Egypt national under-23 football team

Egypt U-23
Nickname(s)	الفراعنة (The Pharaohs)
Association	Egyptian Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNAF (North Africa)
Head coach	Rogério Micale
Captain	Mohamed Elneny
Home stadium	Cairo International Stadium
FIFA code	EGY
First colours	Second colours
Olympic Games
Appearances	13 (first in 1920)
Best result	Fourth place (1928, 1964, 2024)
Africa U-23 Cup of Nations
Appearances	4 (first in 2011)
Best result	Champions (2019)
African Games
Appearances	7 (first in 1973)
Best result	Gold medalists (1987, 1995)

The Egypt national under-23 football team (Arabic: منتخب مصر الأوليمبى), sometimes called the Egypt Olympic Team, nicknamed The Pharaohs (Arabic: الفراعنة), is the national team of Egypt Under-23 and is administered by the Egyptian Football Association. The team's main objectives are to qualify and play at the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations and Olympic Games. As of Paris 2024, players need to be born on or after 1 January 2001 to participate but the team may be supplemented with 3 over-age players.

The team has played at the Olympic Games 13 times, with four of these being after the tournament became age capped. They're also the top-medalist at the U-23 African Cup.

History

Egypt's first ever appearance in football was in Antwerp 1920 where they played one match against Italy. This was the first official international match for the Pharaohs as they lost 2–1 on August 20, 1920. Egypt would later qualify for 9 straight tournaments from 1920 to 1964. With their best result achieved being Fourth Place in Amsterdam 1928 and Tokyo 1964, this means that Egypt is the best team that never won a medal at the Olympics (most 4th-place finishes without a higher finish).

Egypt has had limited success since 1992, when the tournament first became locked for U-23 players. Egypt qualified to the 2012 Olympics after beating Senegal in the Bronze Metal Match. In the Olympics, they placed second in their group after a loss against Brazil, a draw with New Zealand and a win against Belarus. Their run was abruptly stopped by a 3-0 loss to Japan in the quarterfinals. They missed out on Rio 2016 but reached Tokyo 2020 as African Champions after winning the U-23 tournament at home. They placed second in their group after a nil-nil draw with European Champions Spain, a loss against South American Champions Argentina and a 2-0 win against Australia. They lost 1-0 at the quarterfinals to eventual gold-medalist Brazil.

Egypt qualified for the 2024 tournament after placing second in the 2023 U-23 African Cup. This marks the first time they play in successive tournaments since Tokyo 1964.

Results and fixtures

Legend

Win Draw Lose Fixture

2024

17 January 2024 (2024-01-17) International Friendly	Egypt	0–0	Qatar	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
17:00 UTC+4		Report		Stadium: Shahama Stadium

20 January 2024 (2024-01-20) International Friendly	Egypt	0–1	Iraq	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
19:30 UTC+4		Report	Halo Fayaq 90+8'	Stadium: UAE Football Association Stadium

23 January 2024 (2024-01-23) International Friendly	Egypt	1–2	Saudi Arabia	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
16:00 UTC+4	Osama Faisal 10'	Report	Saleh Aboulshamat 48' (pen.) Abdulmalik Al-Jaber 86'	Stadium: UAE Football Association Stadium

27 January 2024 (2024-01-27) International Friendly	United Arab Emirates	1–5	* Egypt	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
16:00 UTC+4	Khamis Al-Mansoori 72'	Report	Mohammed Al-Maazmi 15' (o.g.) Mahmoud Saber 40 , 57' Mohamed Shehata 48' Osama Faisal 52' (pen.)	Stadium: UAE Football Association Stadium

20 March 2024 (2024-03-20) WAFF U-23 Championship GS	Egypt	1–0	United Arab Emirates	Hofuf, Saudi Arabia
23:00 UTC+3	Bilal Mazhar 81'	Report		Stadium: Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Referee: Abdullah Al Shehri (Saudi Arabia)

23 March 2024 (2024-03-23) WAFF U-23 Championship SF	Australia	1–1 (2–1 p)	Egypt	Hofuf, Saudi Arabia
23:00 UTC+3	G. Kuol 15' (pen.)	Report	Hollman 22' (o.g.)	Stadium: Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Referee: Baraa Abu Aisha (Palestine)
	Penalties
	Courtney-Perkins Okon-Engstler Girdwood-Reich Velupillay Brook		Adel Faisal El Debes El Saaiy Eid

