On 30 October, the Young Pharaohs advanced to the third and final qualifying round of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations after a 1-0 aggregate win over Eswatini.

In the first official test under the guidance of Brazilian tactician Micale, the Egyptian team held to a 0-0 draw away to Eswatini in the first leg, before securing a 1-0 win in the return match at home.

Egypt’s U23 team will now face Zambia in the next round in March 2023. The first leg will be at home on 19 March, while the return match will be away in Zambia eight days later.

Ahly duo Mostafa Saad and Ahmed Nabil Kouka were the prominent names in Tuesday’s announced squad alongside Zamalek’s Hossam Ahsraf and Mohamed Hossam.

The U23 Africa Cup of Nations will take place in July 2023 in Morocco, with the first three teams qualifying automatically to the 2024 Olympic Games.

Egypt will be attempting to defend their title won in 2019.

The full 22-man squad announced by Micale is:

Goalkeepers: Hamza Alaa, Aly El-Gabry.

Defenders: Mohamed Ashraf Bakry, Mohamed Maghraby, Mohamed Tarek, Yassin El-Sayed, Ahmed Eid, Mohamed Samir.

Midfielders: Mohamed Hossam, Mostafa Saad, Ahmed Nabil Kouka, Mahmoud Saber, Mahmoud Gehad, Aly Zazaa, Abdel-Ghany Mohamed, Emad Mayhoub, Ziad Kamal, Mohamed Shehata, Araby Badr.

Forwards: Abdel-Rahman Atef, Hossam Ashraf, Osama Faisal.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)