Egypt moved a step closer to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 away victory over Ethiopia on Friday evening.
The win marked game five with five remaining in the six-team Group A.
(Al-Ahram Weekly went to press before Egypt were scheduled to play match No 6, against Sierra Leone in Cairo, on Tuesday 25 March. But whatever the outcome, and regardless of how the other teams fare, Egypt will still hold the all-important first place position in the group).
Against Ethiopia, Liverpool star Mohamed Salah opened the scoring on 31 minutes, latching on to a pass involving Hamdi Fathi who threaded the needle.
Nine minutes later, Ahmed Zizo doubled the advantage, beating the goalkeeper on his near post after an assist from Salah, the team’s captain.
Despite some resistance from the East Africans, Hossam Hassan’s men were never truly troubled.
The game was played in Morocco, in the Stade Larbi Zaouli, as Ethiopia was unable to host on home soil. There were only 300 people in attendance.
Egypt now have 13 points from five matches -- five clear of second-placed Burkina Faso -- and are closing in on sealing qualification to the 2026 finals in the US, Canada and Mexico.
In the first five games, Egypt picked up four wins. The winning run was ruined by a 1-1 draw in Guinea-Bissau.
Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone are in second with eight points each, Guinea-Bissau six, Ethiopia three and Djibouti at the bottom of the group with one point.
The top team in each of the nine groups earns a place at the finals in the US, Mexico and Canada, while the four best runners-up enter a demanding inter-continental playoff campaign for one further berth.
Since a record 48 teams will be playing in next year’s World Cup, nine countries are representing Africa, up from the usual five, with the possibility of 10 from play-off games.
For Ethiopia, it was another disappointing outing. With just three points from five games, their qualification hopes appear slim.
Ethiopia had beaten Egypt 2-0 in 2022 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier which helped lead to then coach Ehab Galal losing his job.
Egypt have not yet secured a spot at the 2026 World Cup finals, according to the team’s football director Ibrahim Hassan who insisted that fans’ attendance will play a key factor in the coming “difficult” game against Sierra Leone.
“We got three important points against Ethiopia. We haven’t qualified for the World Cup finals yet but we are close to doing so,” Hassan, the twin brother of the team coach Hossam, was quoted as saying by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) Facebook page after the Ethiopia game.
“The Sierra Leone game is challenging and there isn’t an easy game in the qualifiers,” Ibrahim added.
“I hope fans will fill the stands in Tuesday’s game.”
In November last year Egypt beat Sierra Leone 2-0 away in the first leg.
Egypt are looking to reach their fourth-ever World Cup, the last being 2018 in Russia. Hossam Hassan hopes to guide his team to next year’s World Cup, just as he did when he was a player at the 1990 edition of the tournament.
Hassan currently holds Egypt’s all-time scoring record with 68 goals, while Salah stands at 58, closing in on his coach’s historic tally.
Under Hassan, 58, Egypt have now won seven of 11 matches, losing just once. They’ve also kept six clean sheets during his tenure which began in February last year.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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