Egypt — 2026 World Cup Squad

The Pharaohs land in Group G as the side everyone fancies to top it, and the maths is simple enough: get the ball to Mohamed Salah. The Liverpool talisman remains a one-man matchday plan, but for once he is not carrying the load alone. Omar Marmoush has gone from useful runner to genuine elite operator at Manchester City, and the prospect of those two combining off the front gives Egypt a cutting edge they have rarely enjoyed at this level.

Tactically this is a counter-puncher's team built on a sturdy spine. Mohamed Elneny shields from the base, Ahmed Hegazy bullies centre-forwards, and Mohamed El-Shenawy offers the kind of calm last line that wins tight knockout ties. Trezeguet, cutting in from the left, and Mostafa Mohamed give the attack width and a focal point, though the burden of creativity still falls heavily on Salah dropping in to knit play together.

The storyline writes itself. Salah has chased a deep World Cup run his whole career without ever escaping the group; at what is almost certainly his final tournament, the question is whether Marmoush's emergence finally gives him the supporting cast to do it.