By Ibrahim Karim Bangura (Tanko)
The first Egyptian national football team was formed in 1920 and was the first African football team created to compete in the Summer Olympics in Belgium.
The opening game of their campaign was a defeat against the Italians. Between 1958 and 1961, the country was politically united with Syria and under the name of the United Arab Republic. But, as an Egyptian national footballer and a team that qualified for the African Cup, the Egyptian team’s record was held by FIFA.
It is attributed to Egypt only. The Pharaohs have appeared in three FIFA World Cups and are the most successful team in the African Cup of Nations, a competition, he has won seven times, with the 2010 African Cup of Nations being the most recent. Egypt has qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times: in 1934, 1990 and 2018.
Egypt became the first African country to qualify for the World Cup, defeating Palestine. Their first and only match in 1934 was a 4-2 loss to Hungary. In 1990, Egypt defeated Algeria 1-0 in the playoff to qualify. In Group F they faced Ireland, England and the Netherlands.
At the 1990 World Cup they scored only one goal, as the Egyptian preferred defensive tactics. They drew 1-1 with UEFA Euro 1988 champions Netherlands, giving Egypt their first point in the World Cup. This was followed by a draw against Ireland and a 1-0 loss against England. On October 8, 2017, Egypt defeated Congo 2–1 to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. At the 2018 World Cup, Egypt drew with Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and host Russia.
In the first match against Uruguay, the coach started without Salah, who was injured in the UEFA Champions League final. Despite this, they lost 1-0 and goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy was named Man of the Match. Salah returned to the starting line-up for the match between Egypt and Russia, although he refused the fee due to sponsorship from Budweiser. Russia led 3-0 and Salah scored Egypt’s first World Cup goal in 28 years. Egypt’s third and final match was a Red Sea derby against Saudi Arabia, but they also lost twice and were eliminated. At 45 years and 161 days old, Essam El Hadary became the oldest player at the World Cup, but Hector Couper was dismissed after his defensive strategy against Saudi Arabia was criticized. The Egyptian Football Association was also criticized for being biased in Chechnya, far from where Egyptian matches are played.