There is no room for Zamalek's Mahmoud Abdel-Razek 'Shikabala' in Egypt’s 21-man squad for Thursday’s away match against fellow Arab side Qatar despite the player's recent superb performances in the Egyptian Premier League.

The 24-year-old apparently incurred the wrath of Egypt coach Hassan Shehata when he skipped the game against Australia at Cairo Stadium last month, citing a back injury.

Widespread reports suggested that the talented forward deliberately missed the match to enjoy the vacation of Muslims’ Al-Adha feast.

Shehata remains tight-lipped over whether he could recall him in the future but it seems that Shikabala fell out of favor with the highly-respected tactician, who guided Egypt to three African Cup of Nations triumphs in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Shikabala, who has produced some dazzling displays so far this season, is currently the league’s joint-top scorer with eight goals.

Egypt’s squad is also without European-based duo Mohamed Zidan and Ahmed Elmohamady. Borussia Dortmund’s Zidan and Sunderland’s Elmohamady were not able to join the national team due to their club commitments, as the Qatar friendly is not included in FIFA’s match calendar.

Shehata stuck with the squad that crushed Australia 3-0, calling up the likes of ENPPI trio Ahmed Abdel-Zaher, Walid Soliman and Islam Awad, and Zamalek midfielder Ibrahim Salah.

The match comes nine days after Qatar was awarded the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, becoming the first country in the Arab region and Middle East to be granted the honor.

Egypt squad:

Goalkeepers: Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed (Zamalek), Mohamed Sobhy (Ismaili), Amir Abdel-Hamid (Masry)

Defenders: Wael Gomaa, Sherif Abdel-Fadil (Ahly),  Mahmoud Fathallah, Mohamed Abdel-Shafy (Zamalek), Ahmed Dewidar, Mohamed Nagib (Ittihad El-Shorta) Ahmed Samir Farag (Ismaily)

Midfielders: Ahmed Fathi, Mohamed Abou-Treika (Ahly), Amr El-Sulaya (Ismaily), Islam Awad, Walid Soliman (ENPPI), Ibrahim Salah (Zamalek), Ahmed Eid (Harras Hodoud), Ayman Hefni (MCDR)

Strikers: Ahmed Abdel-Zaher (ENPPI), Mohamed Nagi ‘Gedo’(Ahly), Ahmed Hassan Mekki (Harras Hodoud)