# Egypt men's national handball team

The Egyptian national handball team is the national handball team of Egypt, which represents Egypt in international matches. It is supervised by the Egyptian Handball Federation. Egypt was the first non-European team to reach the semifinals of the World Championships, and the first African team to reach the semifinals in the Olympic tournament.
Egypt men handball team is widely regarded as the finest handball team in Africa.

## History

Egypt's first appearance at the IHF World Championship was in 1964, where they failed to win a single game.
After Egypt started developing their handball infrastructure, Egypt qualified for the 1993 tournament at Sweden. They were able to win a game this time, against Czechoslovakia and they were able to qualify to the second round.
Egypt's performance at the 1995 Championship rose Egypt to a respectable team. Egypt won all three matches in the first round, beating Brazil, Kuwait and Belarus. The team was widely expected not to survive the knockout stage, but beat four-time World Champions Romania in the round of 16. While they were later beaten at the quarterfinals against Croatia, the team was praised back home.
Egypt advanced to the quarterfinals every time between 1995 and 2001. They also reached 6th place at the 1996 Olympics and 7th at 2000. Egypt hosted the World Championship in 1999 for the first time, failing to reach the semi-finals after a loss against Russia.
In the 2001 IHF World Championship, Egypt beat Morocco, Portugal and Iceland, drew with the Czech Republic and lost to Sweden. At the knockout stage, Egypt beat fellow Africans, Algeria. At the quarterfinals, where Egypt has been knocked out three times prior, Egypt faced Russia again, winning the close game 21–19. After losses against France and Yugoslavia, Egypt placed fourth. This was the best performance by a non-European team until it was equaled by Tunisia in 2005 and beaten by Qatar in 2015.
Between 2003 and 2017, Egypt qualified to every tournament save for the 2012 Olympics, but failed to impress, never advancing to the quarterfinal. Egypt broke this streak at the 2019 World Championship, where they placed eighth. Egypt then went on to host the first 32-team Championship in 2021, finishing seventh after losing to reigning World Champions, Denmark on penalties, who later won the tournament.
Egypt beat their rivals Tunisia in their own court, qualifying to the 2020 Olympics. In the group stage, Egypt finished 2nd, after beating Portugal, Sweden, Bahrain and Japan, and losing to World Champions Denmark once again. They then won against Germany in the quarterfinals, progressing to the semifinals. They lost to France by a 4-goal margin, despite having had a 4-goal lead early on. In the Bronze Medal match, Egypt lost to Spain, placing 4th overall.

## Competitive record
### Olympic Games

| Edition | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 1936 Berlin | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| Handball Tournament not held from 1948 to 1968 ||||||||||
| 1972 Munich | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1976 Montreal | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1980 Moscow | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1984 Los Angeles | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1988 Seoul | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1992 Barcelona | Match for 11th place | 11th of 12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 119 | 137 | −18 |
| 1996 Atlanta | Match for 5th place | 6th of 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 139 | 132 | +7 |
| 2000 Sydney | Match for 7th place | 7th of 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 197 | 194 | +3 |
| 2004 Athens | Match for 11th place | 12th of 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 134 | 163 | −29 |
| 2008 Beijing | Group Stage | 10th of 12 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 127 | 132 | −5 |
| 2012 London | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | Group Stage | 9th of 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 129 | 143 | −14 |
| 2020 Tokyo | Bronze Medal Match | 4th of 12 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 239 | 220 | +19 |
| 2024 Paris | Quarter finals | 5th of 12 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 176 | 169 | +7 |
| 2028 Los Angeles | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 2032 Brisbane | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Total | Qualified: 8/15 | Qualified: 8/15 | 50 | 17 | 4 | 29 | 1260 | 1290 | −30 |

