Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has named the 28-man provisional squad for the AFCON, with the team set to begin preparations on Wednesday.

Locally based players will report first, while key pharaohs abroad, including Mohamed Salah, Omar Marmoush, Mostafa Mohamed, Hamdy Fathy, and Ibrahim Adel will join next week following club duties.

Emam Ashour and Mostafa Fathi have both been included despite injury setbacks that limited their minutes this season. Ashour has only played 46 minutes across four games after recovering from a shoulder injury and Hepatitis A. Fathi has seen slightly more action, 287 minutes in six matches, after a series of muscle issues.

Zamalek defender Mohamed Ismail retains his spot from the November squad, though he is still awaiting his first cap. Meanwhile, Al Ahly’s Yasser Ibrahim returns to the team, while his clubmate Ahmed Nabil Kouka is left out. That opens the door for Zamalek left-back Ahmed Fatouh, who returns after a spell out of form.

Hossam Hassan will submit his final 23-man list to CAF by 11 December, with the option of naming four standby players.

The Pharaohs will play one warm-up game against Nigeria on 14 December at Cairo Stadium before heading to Morocco for the continental tournament.

Egypt, who last lifted the AFCON trophy in 2010, have been drawn in Group B alongside South Africa, Angola, and Zimbabwe. They were runners-up in both 2017 and 2021.

Full preliminary squad:

Goalkeepers:
Mohamed El Shenawy, Mostafa Shobeir (Al Ahly); Mohamed Sobhi (Zamalek); Ahmed El Shenawy (Pyramids FC)

Defenders:
Rami Rabia (Al-Ain); Mohamed Hany, Yasser Ibrahim (Al Ahly); Khaled Sobhy, Ahmed Eid (Al Masry); Hossam Abdelmaguid, Mohamed Ismail, Ahmed Fatouh (Zamalek); Mohamed Hamdy (Pyramids FC)

Midfielders:
Hamdy Fathy (Al-Wakrah); Mohamed Shehata (Zamalek); Marwan Attia, Ahmed Sayed Zizo, Emam Ashour, Mahmoud Trezeguet (Al Ahly); Mahmoud Saber (ZED FC); Mohanad Lasheen; Mostafa Fathi (Pyramids FC); Omar Marmoush (Manchester City); Mohamed Salah (Liverpool); Ibrahim Adel (Al-Jazira)

Forwards:
Mostafa Mohamed (Nantes); Osama Faisal (National Bank of Egypt SC); Salah Mohsen (Al Masry)