Egypt want to show who we really are at the World Cup – Hassan

Egypt are determined to serve a reminder of their credentials at the FIFA World Cup, according to head coach Hossam Hassan, with the Pharaohs looking to put their history of underachievement on the grandest stage behind them in 2026.

The North African side are undisputed giants in the continental game, having won the Africa Cup of Nations more times than any other team, but their successes in Africa have been offset by consistent failure at the World Cup.

Now, as they return to the tournament for the first time since 2018, Hassan is determined for his team to set the record straight.

“We have seven AFCONs under our belt, no African squad has ever managed to achieve this until now,” Hassan told journalists in his pre-match news conference on Sunday.

“Of course, maybe we’ve had some negative perceptions [outside Africa] as we’ve only participated four times at the World Cup.

“We haven’t been showing up as frequently as other teams, but now we have a generation who belong on this stage.”

Egypt stand as the most successful side in Nations Cup history by some distance, with their seven titles taking them two beyond Cameroon on five. Nigeria and Ghana have as many as the Pharaohs combined, with four and three respectively, yet all three have enjoyed far more success than the North Africans at the World Cup.

While Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana have each reached the quarterfinals of the tournament, with Morocco making the semis in 2022, Egypt are still waiting for their first World Cup victory, despite being the first team to represent the continent at the first edition in 1934.

Since then, they have qualified just three more times, with winless performances in 1990 and 2018 preceding their campaign this summer. By contrast, the likes of South Africa, Algeria, Ivory Coast and Tunisia all have World Cup wins under their belt, while no side from the continent have played more matches at the World Cup without ever having won one than the North Africans.

Hassan, who represented Egypt at the 1990 tournament, but subsequently failed to qualify for four further editions, believes their fortunes will turn this summer.

“We have a new squad, with players who are elements of change joining the experienced players,” he continued.

“This Egypt squad has stars who are known worldwide, and I have new players who are a huge and positive addition to the squad.

“Our squad now is one to be reckoned with, and I trust them completely that they will perform in a way to bring honour and pride to our players.”

Egypt’s campaign begins against a Belgium side full of prominent Europe-based players, many of whom have graced the higher echelons of the sport, but Hassan is backing his side to pull off another surprise result at this tournament following strong results for would-be outsiders Qatar and Morocco in the World Cup so far.

“We saw yesterday in the Brazil match an unexpected result, a back-and-forth game between two strong teams, and also Qatar impressed a lot of people against Switzerland,” he concluded.

“When you have an ambitious squad who wants to prove itself, maybe we’ll be underestimated.

“We have the motivation to show everyone we need to win this, I believe in my squad and I think we’ll do very well, in the USA.

“We’ve prepared accordingly, and I’m excited to see how my squad perform.”

Following their opener against Belgium in Seattle, Egypt must travel to Vancouver for their second Group G fixture against New Zealand on June 21.

Their opening round concludes against Iran back in Seattle on June 26, by which point the North African heavyweights will be hoping they’ve brought their continental credentials to bear at the World Cup.