Egypt Greatest All-time 23 member team
soccerfootballwhatever
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Egypt captured their 3rd straight African Nations' Cup in 2010
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Africa All-Time Team Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa,
Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal,
North Africa, The Rest of Africa(excluding Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria and North Africa).
Egypt has been a power house in African football since 1920's. They went to the Olympics in 1924, and until 1972, they went to most of the Olympics. The Pharaohs are also the most successful nation at the African Cup of Nations, winning the tournament a record 7 times. Between 2006 and 2010, they won three straight African Cup of Nations. While they were the best team in the African tournament, Egypt does not do well at the World Cup Finals. Although they were the first African country to play in the World Cup Finals, they only managed to qualify for two World Cup Finals. They went to the first World Cup Finals in 1934, but did not qualify for another World Cup Finals until 1990. In 1990, they managed two impressive draws against Holland and Ireland before losing 1-0 to England. They failed to qualify for the World Cup when Egypt dominated African Football between 2006 and 2010. Meanwhile, Al Ahly and Zamaluk are two of the best teams in African club football.
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World Cup 1990 Team
GK : Essam El-Hadary
EL-Hadary was the starting keeper for Egypt as it dominated African Cup of Nations. He won four African Cup of Nations: 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was chosen the best keeper in 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was a major player in Egypt's treble titles. At the age of 45, he became the oldest player ever to make ahis debut in a World Cup Finals history during Russia 2018. From 1996 to 2008, he played with Al Ahly. From 2008 onward, he played for many clubs, including briefly with FC Sion in Switzerland.
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Essam El-Hadary
GK: Nader El-Sayed
Nader El-Sayed was capped over 100 times for the Pharaohs. He was chosen as the best keeper at African Cup of Nations in 1998 and 2000. His best years were spent at Zamaluk. He also played in Europe with Club Brugge in the Belgian League and with Akratitos in Greece. Nader participated with Al-Ahly in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship
GK: Mustafa Mansour
Mansour played for Cairo club Al-Ahly in his native land, where his performances earned him a selection for the 1934 World Cup in Italy. He played in Egypt's only game at the tournament, a 4–2 defeat to Hungary in the first round in Naples. He also represented Egypt at the 1936 Summer Olympics. He went to study in Scotland in 1936, where he became one of the first non-British, non-Irish player to play in the Scotish league.
RB/DM: Ahmed Fathy
Ahmed Fathy was a member of th Golden Generation that won three straight African Cup of Nations in 2006 2008, and 2010. In 2010, he was chosen for the All-Tournament Team. He had 120 caps and played in the 2018 World Cup Finals. In Egypt, he played mainly for Al Ahly. He also played in England briefly for Sheffield United F.C. and Hull City, and Umm Salal in Qatar.
RB: Ali Shehata
Ali Shehata had 26 caps for Egypt. He was chosen as the best rigthback at African Cup of Nations in 1984 and 1986. He also represented Egypt the 1984 Summer Olympics. At the domestc club level, he played for El Mekawleen, a club based in Nasr City. He won the African Cup Winners Cup and the league champion in 1982.
CB: Wael Gomaa
Wael Gomaa was one of the best African centerback of his generation and perhaps all-time. He was a key player for Egypt as they won three straight African Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010. At the international level, he had 117 caps for Egypt between 2001 and 2013. He spent most of his career with Al Ahly. He won six CAF Champions' league and 8 domestic leagues with the club.
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Wael Gomaa
Ibrahim HassanCB/RB: Ibrahim Hassan
Ibrahim Hassan is the twin brother of Hossam Hassan. Togather, they helped Egypt to qualify for the World Cup Finals in 1990. He earned 125 caps. The two of them also played for the same clubs almost through their career. They spent their prime with Al Ahly and went aboard together to play in Switzerland and Greece. He retired in 2006, but his brother played two seasons more. He had 131 caps.
Ibrahim HassanIbrahim Hassan
CB: Ibrahim Youssef
Wael GomaaCB: Ibrahim Youssef Ibrahim Youssef was widely regarded the best ever Egyptian defender. He finished 2nd place at the African footballer of the year by France Football 1984. He helped Zamalek win the African Cup twice. With the national team, he went to the Olympics in 1984. He won a Gold medal at the All Africa Games Gold Medal 1987
CB: Hany Ramzy
Hany Ramzy was one of the most successful Egyptian to play football in Europe. He began with Al-Ahly's first team. In 1990, he joined Neuchâtel Xamax. He then spent over 10 seasons in Germany. He became the first Egyptian to play in the Bundesliga when he joined Werder Bremen in 1994. He moved to Kaiserslautern in 1998. Then, he spent a season with 1. FC Saarbrücken. He earned over 120 caps. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1990 as a young player.
