BINEWA Team profile: Egypt at TotalEnergies AFCON 2023

Background

Seven – time African Champions Egypt,
will trade tackles with the rest of the Continent – come January 2024, in an attempt to reclaim the AFCON title that has eluded them for over a dozen years.

Egypt, located mostly in the northern part of the African Continent, has a total area of 1,002,450 square km, making it the 31st largest country in the world.

The country is made up of 102.3 million inhabitants, with a quarter of the population inseparable from the so called beautiful game.

This will be Egypt’s 27th AFCON appearance. Egypt is equally the country with the most AFCON editions, having hosted five times. Three of them ended with Egypt being crowned champions.

The most recent 2019 edition hosted by Egypt, however, ended in a dismal performance, as they lost to South Africa via a one – nil margin in the quarter finals.

AFCON History

Nicknamed the Pharos, Egypt’s senior men’s national team have been head and shoulders the best on the continent as per statistics.

The country’s first triumph at the AFCON finals came at the tournament’s inception way back in 1957, when they mauled Ethiopia four – nil.

Two years on; 1959, Egypt claimed her second successive AFCON title as hosts with a two – one leapfrog over Sudan.
The emergence of other countries like; Ghana, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Cameroon meant Egypt was left in the cold from 1962-1986.

A revitalized Egyptian side in 1986 then pulled clear and became the first African team to get a third crown in the competition.

Egypt was back for more, as champions in 1998 before that superlative run dubbed a historic hat – trick of wins from 2006-2010 placed the team miles apart from their competitors.

The Golden Era

From legendary coach Hassan Shehata, to the country’s most capped player, Ahmed Hassan, goalkeeper Essam El Hadary and others, that 2006-2010 group holds the most potent argument of Egypt’s golden era and more.

It was an astonishing period of success defined by revolutionary, possession-based football, and the dream team managed to drub some of the top African Nations including the Lions of Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana.

Players to watch

Egypt has always been a reservoir for some fine – fleet – footed players.

Mahamed Salah

2019 CAF player of the year – Mohamed Salah is a joy to watch and the ‘Egyptian King’ will be looking for his first AFCON title next year. Salah was denied the holy grail in Gabon (2017) and Cameroon (2021), only ending up as unfortunate finalists.

El Shenawy

Ahly shot – stopper Mohamed El Shenawy is equally one for the notebook in the Egyptian squad, fresh from winning last season’s CAF Champions League with Egyptian juggernauts Al Ahly. El Shenawy made the 3-man shortlist for the 2023 CAF goalkeeper of the year, but lost to Yassine Bonou. From a personal perspective, El Shenawy will look to better his performance in the 2021 AFCON, where he lost his first place due to injury, Abou Gabal from the quarter-final.

Mahmoud Ahmed Trezeguet

Mahmoud Ahmed Trezeguet who plays his club football for Super lig side – Aston Villa was a king – pin in the 2019 and 2021 AFCON editions. The 29 – year – old has improved since then and he is pivotal in whatever plans coach Rui Vitoria has for the side.

Ramadan Sobhi

Former Stoke City winger – Ramadan Sobhi was inspirational to Pyramid’s 2022-2023 Egyptian premier league run last term, where the team ended 2nd. The 26 year old has been highly rated from his boyhood days at Ahly.

Mostafa Mohamed

€9 million Nantes rated striker Mostafa Mohamed put in a good display at the 2021 AFCON, and now, the 26-year-old is a real prospect for the CAN Cote D’Ivoire.

Mostafa in the course of this season has scored 6 goals in 13 Ligue 1 games this campaign, and he is one to look out for in January. The lad was joint top scorer for his country during the qualifiers, netting two goals.

Omar Marmoush

Omar Marmoush is in scintillating form for club and country. The 24-year-old scored 2 goals in the qualifiers. At the Bundesliga, he has contributed to double digits (10 goals, 3 assists) in 14 appearances for Frankfurt.

AFCON 2023 journey

Egypt qualified top of group D – made up of four teams, picking out 15 from a maximum 18 points.

Egypt started its AFCON 2023 qualifiers campaign with a one-nil win over Guinea at the Cairo international stadium on June 5. The solitary goal was scored at the 87th minute by Mostafa Mohamed.

A defeat on game day 2 against Ethiopia meant the sacking of coach Ehab Galal who had replaced Carlos Quieroz.

Egypt followed up with successive wins against Malawi. Salah and Frankfurt forward Marmoush both scored in each of those games, helping Egypt to regain top spot under coach Rui Vitoria.

A win against Guinea sealed qualification for Egypt, before the North Africans revenged game day 2 defeat to Ethiopia with a 1-0 win on match day 6. Results

Egypt 1–0 Guinea
Mohamed 87′

Ethiopia 2–0 Egypt
Hotessa 21′
Bekele 39′

Egypt 2–0 Malawi
Salah 20′
Marmoush 45+1′

Malawi 0–4 Egypt
Hamed 4′
Marmoush 16′
Salah 20′
Zizo 50′

Guinea 1–2 Egypt
Guirassy 26’/
Trézéguet 42′
Mohamed 79′

Egypt 1–0 Ethiopia
Fathi 37′

Egypt scored 10 goals and conceded 3 throughout its qualifications campaign, with Salah, Mostafa Mohamed and Marmoush ending top scorers with two goals each.

2023 AFCON group

Egypt is lodged in group B of the 2023 TotalEnergies AFCON alongside Cape Verde, Mozambique and the Black Stars of Ghana.

Coach

Rui Vitoria signed a four-year contract to take over as coach of Egypt in July 2023.

The 52-year-old former Benfica manager was Egypt’s third coach in 2023, and he is tasked with restoring Egypt’s position among the continent’s top sides after they failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar, after failing to win the AFCON in Cameroon.

Vitoria’s compatriot, Carlos Queiroz did not have his contract renewed after Egypt, who were runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in February, were beaten in a penalty shootout by Senegal in the World Cup playoffs in March.

Ehab Galal was appointed Queiroz’s replacement but was fired in June 2023 after just three matches in charge, which included a defeat to Ethiopia at the start of 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The Portuguese has formerly coached Pacos Ferreira, Vitoria Guimaraes and Benfica, where he won back-to-back league titles in 2016 and 2017.

Rui Vitoria was also a league winner in Saudi Arabia with Al Nassr and had a brief coaching spell at Spartak Moscow. Rui Vitoria thrives with the 4-3-3 formation, keeping the ball and making opposition teams work.