for the 2018 World Cup with Salah’s penalty against Congo. In Russia, Egypt were eliminated in the group stage, with Salah scoring both of their goals. The supporting cast could not carry the weight he was asked to bear alone.
Rui Vitoria’s Egypt side for 2026 is built on the same principle: make Salah effective, protect him with a compact 4-2-3-1, and rely on the creativity and direct running of players like Mostafa Mohamed and Omar Marmoush. Marmoush, who had an exceptional Bundesliga season with Eintracht Frankfurt and then Manchester City, brings goal-scoring quality from attacking midfield positions that supplements Salah rather than duplicating him.
Cairo is in the EET timezone (UTC+2). For fans in Egypt, matches in the US Central or Eastern timezone kick off between 01:00 and 03:00 local time, a sacrifice millions of Egyptian households have historically been willing to make when Salah is playing.