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Hany Ramzy
LB: Hani Moustafa
Hani Moustafa was chosen as the best leftback at the 1970 and 1974 African Nations Cup. At the club level, he captained Al Ahly during his career. He is considered one of the best fullback in Egypt and Al Ahly's history and an icon of the 1970's. He played 11 years for the Egyptian national team.
DM: Hosny Abd Rabo
Nicknamed " The Caesar ", Hosny Abd Rabo was chosen as the best player in the African Cup of Nations in 2008. He played mainly for Ismaily in Egypt. He spent 2 seasons with RC Strasbourg in France. He also played in UAE and Saudi Arabia. He played 100 times for the Egyptian national team between 2004 and 2014.
DM: Rifaat El-Fanagily
Rifaat El-Fanagily was born in 1936. He is considered one of the best Egyptian players of all-time. He made his national team debut in 1956. He won the 1957 and 1959 Africa Cup of Nations, and represented his country in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics, playing under the United Arab Republic banner on both occassions. At the domestic club level, Rifaat El-Fanagily played for Al Ahly during his career between 1955 and 1967.
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Rifaat El-Fanagily
RM/RW/CM: Mohamed Barakat
Mohamed Barakat was right midfielder who was known for his box-to-box skills. He was at the peak of his career between 2005 and 2006. He won back-to-back CAF Champions' League with Al Ahly and then, the 2006 African Cup of Nations. He would win 5 CAF Champions' League. He was chosen as BBC African Player of the Year in 2005.
DM: Hassan Shehata
Hassan Shehata's career was associated with Zamalek. He was awarded as Best player in Asia 1970. He was also chosen as the best player at the 1974 African Nations' Cup and finished 3rd the African Player of the Year on the same year. As a coach, he captured three straight African Cup of Nations between 2006 and 2010.
FW: Mahmoud El Khatib
Mahmoud El Khatib was voted as the second best player in Africa's history. He was considered to be an icon in Egypt. He spent 16 seasons with Al Ahly. With them, he won 10 league titles, Egyptian Cup 6 times, African Cup Winner's Cup three times, and the African Champions League twice. He also won the 1986 Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt. In 1983, El Khatib won the France Football Award for the best African player.
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Mahmoud El Khatib
AM/RW: Ahmad Hassan
Ahmad Hassan is the all-time cap record holder with the Pharaohs with 184 caps. He played in eight Africa Cup of Nations tournaments for Egypt, winning the tournament four times, in 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was voted the best player of the tournament in 2006. For his club career, he played in Turkey between 2001 and 2006. He also played for Anderlecht.
FW: Ali Abo Greisha
Ali Abo Greisha is considered one of the best African players in the 1970's. With Ismaily, he won the African champions league title in 1969. He was voted 3rd African footballer of the year by France Football in 1970. He was the Top scorer of Egyptian League 1966/67, and Top scorer of African champions league 1969.
AM: Hazem Emam
He came from a legendary football family for Zamaluk. Both his father and grandfather were among the greatest ever Zamaluk players. In fact, he was first discovered while his father served as the President of the club. He was a star at the 1996 African Cup of Nations and signed by Udinese after the tournament. He also played for De Graafschap. He won the 1998 African Cup of Nations.
FW/AM: Saleh Selim
Nicknamed El Maestro. He was a legend in Egypt. He spent a season with Grazer AK ins Austria, which was considered a break through for Egyptians playing in Europe. He also won 11 league titles with Al Ahly. After his retirement, he was elected the President of the club due to his popularity. With the national team, he won the African Cup of Nations in 1959.
AM: Mohamed Aboutrika
Mohamed Aboutrika was chosen Africa Best Player of the Year 4 times in 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2013 for the players based in Africa. The award is given by CAF for the players based in Africa. He won the African Cup of Nations in 2006, and 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. At the club level, he spent most of his career with Al Ahly and won 5 CAF Champions' League titles.
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Mohamed Aboutrika
ST: Hossam Hassan
Hossam Hassan was an icon in Egypt in the 1990's. He is Egypt's all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 176 appearances. He represented the national team in the 1990 World Cup and seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning three of them. He spent most of his career with Al Ahly, but he won the CAF Champions' League in 2002 with Zamalek SC. He also played briefly in Greece and Switzerland, but without successes. His twin brother is his brother Ibrahim Hassan, a defender.