### World Championship

| Edition | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 1938 Germany | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1954 Sweden | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1958 East Germany | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1961 West Germany | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1964 Czechoslovakia | Preliminary round | 15th of 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 58 | −30 |
| 1967 Sweden | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1970 France | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1974 East Germany | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1978 Denmark | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1982 West Germany | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1986 Switzerland | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1990 Czechoslovakia | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1993 Sweden | Match for 11th place | 12th of 16 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 148 | 164 | −16 |
| 1995 Iceland | Match for 5th place | 6th of 24 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 211 | 214 | −3 |
| 1997 Japan | Match for 5th place | 6th of 24 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 220 | 186 | +34 |
| 1999 Egypt | Match for 7th place | 7th of 24 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 230 | 214 | +16 |
| 2001 France | Bronze Medal Match | 4th of 24 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 207 | 206 | +1 |
| 2003 Portugal | Second round | 15th of 24 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 177 | 197 | −20 |
| 2005 Tunisia | Preliminary round | 14th of 24 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 123 | 123 | 0 |
| 2007 Germany | Match for 17th place | 17th of 24 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 168 | 173 | −5 |
| 2009 Croatia | Match for 13th place | 14th of 24 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 218 | 239 | −21 |
| 2011 Sweden | Match for 13th place | 14th of 24 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 172 | 193 | −21 |
| 2013 Spain | Round of 16 | 16th of 24 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 156 | 154 | +2 |
| 2015 Qatar | Round of 16 | 14th of 24 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 151 | 148 | +3 |
| 2017 France | Round of 16 | 13th of 24 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 157 | 164 | −7 |
| / 2019 Denmark/Germany | Match for 7th place | 8th of 24 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 241 | 250 | −9 |
| 2021 Egypt | Quarter finals | 7th of 32 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 222 | 185 | +37 |
| / 2023 Poland/Sweden | Match for 7th place | 7th of 32 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 272 | 233 | +39 |
| // 2025 Croatia/Denmark/Norway | Quarter finals | 5th of 32 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 216 | 183 | +33 |
| 2027 Germany | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| / 2029 France/Germany | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| // 2031 Denmark/Iceland/Norway | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Total | Qualified: 18/29 | Qualified: 18/29 | 130 | 60 | 8 | 62 | 3317 | 3284 | +33 |

### African Championship

| Edition | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 1974 Tunisia | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1976 Algeria | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified | Disqualified |
| 1979 People's Republic of the Congo | Final | Runners-up | | | | | | | |
| 1981 Tunisia | Bronze Medal Match | 4th of 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | | | |
| 1983 Egypt | Bronze Medal Match | 4th of 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | |
| 1985 Angola | Bronze Medal Match | 4th of 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 118 | 123 | −5 |
| 1987 Morocco | Final | Runners-up | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 82 | 90 | −8 |
| 1989 Algeria | Final | Runners-up | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 89 | 81 | +8 |
| 1991 Egypt | Final | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 61 | +62 |
| 1992 Ivory Coast | Final | Champions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | | | |
| 1994 Tunisia | Bronze Medal Match | 3rd of 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | | | |
| 1996 Benin | Bronze Medal Match | 3rd of 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 146 | 112 | +34 |
| 1998 South Africa | Bronze Medal Match | 3rd of 10 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 210 | 117 | +93 |
| 2000 Algeria | Final | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 175 | 100 | +75 |
| 2002 Morocco | Bronze Medal Match | 3rd of 12 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 142 | 106 | +36 |
| 2004 Egypt | Final | Champions | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 250 | 147 | +103 |
| 2006 Tunisia | Final | Runners-up | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 184 | 129 | +55 |
| 2008 Angola | Final | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 152 | 117 | +35 |
| 2010 Egypt | Final | Runners-up | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 208 | 144 | +64 |
| 2012 Morocco | Bronze Medal Match | 3rd of 12 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 239 | 161 | +78 |
| 2014 Algeria | Bronze Medal Match | 3rd of 12 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 217 | 166 | +51 |
| 2016 Egypt | Final | Champions | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 233 | 139 | +94 |
| 2018 Gabon | Final | Runners-up | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 213 | 164 | +49 |
| 2020 Tunisia | Final | Champions | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 237 | 152 | +85 |
| 2022 Egypt | Final | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 176 | 109 | +67 |
| 2024 Egypt | Final | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 198 | 121 | +77 |
| Total | Qualified: 24/26 | Qualified: 24/26 | 138 | 114 | 2 | 22 | 3392 | 2339 | +1053 |

### All-Africa Games

* 1965 –
* 1973 –
* 1987 –
* 1991 –
* 1995 –
* 1999 –
* 2003 –
* 2007 –
* 2011 –
* 2015 –
* 2019 –
* 2023 –

### Mediterranean Games

* 1979 – 6th
* 1991 –
* 1993 – 4th
* 1997 – 6th
* 2005 – 5th
* 2013 –
* 2022 –

### Unofficial tournaments
#### MENA Games

* 1961 –
* 1965 –
* 1992 –
* 1999 –
* 2007 –
* 2011 –

#### Islamic Solidarity Games

* 2005 –

## Team
### Current squad

Roster for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship.]
Head coach: Juan Carlos Pastor
* No.
* Pos.
* Name
* Date of birth (age)
* Height
* App.
* Goals
* Club
* 5
* RB
* Yahia Omar
* (1997-09-09) 9 September 1997 (age 27)
* 1.95 m
* 68
* 252
* Paris Saint-Germain
* 7
* CB
* Seif Hany
* (2000-06-10) 10 June 2000 (age 24)
* 1.84 m
* 0
* 0
* Al Ahly
* 10
* LB
* Abdelrahman Abdou
* (1996-01-30) 30 January 1996 (age 29)
* 1.96 m
* 21
* 25
* Al Ahly
* 15
* LB
* Ahmed Hesham
* (2000-05-15) 15 May 2000 (age 24)
* 1.91 m
* 64
* 94
* Montpellier Handball
* 17
* CB
* Ahmed Khairy
* (1994-09-15) 15 September 1994 (age 30)
* 1.88 m
* 20
* 21
* Al Ahly
* 20
* LW
* Belal Massoud
* (2004-02-08) 8 February 2004 (age 21)
* 1.82 m
* 0
* 0
* Al Ahly
* 21
* P
* Mohamed Tarek
* (2002-01-15) 15 January 2002 (age 23)
* 2.02 m
* 6
* 2
* Zamalek
* 24
* P
* Ibrahim El-Masry
* (1989-03-11) 11 March 1989 (age 35)
* 1.96 m
* 274
* 84
* Al Ahly
* 45
* CB
* Seif El-Deraa
* (1998-09-19) 19 September 1998 (age 26)
* 1.87 m
* 64
* 113
* Limoges Handball
* 53
* RW
* Akram Yosri
* (1994-11-22) 22 November 1994 (age 30)
* 1.80 m
* 54
* 152
* Zamalek
* 55
* RB
* Mohsen Ramadan
* (1998-03-11) 11 March 1998 (age 26)
* 1.92 m
* 46
* 88
* Al Ahly
* 74
* P
* Yasser Abdelwahed
* (2000-12-08) 8 December 2000 (age 24)
* 1.94 m
* 0
* 0
* Al Ahly
* 79
* LW
* Ahmed Nafea
* (1997-09-01) 1 September 1997 (age 27)
* 1.82 m
* 5
* 32
* RK Vojvodina
* 80
* P
* Ahmed Adel
* (1994-11-25) 25 November 1994 (age 30)
* 1.84 m
* 33
* 53
* Al Ahly
* 88
* GK
* Karim Handawy
* (1988-05-01) 1 May 1988 (age 36)
* 1.88 m
* 181
* 2
* Zamalek
* 90
* LB
* Ali Zein
* (1990-12-14) 14 December 1990 (age 34)
* 1.93 m
* 316
* 480
* CS Dinamo București
* 91
* RW
* Mohamed Sanad
* (1991-01-16) 16 January 1991 (age 34)
* 1.88 m
* 177
* 430
* USAM Nîmes Gard
* 92
* GK
* Mohamed Aly
* (1992-11-13) 13 November 1992 (age 32)
* 1.90 m
* 21
* 0
* Sporting CP

### Notable former coaches

* Zoran Živković
* Irfan Smajlagić
* David Davis
* Roberto García Parrondo