Our Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 team previews continue with a look at Egypt.
The Pharaohs have won the most Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophies but still haven’t made an impact on any World Cup.
Despite winning the 2006, 2008 and 2010 continental tournaments, they failed to reach the biggest stage between 1990 and 2018, then lost all three in Russia. Only Honduras have played more World Cup matches without ever winning one.
In these country-by-country guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each nation, reviewing the road to the World Cup and more.
THE EGYPT SQUAD
Of course, the main superstar is Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah ($10.0m), but there’s now another big-name attacker: Omar Marmoush ($7.8m).
- READ MORE: All 48 final squads for the World Cup
Some may remember Trezeguet‘s ($5.6m) couple of Aston Villa seasons, in which he netted eight Premier League goals, though former Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny (now at Al Jazira) isn’t part of the squad.
Where possible, Hassan wants to prioritise players at Egyptian clubs.
THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
Getting to the World Cup wasn’t a problem this time. Egypt racked up eight clean sheets and as many wins during an unbeaten 10 matches.
These stretched back to late 2023, mostly taking place last year. But, apart from against whipping boys Djibouti, no occasion brought more than two goals.
BIGGEST GOAL THREATS IN QUALIFICATION
*note: the xG in the above table is non-penalty
Unsurprisingly, main penalty-taker Salah was Egypt’s top scorer with nine goals. In African qualification, that total was beaten only by Algeria’s Mohammed Amoura ($6.2m).
It’s interesting to see that Trezeguet was better than him for non-penalty expected goals (NPxG, 4.07) and way ahead when it came to shots (41).
Meanwhile, Mostafa Mohamed also outdid Salah’s 22 attempts, but didn’t make the final squad.
MOST CREATIVE PLAYERS
Salah beat Trezeguet for assists (three) and key passes (26), though, helped by set-piece responsibilities.
SINCE QUALIFICATION
| Date | Opposition | Competition | Result | Goalscorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 December 2025 | v Nigeria (h) | Friendly | 2-1 | Saber, Mohamed |
| 22 December 2025 | v Zimbabwe (n) | AFCON | 2-1 | Marmoush, Salah |
| 26 December 2025 | v South Africa (n) | AFCON | 1-0 | Salah (pen) |
| 29 December 2025 | v Angola (n) | AFCON | 0-0 | |
| 5 January 2026 | v Benin (n) | AFCON | 3-1 | Attia, Ibrahim, Salah |
| 10 January 2026 | v Ivory Coast (n) | AFCON | 3-2 | Marmoush, Rabia, Salah |
| 14 January 2026 | v Senegal (n) | AFCON | 0-1 | |
| 17 January 2026 | v Nigeria (n) | AFCON | 0-0 (2-4 pens) | |
| 27 March 2026 | v Saudi Arabia (a) | Friendly | 4-0 | Issa, Trezeguet, Zizo, Marmoush |
| 31 March 2026 | v Spain (a) | Friendly | 0-0 | |
| 28 May 2026 | v Russia (h) | Friendly | 1-0 | Mostafa Ziko |
Egypt have played quite often since last October, due to an AFCON semi-final run. They defeated reigning champions Ivory Coast but were undone by Senegal’s Sadio Mane ($7.6m) in a cagey affair, quickly losing on penalties in the third-place playoff.
That 0-0 with Nigeria began an impressive streak of four successive clean sheets, including another stalemate away to Spain and a 1-0 over Russia that Salah sat out.
WORLD CUP FIXTURES
Despite their lacklustre World Cup record, Hossam Hassan’s side is backed in the bookies’ odds to get through Group G – versus Belgium, Iran and New Zealand – and be eliminated in the Round of 32.
Round 1 being against Belgium makes it tough to recommend immediate World Cup Fantasy investment. Instead, it’s Rounds 2 and 3 that have potential.
TOP FANTASY PICKS
6.4%-owned Mohamed Salah ($10.0m) is only two behind head coach Hassan in the race to become Egypt’s all-time top-scorer, which could decrease further in the upcoming Brazil friendly.
He’s had a poor FPL season, the only one of nine Liverpool campaigns to not reach at least 211 points and 28 attacking returns, being way back on 123 and 14, respectively.
However, he scored plenty in qualifying and was AFCON’s joint-second top scorer (four).
On penalties, corners and free-kicks, he’s also listed as a midfielder, so he isn’t battling other premiums for the three well-contested forward spots.
And, of course, he’s a minutes monster: he lasted 90+ minutes in all six of his AFCON starts.
There isn’t much else to consider among the Egyptian midfielders, so we turn our attention to the forwards.
Trezeguet is listed as one, at an eye-catching $5.6m, but he’s far from nailed, despite featuring heavily in qualification. His minutes lessened as AFCON went on.
Fellow striker Omar Marmoush ($7.8m), however, is more secure.
FPL managers may still be scarred from his Gameweek 38 non-appearance but, if that can be put to bed, he’s an important part of Hassan’s pragmatic, defence-first approach that wants to counter with fast forwards.
Marmoush finished level with Salah for shots (12) at AFCON, despite playing fewer minutes.
So, what’s the best way into such a tight backline?
Goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir ($3.5m) is extremely cheap and could now be favoured over Mohamed El-Shenawy ($3.6m). Shobeir was brought in for the AFCON semi-final and has started the three subsequent friendlies.
Full-back/wing-back Mohamed Hany ($3.6m) did well in the latest friendly against Russia, meanwhile. Not only did another clean sheet occur, but he also assisted the sole goal. That was his second assist in three friendlies.
Al Ahly’s 30-year-old created seven open-play chances for teammates in qualifying, as well as four at AFCON.
No defender started as many matches as Hany (six) in the winter Africa Cup of Nations.
