# Football in Egypt

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.
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.

## History

The first official football tournament was the Sultan Hussein Cup, which was launched in 1917. Zamalek was the only Egyptian club to participate in the tournament as a sign of resistance to the British and a way to display the Egyptian presence in the sport. Zamalek reached the final of the 1917 edition and eventually won the cup in 1921. This encouraged other Egyptian clubs to participate including Al Ahly which initially refused to take part, but in 1918, they decided to take part.

### Egypt Cup

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.
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

The Egyptian Premier League (League A) has eighteen teams. There is no official English translation or title for the Egyptian League. 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.

## National football team's achievements

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, 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 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, 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. 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, 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.
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.

### Africa

* Africa Cup of Nations
    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
* All-Africa Games
    Champions (2): 1987, 1995
    Third place (1): 1973
* Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
    Runners-up (2): 1988, 2007
* Nile Basin Tournament
    Champions (1): 2011 (Most successful team)

### Other

* Egypt won the 1955 Mediterranean games. They were also runners up in the 1951 tournament.
* Egypt's best place in the Olympics was fourth place in 1964.
* In 2014, Egypt was one of the eight nations to take part in the first Unity World Cup.
* They have won the Pan-Arab Games 4 times, the Arab Cup in 1992 and the Palestine Cup twice.

## Stadiums

Egypt has a total of 27 football stadiums spread around the country. 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. The reason that this stadium was built was for Egypt's bid for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
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

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

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. 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%).