Gone from the cup but not forgotten: Hossam Hassan, Egypt’s national football coach

Editor’s note: This piece was published before Egypt exited the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday after a match with the Argentinian national team.  “You can do it, Hossam… the young-old man. Hossam Hassan, Egyptian football’s Santa Clause, the man for tough moments,” the legendary commentator Mimi al-Sherbiny’s voice boomed as Hossam Hassan scored Egypt’s second goal against Congo in the quarterfinals of the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations that Egypt would later go on to win. This match marked the beginning of the national team’s run of three consecutive titles under Hassan Shehata.  It was February 3, 2006, and Hossam was 40 years old.  He cried after scoring. It would be his last goal for Egypt, bringing an end to a career that saw Hossam — in the words of Sherbiny — become “the chief goalscorer and the executioner of goalkeepers,” or, as former goalkeeper Ahmed Shobeir described him after his astonishing goal against Senegal in the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, “the man in love with the net, Egypt’s goalscorer.”  Older football fans will instantly replay a highlight reel of Hossam’s goals in their minds. They’ll hear the roar of the crowd as he scored Egypt’s opening goal against Algeria in 1989 — sending Egypt to the 1990 World Cup.  They’ll remember Mahmoud Bakr insisting “Hossam is not offside!” before Ronald Koeman, “the 13-million-dollar Barcelona player,” pulled him down, giving Egypt a penalty against the Netherlands.  Then there is Ahmed Effat’s long “Allaaaaah!” after his world-class bicycle kick against Saudi Arabia in 1992.  And Shobeir’s voice, over and over again, ringing out with each one of the seven goals that made Hossam the top scorer in the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations. A medley of voices commentating on his various goals in a national-team career that spanned over 20 years. Not to mention the iconic goals he scored for the clubs he played for — all of them part of his journey to become Egypt’s greatest striker. https://www.madamasr.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/hossam-hassan-embed.mp4 For veteran fans and footballers, these moments are etched into memory. But for younger fans, many of whom tune in only when the national team is involved, they are little more than a background that may be absent altogether. Their interest tends to peak when those events intersect with something beyond football, with political circumstances experienced by everyone. Some may only know Hossam as Egypt’s current coach, and as one half of the country’s most famous footballing twins, alongside his brother Ibrahim. In the mid-1980s, Hossam and Ibrahim emerged as standout talents in a rising generation at the Ahly club: one the finest defender in Egypt’s history — arguably its greatest right-back of all time — the other, the country’s best striker. They remained inseparable throughout their long careers at Ahly, interspersed with brief stints in Greece and Switzerland, then together again at Ahly’s arch-rival Zamalek SC, before winding through a succession of smaller clubs.  Hossan Hassan with his twin brother, Ibrahim. Until retiring in 2007, Hossam embodied the model striker. His talent was innate, but talent alone did not make the legend. What did was the layer he wrapped around it: determination, defiance and stubbornness that everyone who watched him noticed. Those who played alongside him turned into stories — stories of the countless times he played through injury, of his untamed desire to win, of his absolute refusal to lose.  Those stories blended with the many anecdotes that belonged to the twins, of passion, of motivation and recklessness, before anyone called it grinta. They include anything from Ibrahim snatching a rifle out of the hands of a Lebanese soldier guarding a friendly match in 1995, to Hossam, a coach by then, chasing after a photographer during an argument at the end of the match between Al-Masry and Ghazl al-Mahalla in 2016.  In the internet age, when people may follow international football more than the local game, many terms have entered the lexicon of fans, including grinta, the Italian word for grit and fierce determination, describing those who play with their hearts, who lift everyone around them, who “chew up the grass” with absolute ferocity. Had the term been around in their heyday, the twins would have been the kings of grinta with their overflowing and contagious enthusiasm and dedication that infected their teammates wherever they played.  Hossam Hassan chases a photojournalist during a match between Al-Masry and Ghazl al-Mahalla in the final round of the 2016 Egyptian Premier League.   From the altercation that took place between Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan and a Lebanese soldier during the friendly match between the Egyptian national team and the Al-Najma and Al-Ansar teams in Beirut. March 26, 1995 But grinta — all heart, all fight — was not Hossam’s only secret. It was just one ingredient in a much richer blend. The foundation was his exceptional talent, which he continuously worked to refine, trying to master all his tools as a player and a scorer: scoring with either foot or his head, from movement and from free kicks, from inside and outside the penalty area. It was as though he were challenging his personal abilities as much as he challenged everything that stood in his way, to prove he could take on any team, any opponent, that he earned his place, deserved to stand at the forefront and was capable of reaching still greater heights. It was a belief in his talent so complete it sometimes bordered on obstinacy. ‘Free to do as I choose’ When Hossam moved into coaching in 2008, he never matched the achievements he accomplished as a player. His managerial career, with a string of Egyptian clubs and once with Jordan’s national team, produced no trophies.  It seemed to rely only on the grinta that he instills in his players, without any notable tactical insights. He was never a proponent of “sexy football,” with its entertaining attacking style, frequent passing, possession and player rotation. Nor was he one of those coaches who advocate a stifling defensive approach, or what footballers call “parking the bus in front of the goal.”  He has always been a coach who relies on the players’ physicality, occasionally incorporating some technical elements. His blend has been characterized by his enthusiasm and an attempt to infect his players with grinta. And, just as he had as a player, he always insisted that his teams should fear no opponent, that he knows what he is doing, and that he is not to be questioned — drawing confidence from his long and legendary career as a player.  In 2024, