Football in Egypt

Football in Egypt
CountryEgypt
Governing bodyEgyptian Football Association
National team(s)Men’s National Team
Club competitions
International competitions

Football is the most popular sport in Egypt, many Egyptians gather around to watch various Egyptian clubs and the Egyptian national football team play on an almost daily basis.[1][2][3]

Zamalek and Al Ahly are amongst the most popular in the country, both of which are based in Cairo. Both teams compete in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest tier of Egyptian football. These two teams compete in the Cairo Derby. Other notable teams include: Ismaily, Al-Masry, Al Ittihad.

Egypt Cup

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The Egypt Cup is the oldest tournament in the history of Egyptian football that is still being held to-date. It is the first association football championship to be organized by the Egyptian Football Association. The first local football tournament in Egypt was the Sultan Hussein Cup. The first team to win the Egypt Cup was Zamalek in 1922.

Hassan_Shehata_(1979)
Hassan Shehata lifting the Egypt Cup trophy with Zamalek in 1979

The tournament was not played between 1967 and 1971 due to the outbreak of the War of Attrition. It was also canceled in the 1973–74 season due to the outbreak of the October War. The tournament was canceled in 1979-80, 1986-87 and 1993-94 seasons due to several reasons, and was canceled in the 1981-82 edition due to Zamalek’s dispute with the Football Association. The cup was also canceled in the 2011-12 season after the Port Said Stadium riot.

Egyptian Premier League

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Main article: Egyptian Premier League

The Egyptian Premier League (League A) has eighteen teams.[citation needed] There is no official English translation or title for the Egyptian League.[citation needed] Due to Sponsorships the official name of the league is the WE Premier League. The league was also called Vodafone Premier League back in the 2006/2007 for the same reasons.[citation needed]

National football team's achievements

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Main article: Egypt national football team

The Egypt national football team, also known under the nickname of The Pharaohs, is, as their name states, the national team of Egypt and is administered by the Egyptian Football Association. The team was founded in 1921,[4] although a team had been fielded in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Egypt participated in the 1924 Olympics, and achieved the eighth place in the 1928 Olympics.

The national football team of Egypt in the 1928 Olympics.

The team has won multiple cups over the years. They won the African Cup of Nations 7 times. Egypt won the inaugural Cup in 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010,[5] making them record holders of most African cup wins and most wins in a row (for winning 3 times in a row).

Their highest FIFA ranking was in July 2010 where they were ranked 9th in the world, making it their greatest achievement.[4] They were the first from an African country and also, from an Arab country to participate in the World Cup when they played in 1934,[6] losing to Hungary 4-2.

Egypt played their second World Cup in 1990, where they didn't pass through the first stage after tying Ireland, Netherlands and losing to England 1-0 in what remains their last World Cup game.[citation needed]

Egypt Qualified for the 2018 World Cup which was the first time in 28 years. They were placed in Group A with hosts Russia, Uruguay and KSA. Egypt lost to Uruguay in the 90th minute and then lost 3-1 to Russia and scored the goal Mohamed Salah from a penalty in the last game against Saudi Arabia, Egypt lost 2-1 and scored the goal Mohamed Salah in the 22nd minute.[citation needed]

Africa

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Winners (7): 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010 (Most successful team)
Runners-up (2): 1962, 2017, 2022
Third place (3): 1963, 1970, 1974
Fourth place (3): 1976, 1980, 1984
Champions (2): 1987, 1995
Third place (1): 1973
Runners-up (2): 1988, 2007
Champions (1): 2011 (Most successful team)

Other

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Stadiums

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Main article: List of football stadiums in Egypt

Egypt has a total of 27 football stadiums spread around the country.[7] The main stadium used to be Cairo International Stadium, but when the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria was built, it replaced it. The stadium has become the home stadium for the Egyptian National Team. This stadium carries a capacity of 86,000 which is great for all the fans who watch the Egyptian Premier League games.[8] The reason that this stadium was built was for Egypt's bid for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The national football team of Egypt played numerous home games at the 75,000-capacity Cairo International Stadium.

Egypt has hosted 5 African Cups in 1959, 1974, 1986, 2006 and 2019. The country also hosted the 1997 U-17 World Cup and the 2009 U-20 World Cup.

# Stadium Capacity Location Home Team Opened
1 Misr Stadium 93,940 New Administrative Capital Egypt football team 2024
2 Borg El Arab Stadium 86,000 Borg El Arab Egypt football team & Al-Masry SC 2007
3 Cairo International Stadium 75,000 Cairo Egypt football team & Al Ahly SC & Zamalek SC 23 July 1960
4 Egyptian Army Stadium 45,000 Suez Petrojet FC 2009
5 Arab Contractors Stadium 35,000 Cairo Al Mokawloon & FC Masr 1979
6 30 June Stadium 30,000 Cairo Wadi Degla SC 2009
7 Al-Salam Stadium 30,000 Cairo El-Entag El-Harby SC 2009
8 Beni Ebeid Stadium 30,000 Bani Ebid Beni Ebeid SC

Support

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Al Ahly and Zamalek leaded the top six most popular football clubs on social media from Africa on 12 October 2022:[9]

# Football club Country Followers
1 Al Ahly Egypt 33 million
2 Zamalek Egypt 22 million
3 Raja CA Morocco 7 million
4 Kaizer Chiefs South Africa 6 million
5 Orlando Pirates South Africa 4 million
6 Simba SC Tanzania 4 million

English Premier League

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Currently, the most popular English Premier League club in Egypt is Liverpool, largely thanks to Egyptian player Mohamed Salah, who captains the Egypt national team.[10][11] Previously, Salah's old club Chelsea was more popular.

Twitter research from 2015 found that the most popular Premier League club in Egypt was Chelsea, with 26% of Algerian Premier League fans following the club, followed by Manchester United (18%) and Arsenal (17%).[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mohamed El-Sayed (2004). "When life began". Ahram Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  2. ^ Youssef Hamza. "Egypt's Ultras have shown military rule the red card". The National. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  3. ^ Lavric, Eva (2008). The Linguistics of Football. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 9783823363989. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Country info". FIFA World Cup. Archived from the original on June 3, 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  5. ^ Aaron Ross (18 August 2012). "The man at the epicentre of Egyptian football". The National. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. ^ Mahfoud Amara (May–August 2014). "Sport and Political Leaders in the Arab World" (PDF). Histoire@Politique. 23. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Stadiums in Egypt". Bugarri. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  8. ^ "Stadiums in Egypt". FIFA World Cup. 3 January 2013. Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  9. ^ "CardBiz.ca".
  10. ^ https://www.besoccer.com/new/amp/liverpool-growing-in-egypt-thanks-to-salah-483506
  11. ^ https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mohamed-salah-liverpool-egypt-21702326.amp
  12. ^ "Which is Africa's favourite Premier League team?". BBC News. 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
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