Mohamed Salah named captain of Egypt World Cup squad

Egypt have announced their preliminary 27-man squad for this summer's World Cup and have named Mohamed Salah as captain.

The 33-year-old forward, who is set to leave Liverpool this summer, has scored 67 goals in 115 appearances for his country and has been named African Footballer of the Year on two occasions.

Salah is joined by fellow Premier League star Omar Marmoush, who has been limited to just eight league starts for Manchester City this season.

Alongside them is highly-rated 18-year-old forward Hamza Abdelkarim, on loan at Barcelona B from Al Ahly.

He became the youngest player to represent Al Ahly this century when he made his debut in 2025, surpassing Ramadan Sobhi's record by nine days.

Manager Hossam Hassan has decided that he will drop one player from the squad following their friendly against Russia in Cairo later this month, in order to bring the squad size down to the required 26.

The Pharaohs will then travel to the U.S where they will face Brazil in a friendly in Cleveland on 6th June.

Drawn in Group C alongside Belgium, New Zealand and Iran, the seven-time African Cup of Nations winners are 9/4 to qualify for the round of 16.

Egypt have only featured at four World Cups in their lifetime, last qualifying for the tournament in 2018 where they were eliminated in the group stage without winning a game. They have only reached the knockout stages once in their history, coming all the way back in 1934.

Egypt World Cup 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), Hamdy Fathy (Al Wakrah), Rami Rabia (Al Ain), Yasser Ibrahim (Al Ahly), Hossam Abdelmaguid (Zamalek), Mohamed Abdelmonemn (Nice), Ahmed Fatouh (Zamalek), Karim Hafez (Pyramids).

Midfielders

Marwan Ateya (Al Ahly), Mohanad Lasheen (Pyramids), Nabil Emad (Al Najma), Mahmoud Saber (Zed), Ahmed Zizo (Al Ahly), Emam Ashour (Al Ahly), Mostafa Ziko (Pyramids), Mahmoud Trezeguet (Al Ahly), Ibrahim Adel (Nordsjaelland), Haissem Hassan (Real Ovideo).

Attackers

Omar Marmoush (Manchester City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Aqtay Abdallah (Enppi), Hamza Abdelkarim (Barcelona).