AFCON 2021: Egypt – Team guide, key players and full fixtures

The Pharaohs are the latest guinea pig in the age-old thought experiment: what happens when you put an obvious star in the middle of a fairly run-of-the-mill squad and send them out into the wild? The results have been far from convincing, but nonetheless a country with their profile and record will always constitute a threat.

It would, however, take a sea change of epic proportions to think of them as real contenders considering how they got to Cameroon. Although Egypt won their group, they were far from convincing in qualifying. Despite being dealt a relatively easy group containing Comoros, Togo and Kenya, they began their campaign with two draws and only scored more than one goal in two of their six matches. Also, despite winning five of their eight matches in 2021, the Pharaohs tended to struggle when playing respectable opposition on the road, with draws against Gabon and Angola.

Egypt are Africa’s sixth-highest ranked team, and sit in 45th place in the world per the FIFA rankings of December 2021.

Egypt is by far the most successful national team on the continent as far as AFCON performances go. They have won the competition on seven occasions, including their memorable three-peat in the late 2000s which came in three different continental sub-regions. They have also secured five other podium finishes, and have reached more semi-finals than any other nation (tied with Nigeria on 15).

Carlos Queiroz only took charge of the team in September, but already it appears Egypt are playing better offensively. This is strange, since the Portuguese manager has made his name playing compact, defensive football, and has a reputation for being a strong tactician based on his time assisting Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Watch for a 4-3-3 system that tries to recreate the conditions that enable Mohamed Salah shine, as well as Amr Al-Sulaya breaking forward from midfield.

Mohamed Salah is certainly one of the best three to five players in the world. However, having such an obvious star can become both a crutch and a problem tactically, so Egypt will have to be wary they don’t become a Salah team. However, the Liverpool man has it in him to decide any game of any magnitude in the blink of an eye, a quality few share in the entire competition.

Egypt have a history of good goalkeepers, and Mohamed El Shennawy is cut from a similar cloth as long-serving former captain Essam El Hadary as far as shot-stopping goes. There is also the patrolling presence of Mohamed Elneny in the middle of the park, conducting the play with simple but effective distribution.

Stuttgart’s Omar Marmoush is a lively forward who often starts on the left before cutting inside to unload powerful shots. At 22, he could be set for a major role at the AFCON if Queiroz plumps for him; though occasionally one-dimensional, he is the profile of forward you would imagine Salah would love to combine with on the break.

Mohamed El Shennawy; Akram Tawfik, Mahmoud Hamdy, Ahmed Hegazi, Ahmed Fatouh; Mohamed Elneny, Abdallah El Said, Amr Al Sulaya; Mohamed Salah, Mostafa Mohamed, Omar Marmoush.

A lot will depend on how Egypt do in Group D. If they win the group, the draw could carry them through to the semifinals with relatively few troubles. That, really, should be their highest expectation, as manager Queiroz has already named World Cup qualification as the main goal of his appointment.