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Hossam Hassan
ST: Hassan El-Shazly
El-Shazly played club football for the Egyptian team Tersana. He led Tersana to its only Egyptian League title in the 1963 season. He was the Egyptian Premier League top goalscorer four times and its all-time leading scorer. He scored 34 goals as the top league scorer of 1974-75 Egyptian premier league, a one-season record that still stands. He was also the all-time leading scorer for African Cup of Nations.
ST: Mohamed Salah
"Mo" Salah played with El Mokawloon in Egypt before heading to play for Basel in Switzerland. In 2013, he won the best player award in Switzerland. He earned a big move to Chelsea in 2014, but he ended up with a loan move to Fiorentina and Roma. In 2017, he moved to Liverpool after starring for Roma. In 2017, he helped Egypt for their first World Cup Finals since 1990. In the WC Finals, he scored a single goal.
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Mohamed Salah
Honorable Mention
Mido, Taher Abouzeid, Mohamed Zidan, Mohamed Emara, Amr Zaki, Ad-Diba, Mohamed Barakat and Emad Moteab, Mohammed Diab El-Attar, Mohamed Elneny, Farouk Gaafar, Raafat Attia, Mahmoud El-Gohary, Yehia Eman, Moustafa Abdou, Magdi Abdelghani, Ahmed Shobair, Ahmed Elmohamady, Yehia Emam.
Squad Explanation
-- Egypt has a rich history in African football. I tried to mix the older players with the newer players. At the time of writing, Egypt won 7 African Cup of Nations(a record).
-- A large number of my players came from the Golden Generation that win three straight African Cup of Nations between 2006 and 2010 was selected.
-- Essam El-Hadary, Mahmoud El Khatib, Ahmad Hassan, Hossam Hassan and Mohamed Salah are automatic selections. They are the greatest ever footballers from Egypt. Saleh Selim, Wael Gomaa and Rifaat El-Fanagily probably deserved to be considered beyond reasonable doubt that they belonged to this team.
-- Essam El-Hadary is probably the best North African goalkeeper in history. He was a part of the three straight African Cup of Nations winning team as well as the 2018 World Cup teams. Moreover, he was a part of the 1998 African Nations Cup winning team. The fourth keeper would have been Ahmed Shobair. I am not familiar with Yehia Emam, who played between 1937 and 1953.
-- Righback Ahmed Fathy were on the team that won three straight African Cup of nations. He also went to the World Cup Finals in 2018. I took him over Ahmed Elmohamady.
-- The centerback positions were easy to select. Wael Gomaa, Hany Ramzy, Ibrahim Hassan and Ibrahim Youssef were obvious choices. The four of them are among the greatest ever from Africa.
-- At the time of writing, Mohamed Salah has the most successful career in Europe for an Egyptian player. Furthermore, he helped Egypt to qualify for the World Cup Finals. Farouk Gaafar lost his spot to him.
-- Mahmoud El Khatib was voted as the second best player in Africa's history. He was African Player of the Year in 1983. He was considered to be Egypt's greatest player before the emerge of Mohamed Salah.
-- Mido was the most talented player of the Golden Generation, but he never lived up with his performance for both clubs and country. He had a successful career with Ajax, but he bounced around Europe after that. There were more players who had done better with their careers. So I left him out.
-- Mohamed Zidan had a brilliant career in Germany. His international fame was helped by his name being similar to his namesake Zinedine Zidane. They actually have similar moves, but the comparsion between them made him famous.. However, there are more Egyptians who have done more. I only kept him as honorable mention.
-- Ad-Diba from the 1950's probably deserved to be on the team. he was the hero of 1957 African Cup of Nations. He only made honourable mention. The younger generation had more opportunity to prove themselves outside Egypt.
-- Ahmad Hassan won four African Cup of Nations alongside goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary. He was the MVP of the 2006 and 2010 tournament. He is also the most capped footballer in the world with over 180 games.
-- Mahmoud El-Gohary's career was cut short. He might become an all-timer. The fans better remembered him as a manager.
-- Hossam Hassan is Egypt's all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 176 appearances. He also took Egypt to the 1990 World Cup Finals. His twin brother is Ibrahim Hassan who also easily made this all-time tea,. Together, they led Egypt to qualify for the 1990 World Cup Finals.
Starting lineup
Formation: 4-3-3