26 March 2024 (2024-03-26) WAFF U-23 Championship 3rd Place	Egypt	2–2 (2–4 p)	Saudi Arabia	Al-Mubarraz, Saudi Arabia
20:00 UTC+3	Saber 5' Abdel Maguid 90+2'	Report	Al-Sahafi 37' Al-Nemer 86'	Stadium: Al Fateh Stadium Referee: Sheikh Ahmad Alaeddin (Lebanon)
	Penalties
	Faisal Abdel Maguid Fayed El Maghrabi		S. Al-Zaid Al-Julaydan Barnawi Al-Nemer

7 June 2024 (2024-06-07) International Friendly	Egypt	1–0	Ivory Coast	Cairo, Egypt
21:00 UTC+3	Mostafa Saad 7'	Report		Stadium: Cairo International Stadium Referee: Mahmoud Bassiouny (Egypt)

11 June 2024 (2024-06-11) International Friendly	Egypt	2–1	Ivory Coast	Cairo, Egypt
19:00 UTC+3	Mahmoud Saber 17', 19'	Report	Malick Sanogo 90+6'	Stadium: Cairo International Stadium Referee: Ibrahim Mohamed (Egypt)

14 July 2024 Friendly	Ukraine	1–1	Egypt	Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, France
18:00 UTC+2	Maksym Braharu 12'	Report	Ahmed Atef 75'	Stadium: Parc des Sports (Avignon)

17 July 2024 Friendly	Egypt	2–1	Iraq	Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, France
17:00 UTC+2	Ibrahim Adel 2 , 65'	Report	Zaid Tahseen 54'	Stadium: Parc des Sports (Avignon) Referee: Gaël Angoula (France)

24 July 2024 (2024-07-24) 2024 Olympic Games	Egypt	0–0	Dominican Republic	Nantes, France
17:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire Attendance: 13,945^[2] Referee: Yoshimi Yamashita (Japan)

27 July 2024 (2024-07-27) 2024 Olympic Games	Uzbekistan	0–1	Egypt	Nantes, France
17:00 UTC+2		Report	Koka 11'	Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

30 July 2024 (2024-07-30) 2024 Olympic Games	Spain	1–2	Egypt	Bordeaux, France
15:00 UTC+2	Omorodion 90'	Report	Adel 40', 62'	Stadium: Stade de Bordeaux Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)

2 August 2024 (2024-08-02) 2024 Olympic Games QF	Egypt	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Paraguay	Marseille, France
19:00 UTC+2	Adel 88'	Report	D. Gómez 71'	Stadium: Stade de Marseille Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
	Penalties
	Koka Elneny El Debes Abdelmaguid Adel		D. Gómez Pérez Viera M. Gómez Balbuena

5 August 2024 (2024-08-05) 2024 Olympic Games SF	France	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Egypt	Décines-Charpieu, France
21:00 UTC+2	Mateta 83', 99' Olise 108'	Report	Mahmoud Saber 62'	Stadium: Stade de Lyon Referee: Saíd Martínez (Honduras)

8 August 2024 (2024-08-08) 2024 Olympic Games Bronze	Egypt	0–6	Morocco	Nantes, France
		Report		Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Ghana and Congo on 15 , 20 June and the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations between 24 June and 8 July 2023.^[3]

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1GK	Hamza Alaa	(2001-03-01) 1 March 2001 (age 23)	Al Ahly
1GK	Ali El Gabry	(2001-02-14) 14 February 2001 (age 23)	Ceramica Cleopatra
1GK	Mohamed Seha	(2001-05-01) 1 May 2001 (age 23)	Al Mokawloon Al Arab

2DF	Hossam Abdelmaguid	(2001-04-30) 30 April 2001 (age 23)	Zamalek
2DF	Mohamed Ashraf	(2001-10-01) 1 October 2001 (age 23)	Al Ahly
2DF	Ahmed Eid	(2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 (age 23)	ENPPI
2DF	Mohamed El Maghrabi	(2001-04-28) 28 April 2001 (age 23)	Smouha
2DF	Hatem Mohamed	(2001-10-26) 26 October 2001 (age 23)	Zamalek
2DF	Mohamed Samir	(2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 (age 23)	Tala'ea El Gaish
2DF	Mohamed Tarek	(2002-04-20) 20 April 2002 (age 22)	Zamalek
2DF	Omar Fayed	(2003-07-04) 4 July 2003 (age 21)	Novi Pazar

3MF	Ahmed Fawzi	(2002-05-23) 23 May 2002 (age 22)	Al Mokawloon Al Arab
3MF	Mahmoud Gehad	(2001-08-20) 20 August 2001 (age 23)	Pharco
3MF	Ahmed Koka	(2001-07-04) 4 July 2001 (age 23)	Al Ahly
3MF	Mahmoud Saber	(2001-07-30) 30 July 2001 (age 23)	Pyramids
3MF	Mohamed Shehata	(2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 (age 23)	Zamalek
3MF	Ali Zazaa	(2001-06-23) 23 June 2001 (age 23)	Future

