Top 10 Egyptian Football Players of All Time
From Arsenal’s Mohamed El Nenny to Liverpool’s all-time legend, Mohamed Salah, there are many top Egyptian football players kicking the ball for famous clubs around the world.
Have you ever wondered who the
best Egyptian football players
are? Egypt, like all other nationalities, has many stars in several disciplines, including football. Without a question, the first name that comes to mind is the Egyptian Messi, Mo Salah. But who are the others?
Because there are so many
top Egyptian players
, it may be tough to narrow our selection down to just ten. However, because some of these names are on the list of
legendary football players
, we chose a few of them, taking into account their individual and international career, history, and accolades.
Best Egyptian Soccer Players of All Time
Time to go through our list of the best Egyptian soccer players of all time.
Mohamad Salah
Considered as one of the best players in the world, Mo Salah is the star who plays as a forward for Premier League club
Liverpooland the Egypt national team.
Nicknames as the Egyptian Messi, Salah is commonly known for his finishing, dribbling, speed, agility, and ball control.
After joining the Egyptian club, El Mokawloon, and Swiss side Basel, The 30-year-old joined
Chelseain 2014. Salah then joined Serie A clubs Fiorentina and Roma on loan before coming back to the Premier League to sign for Liverpool for a then club-record fee of £36.9 million.
With the Reds, he could break the Premier League scoring record for a 38-game season and he also received the Premier League Golden Boot after netting 32 goals in 36 league games.
Titles and achievements
PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2018 and 2021, third in the 2018 Best FIFA Men's Player award, The Premier League's top goalscorer, 2018 Puskas award, 2019 UEFA Champions League, 2019–20 Premier League, CAF Most Promising African Talent of the Year, the CAF African Footballer of the Year (2017 and 2018), BBC African Footballer of the Year (2017 and 2018), the Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament and CAF Team of the Year, 2017, 2019 and 2021 Premier League golden boot, African Player of the year in 2018 and 2019.
Ahmed Elmohamady
Born on 9 September 1987, Ahmed Eissa Elmohamady Abdel Fattah is one of the bests of all time on Egyptian football.
He started his professional career in 2004 with Ghazl El-Mahalla. The 35-year-old moved to Premier League club Sunderland in 2010, initially on loan from Egyptian side ENPPI.
He went on to make over 200 league appearances for both Sunderland and Hull City before joining Aston Villa during the summer 2017 transfer window. Elmohamady was part of the Egyptian squads that won the 2008 and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
Titles and achievements
2 Times African Cup winner, Football League Championship runner-up in 2012–13, FA Cup runner-up in 2013–14, EFL Championship play-offs in 2019, Hull City Player of the Year in 2012–13, EFL Cup runner-up in 2019–20, Africa Cup of Nations in 2008, 2010 and runner-up in 2017.
Mohamed Aboutrika
Known as Mohamed Aboutrika, Mohamed Mohamed Mohamed Aboutrika was born on 7 November 1978. As an Egyptian retired footballer, he has been regarded as
one of the best football players in the Egyptian football world
.
He played as an attacking midfielder and a forward during his professional football life for different clubs such as Tersana,
Al Ahly, and Baniyas, in addition to Egypt's national team.
He is often considered the best Egyptian player in history and is widely regarded as one of the greatest African footballers of all time.
He also came second in the African Footballer of the Year award in 2008 after Emmanuel Adebayor and was one of five nominees for the 2006 award, and one of the ten nominated for the 2013 award.
It is interesting to know that Aboutrika was the one to score the winning goal to help Egypt win the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. He also helped his club Al Ahly to win the bronze medal in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2006.
The all-time Egyptian player announced his retirement via Twitter on 20 December 2013, after Egypt failed to qualify to FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 in Brazil
Titles and achievements
BBC African Footballer of the Year, CAF Africa’s finest XI, African player of the year in 2009, 2012, and 2014, seven-times Egyptian Premier League title with Al Ahly, Egypt cup winner in 2006 and 2007, African Cup Nations in 2006 and 2008, 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Final: Man of the Match, Al Mountakhab Arab Footballer of the Year: 2008, World's Most Popular Footballer in 2007 and 2008, Africa Cup of Nations Dream Team in 2006 and 2008, African Inter-Club Player of the Year in 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2013.
Mohamed Zidan
Born on 11 December 1981, the Egyptian well-known player is one of the bests in Egyptian football.
He started playing football professionally in 1999 with AB. He joined Werder Berman in 2005 where his performance in the Danish League resulted in several top European clubs gaining interest in signing him and that was the beginning of the striker popularity.
He continued playing football till 2015 when he finally announced his retirement with El Entag El Harby.
Titles and achievements
Bundesliga title in 2010–11 and 2011–12 with
Dortmund, Africa Cup Of Nations in 2008, 2010, and Danish Superliga top scorer in 2003–04, SAS Ligaen top scorer in 2003-04, 2 times African Cup winner, German League Cup Winner in 2007.
Hossam Hassan
Known as the best Egyptian player of all time, Hossam Hassan Hussein was born on 10 August 1966. During his professional career, the Egyptian footballer played as a striker for many teams including Al Ahly, Zamalek, Al Ain, and Tersana, while he also kicked the ball for Egypt national team. Regarded as one of the best Egyptian football players of all time, Hassan is the second most capped player in men's international football.
It is also worth mentioning that he is Egypt's all-time top scorer with 69 goals in 169 appearances.
