Egypt names Salah-led World Cup squad, leaves out Mostafa Mohamed

Mohamed Salah will again carry Egypt’s World Cup hopes, but the more revealing decision is who did not make the first cut. Hossam Hassan named a preliminary squad led by the Liverpool forward and Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush, then left out Nantes striker Mostafa Mohamed while including Barcelona under-19 prospect Hamza Abdelkarim, a choice that says as much about selection discipline as it does about star power.

Mostafa Mohamed’s omission was the clearest signal that reputation will not override current form. He finished the season with only four goals in 24 league matches as Nantes were relegated from Ligue 1, and Egypt’s coaching staff has kept one more cut in reserve before the squad is trimmed to FIFA’s 26-player limit after the final home friendly against Russia in Cairo on May 28. Abdelkarim’s inclusion, by contrast, rewards a teenager who has impressed with Barcelona’s youth team and suggests Egypt is willing to gamble a roster spot on upside rather than simply senior status.

The structure of the group points to a team being assembled around Salah’s influence, Marmoush’s movement and a defense that has been unusually hard to break down. Egypt conceded only two goals in qualifying, and Mohamed El Shenawy recorded seven clean sheets as Salah scored nine goals to carry the campaign. That profile helps explain the balance Hassan appears to be seeking: established leaders at the top of the squad, domestic experience underneath them, and a few younger players who can be folded into a side built for efficiency rather than open-ended improvisation.

The stakes are clear. Egypt will make its fourth World Cup appearance, after 1934, 1990 and 2018, and still has not won a match or advanced beyond the group stage. The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and Egypt’s path in Group G will be a demanding one, starting against Belgium in Seattle on June 15, followed by New Zealand in Vancouver on June 21 and Iran in Seattle on June 26. Before that, Egypt will face Brazil in Cleveland on June 6, a high-level test of the same roster politics that now define the squad.

For Salah, this is another chance to turn individual authority into collective progress. For Hassan, the roster choices already show the outline of a national team that wants resilience, pace and accountability, with no place guaranteed solely by name.