4FW	Ibrahim Adel	(2001-04-23) 23 April 2001 (age 23)	Pyramids
4FW	Abdelrahman Atef	(2001-06-04) 4 June 2001 (age 23)	Ghazl El Mahalla
4FW	Ahmed Atef	(2002-12-19) 19 December 2002 (age 21)	Al Mokawloon Al Arab
4FW	Osama Faisal	(2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 (age 23)	National Bank of Egypt
4FW	Emad Mayhoub	(2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 (age 23)	ENPPI
4FW	Mostafa Saad	(2001-08-22) 22 August 2001 (age 23)	Smouha

Previous squads

Overage players in Olympic Games

Tournament	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3
2012	Ahmed Fathy (DF)	Mohamed Aboutrika (MF)	Emad Moteab (FW)
2020	Mohamed El Shenawy (GK)	Ahmed Hegazi (DF)	Mahmoud Hamdy (DF)
2024	Mohamed Elneny (MF)	Ahmed Sayed Zizo (FW)

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Summer Olympics record
Appearances: 13								Qualified : 15
Year/Host	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Athens 1896	No football tournament
Paris 1900 - Stockholm 1912	Did not participate
Antwerp 1920	First round	1	0	0	1	1	2	No qualification
Paris 1924	Quarter-finals	2	1	0	1	3	5
Amsterdam 1928	Fourth place	4	2	0	2	12	19
Los Angeles 1932	No football tournament
Berlin 1936	First round	1	0	0	1	1	3	No qualification
London 1948	First round	1	0	0	1	1	3
Helsinki 1952	First round	2	1	0	1	6	7
Melbourne 1956	Withdrew							2	2	0	0	9	3
Roma 1960	First round	3	0	1	2	4	11	4	3	0	1	11	5
Tokyo 1964	Fourth place	6	2	1	3	18	16	4	3	1	0	14	6
Mexico 1968	Withdrew from qualifiers
Munich 1972	Did not qualify							2	1	0	1	2	3
Montreal 1976	Did not qualify							2	0	1	1	1	2
Moscow 1980	Withdrew							4	1	3	0	7	4
Los Angeles 1984	Quarter-finals	4	1	1	2	5	5	6	3	2	1	6	3
Seoul 1988	Did not qualify							4	2	1	1	7	2
Barcelona 1992	First round	3	1	0	2	5	6	6	4	2	0	11	3
Atlanta 1996	Did not qualify							4	2	1	1	5	4
Sydney 2000								8	4	3	1	15	9
Athens 2004								6	0	0	6	1	13
Beijing 2008								4	1	2	1	6	4
London 2012	Quarter-finals	4	1	1	2	6	8	9	5	1	3	12	6
Rio de Janeiro 2016	Did not qualify							1	1	0	0	4	0
Tokyo 2020	Quarter-finals	4	1	1	2	2	2	5	5	0	0	11	4
Paris 2024	Fourth place	6	2	2	2	5	11	5	3	1	1	5	2
Total	4/9	17	5	4	8	18	27	47	24	10	13	70	45

Prior to the 1992 Olympic Games campaign, the Olympic football tournament was open to full senior national teams.
Egypt withdrew from the 1956 Football tournament and boycotted the 1980 Olympics after qualifying for both.

Africa U-23 Cup of Nations

Africa U-23 Cup of Nations record
Appearances: 4
Year/Host	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Morocco 2011	Bronze Medal	5	3	0	2	7	4
Senegal 2015	Group Stage	3	0	2	1	3	4
Egypt 2019	Champions	5	5	0	0	11	4
Morocco 2023	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	5	2
Total	4/4	18	11	3	4	26	14

African Games

African Games record
Appearances: 7
Year/Host	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Brazzaville 1965	did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lagos 1973	Bronze Medal	5	3	0	2	12	12
Algiers 1978	Withdrew after Round 1	3	2	1	0	6	2
Nairobi 1987	Gold Medal	5	3	1	1	7	5
Cairo 1991	Fifth Place	4	1	1	2	5	6
Harare 1995	Gold Medal	5	4	0	1	8	3
Johannesburg 1999	Didn't qualify
Abuja 2003	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	2	6
Algiers 2007	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	4	8
Maputo 2011	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-
Brazzaville 2015	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-

Total	7/11	28	13	3	12	44	39