Another interesting fact about the player is that his twin brother, Ibrahim, also played professional football, and they shared teams for most of their extensive careers.
The 56-year-old legend was a key figure in three of Egypt’s AFCON triumphs and also traveled to the 1990 World Cup with the Pharaohs.
Hossam Hassan represented the national team in the 1990 World Cup and seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Titles and achievements
Eleven titles in the Egyptian league, African Cup Winners Cup four times, the CAF Champions League for two times. Being a part of the Africa Cup of Nations for seven times in 2006, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1992, 1988 and 1986 and winner of the cup for three times in 2006, 1998 and 1986 along with playing for the Pharaohs in the Italia '90 World Cup. Winning the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1987, African Cup of Nations Top Scorer in 1998 along with Benni McCarthy, Best African Footballer in the last 50 years in Confederation of African Football, and the Egyptian's League Top Scorer in 1998-99, and 2001–02.
Mohamed Elneny
The Arsenal star is our next best Egyptian player to talk about. Simply known as Mohamed Elneny, Mohamed Naser Elsayed Elneny was born on 11 July 1992.
Elneny is currently kicking the ball as a midfielder for Arsenal, while he also kicks the ball for Egypt national team.
He began playing football professionally in 2010, by signing a contract with
Al Mokawloon. He then joined Basel on loan and eventually joined the club permanently in 2013. His next Club was Arsenal where he still has a contract.
He won eight honors at Basel, including the Swiss Super League in each of his four seasons. In January 2016, he was transferred to Arsenal.
Elneny competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics for the Egyptian under-23 team and played for the senior team at the 2017 and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Titles and achievements
Four times Swiss Super League titles in 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, and 2015–16, FA Cup with Arsenal in 2016–17, 2017 FA Community Shield, 2017 and 2020 EFL Cup runner-up, 2018–19 UEFA Europa League runner-up, Africa Cup of Nations runner-up in 2017 and 2021, Africa Cup of Nations Team member in 2021
Essam El-Hadary
Our next
Egyptian football player of all time
to talk about is Essam Kamal Tawfiq El Hadary, who was born on 15 January 1973. The retired Egyptian goalkeeper was one of the bests, and was nicknamed the "High Dam”.
He has spent the largest portion of his club career with Al Ahly and has won eight Egyptian Premier League titles, four Egypt Cups, four Egyptian Super Cups, four CAF Champions League titles, three CAF Super Cups, one Arab Club Champions Cup, and two Arab Super Cups while saving the net for them.
El-Hadary is the third on the list of all-time appearances for Egypt, entering the 2018 World Cup, and has made over 150 international appearances for his nation since his debut in 1996.
That is not all his glory as he has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times, and was named the tournament's best goalkeeper on three occasions. It is also worth mentioning that over three Cup of Nations finals, he didn’t concede a single goal.
The last interesting fact to mention about him is that in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, at the age of 45 years and 161 days, he became the oldest player in history to play in a World Cup match.
Titles and achievements
A four-time Cup of Nations winner with Egypt in 1198, 2006, 2008, and 2010. Eight-time Egyptian champion with Al Ahly, One time Seuss cup winner, three-time Egyptian Cup winner, four-time Egyptian Super Cup winner, three-time CAF Champion League winner, and three-time CAF Super Cup winner.
Ramadan Sobhi
Commonly known as Ramadan Sobhi, Ramadan Sobhi Ahmed was born on 23 January 1997 and is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Pyramids and the Egypt national team.
Joining Al Ahly in 2014, he established himself in the first team at the Cairo International Stadium and helped the team to win the Egyptian Premier League title in the 2013–14 and 2015–16 campaigns.
Joining Stoke City in 2016, he spent two seasons with the team before joining Huddersfield Town in June 2018. He failed to establish himself at Huddersfield and he returned on loan to Al Ahly in January 2019.
Titles and achievements
Four-time Egyptian Premier League title in 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19 and 2019–20, Egyptian Super Cup winner with Al Ahly in 2014, 2015, and 2018, CAF Champions League in 2019-20, CAF Confederation Cup in 2014, Egypt Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in 2019, 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations Best Player of the Tournament.
Sam Morsy
Finally, yet importantly, there is Samy Sayed Morsy, who is commonly known as Sam Morsy. The 31-year-old was born on 10 September 1991 in England. Currently, he plays as a defensive midfielder for Ipswich Town and the Egypt national team.
Morsy started playing football with Wolverhampton Wanderers youth club in 1999. Later he joined Port Vale in 2008 where he joined the team’s senior team in 2009. He helped the club to secure promotion out of League Two in 2012–13.
Leaving Port Vale in 2013, the young star joined Chesterfield in July 2013, and played for the club in the 2014 final of the Football League Trophy, helping them to win the League Two title in 2013–14.
He was sold to Wigan Athletic in January 2016 and helped the club to win the League One title in 2015–16.
In Barnsley where he joined on loan in 2016 he became a key first-team player as they secured an immediate return by winning the League One title again in 2017–18.
Titles and achievements
Football League Two title in 2013-14 with Chesterfield and also football league trophy runner-up in 2013-14. Football/EFL League One with Wigan Athletic in 2015-16, and 2017-18. Port Vele Youth Player of the Year in 2009-10, Port Vale Young Player of the Year in 2010-11, and Chesterfield Player of the Year in 2013-14, Wigan Athletic Player of the Year in 2019–20.
Who else to add to this list? Let us know in the comment section below.
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