Following Egypt’s recent World Cup qualification, KingFut Co-Founder Moustafa El Chiati revisits the years of agony Egyptian football has faced and questions – has progress really been made? Will this World Cup be a different story for the Pharaohs?
Egypt is a country of over 100 million people, obsessed with football and rich in talent, yet only four World Cup participations in ninety years is nothing short of astonishing. That’s not bad luck. That’s what happens when a game is suffocated by its own system.
In Egypt, football is not just a game. It’s oxygen. It’s the rhythm that connects a fisherman in Port Said, a taxi driver in Minya, and a banker in Zamalek. It is no secret to anyone who knows Egypt that football is a religion. When the national team plays, the country unites. Ahly and Zamalek rivalry subsides and Egypt reigns. Cairo’s traffic softens, cafés overflow, and the pulse of the nation beats in one tempo. Football is how Egyptians dream together – actually it’s how the Egyptians escape together!
When Egypt qualifies for the World Cup, it is never merely a sporting achievement. It’s a national celebration. But one can’t help but wonder how such a small miracle is born out of decades of dysfunction. Egypt’s football problems were never confined to the pitch; they were everywhere else. The Egyptian Football Association became more of a political apparatus than a professional body. Connections and influence, not competence and ability, drove decisions. We celebrated medals and personal glory while the foundations quietly rotted. The goal was not development, it was domination.
From refereeing decisions to youth selections, influence too often outweighed merit. That culture of “connections before competence” strangled ambition and favouritism eroded trust, professionalism, and pride. Every attempt at modernization from hiring foreign technical directors to building youth systems, met resistance from the old guard. Change was always seen as a threat, not an opportunity. Progress was treated as optional, never essential. And so we repeated the same cycle, expecting different results. Long-term reform was never on the agenda. Short-term wins were what calmed the noise and built personal glory. Few cared to address the real problems. As Egypt’s former national team coach Bob Bradley once said in his final interview before leaving the country: “For the most part, I didn’t feel there were people inside the FA that were there to truly help us. They said they wanted to help us but they never did.”
While other African nations were building modern academies, investing in analytics, and professionalizing their leagues, Egypt’s football institutions sank deeper into bureaucracy, politics, and complacency. Egypt never built a true footballing pyramid, only the top of it. Our children live and die playing football in the country’s dusty streets, but few ever find their way into structured youth academies. There is no national scouting network, no pathway from talent to professional, from street to club.
In Senegal, the Diambars and Génération Foot academies produce world-class players every year. In Morocco, the Mohammed VI Academy has become a continental model. In Egypt, talent still depends on luck, connections, or a miracle. Even our Premier League, one of the oldest in Africa, became a patchwork of government departments competing for relevance rather than clubs building legacy. Their purpose was not sport, it was status; and football lost its soul in the process.
Then came the Port Said tragedy on February 1st, 2012 when seventy-four supporters died in the stands. The greatest catastrophe in the history of Egyptian sport. The tragedy didn’t just end lives, it ended an era. What followed was years of games played in empty stadiums. An entire generation grew up without hearing a home crowd roar or even seeing one. Football without fans is a body without a heartbeat, yet Egypt continued to play in silence. And then we were surprised yet some still celebrated the decades of “almost” qualification that epitomized the failure, mismanagement, and corruption of a football-hungry nation. As a fan, I can’t explain enough the utter heartbreak and despair felt over the years. Let me try to share the decades of near-misses and sorrow below:
• WC 1994 – The “Brick Match” Egypt needed to win.
Egypt beat Zimbabwe 2–1 in Cairo, only for the match to be annulled after a stone hit the opposition coach. Match replayed in Lyon (France) as a neutral ground. That Magdy Tolba miss. Ended 0-0. Egypt eliminated. Dream shattered.
• WC 1998 – That ‘George Weah’ Goal
Two goals that Egyptians will not forget. Two goalscorers that Egyptians wont forget. Two goals led to 0-1 losses. Zubair Baya from Tunis and George Weah from Liberia. Tunisia had structure; we had chaos.
• WC 2002 – Group of Death
Grouped with Senegal, Algeria, Morocco and Namibia. We couldn’t beat Morocco home or away yet again. Finished 3rd two points off the top. Senegal’s rise; our fall.
• WC 2006 – Kings of Africa, Ghosts of the World
Egypt won AFCON on home soil but couldn’t beat Côte d’Ivoire home (1-2 in Alexandria) or away in the qualifiers. Egypt’s golden generation of Aboutrika, Mido, and El Hadary couldn’t make it to the global stage. Didier Drogba’s team went to Germany.
• WC 2010 – Om Durman Play-off
Probably the worst heartache. Emad Meteb header in the 95th minute to seal 2-0 win for Egypt over Algeria was not enough as the regulations had changed and away goals do not count. Both teams were equal in everything. The infamous play-off match played in Om Durman, Sudan marred with violence pre and post match but Antar Yehia’s volley crushed Egyptian hopes. The best team in Africa missed the World Cup again.
• WC 2014 – Nightmare in Kumasi
Certainly the most shocking. Egypt wins all group matches, then met Ghana. Egypt was seeded in pot 2 which was another failure. Bob Bradley’s men collapsed in Kumasi 1-6 and couldn’t claw back that heavy score in the 2nd leg in Cairo. Sad end to a golden era.
• WC 2018 – Salah’s Redemption
A 95th minute penalty from Mo Salah against DR Congo in Egypt takes the Pharaohs to Russia 2018 World Cup after 28 years. Qualified but in the World Cup; injuries, mismanagement and distractions turned into frustration.
• WC 2022 – Laser Night in Dakar
Senegal again. Mane vs. Salah. Penalty kicks to decide which country takes the spot at the World Cup. Senegal beat Egypt twice on penalties to win AFCON 2021 and to reach the World Cup 2022. Chaos, pain, disbelief.
For the upcoming WC 2026 to be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, Egypt made it. Egypt qualified alongside potentially nine other African nations. The country celebrated but with the rush of emotion calming down, the question remains… what can we expect this time around? Expectation vs. reality has always been Egypt’s story. We celebrate qualification like victory itself as if reaching the World Cup is the final destination though it should be the starting line. After 90 years, three previous qualifications, zero knock-out stages reached, can this time be different?
Hossam Hassan, Egypt’s coach is no stranger to World Cups, he was there in Italia ’90. Known for his passion and fearsome attitude, will he be able to circumvent the theatricals, the endless mediation and the interference? Can he channel it to his players? Will they be able to avoid the noise and the politics… and simply focus on the football and bringing joy to the Egyptian people?
We’ve seen what’s possible. Morocco showed the continent what vision, investment, and belief can achieve. They didn’t just qualify. they competed, they inspired, they belonged. Egypt has lived on the edge of glory, time and time again, only to fall to the same flaws that we refuse to fix. Each time so close yet a familiar ending of ‘honorable representation’. So when Egypt finally qualified again, it isn’t just relief… it is a chance. A chance to turn survival into structure. A chance to make sure this qualification is not another emotional high before the next collapse. It is our chance to finally build what we’ve always deserved: a footballing system worthy of our passion, our history, and our people. We cannot keep relying on miracles.