Salah
Hossam Hassan announced Egypt's 27-man preliminary World Cup squad on Wednesday, and the headline is also the farewell. Mohamed Salah will captain Egypt at the World Cup. He is 33. He is leaving Liverpool after nine years. He has 67 goals in 115 caps for the Pharaohs, two short of the all-time national record — held by Hossam Hassan, the manager who selected him.
This is Egypt's fourth World Cup — after 1934, 1990, and 2018 — and only their second in the modern era. The 2018 tournament in Russia, where Salah scored twice despite arriving injured from the Champions League final, was supposed to be the beginning of something. Egypt went out in the group stage without winning a match. Eight years later, they are back, with a squad that is stronger and a group that is more forgiving: Belgium, New Zealand, and Iran.
Omar Marmoush of Manchester City will partner Salah in attack. His early impact at the club has given way to a frustrating second season on the margins of Guardiola's squad, but in an Egypt shirt the dynamic is different: Marmoush operates centrally, occupying defenders and creating space for Salah to drift wide and cut inside — the movement that defined a decade at Anfield. Together, they give Egypt a genuine goal threat at the highest level. Behind them, Ahmed Sayed Zizo and the experienced Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet provide domestic quality in a squad that blends European and Egyptian Premier League players roughly equally.
The youth story is Hamza Abdelkarim. The 18-year-old plays for Barcelona's under-19 team, is uncapped at senior level, and could become one of the breakout names of the tournament. His inclusion signals Egypt's willingness to look beyond the present.
The notable absence is Mostafa Mohamed, the Nantes striker who has been a regular under Hassan. Four goals in 24 matches for a club relegated from Ligue 1 was not enough to earn his place. Hassan will trim the squad from 27 to 26 after a friendly against Russia in Cairo on May 28.
The squad
Goalkeepers: Mohamed El Shenawy (Al Ahly), Mostafa Shobeir (Al Ahly), El Mahdi Soliman (Zamalek), Mohamed Alaa (El Gouna)
Defenders: Mohamed Hany (Al Ahly), Tarek Alaa (ZED FC), Hamdy Fathy (Al Wakrah), Rami Rabia (Al Ain), Yasser Ibrahim (Al Ahly), Hossam Abdelmaguid (Zamalek), Mohamed Abdelmonem (OGC Nice), Ahmed Fatouh (Zamalek), Karim Hafez (Pyramids)
Midfielders: Marwan Attia (Al Ahly), Mohannad Lasheen (Pyramids), Nabil Emad Dunga (Zamalek), Mahmoud Saber (Pyramids), Ahmed Sayed Zizo (Zamalek), Mahmoud Trezeguet (Al Ahly), Emam Ashour (Al Ahly), Mostafa Ziko (ZED FC), Ibrahim Adel (Pyramids), Haitham Hassan (Real Oviedo), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Forwards: Omar Marmoush (Manchester City), Aqtay Abdallah (Enppi), Hamza Abdelkarim (Barcelona U19)
Egypt open against Belgium on June 15 at Lumen Field in Seattle, face New Zealand on June 22 at BC Place in Vancouver, and conclude Group G against Iran on June 27 back at Lumen Field in Seattle.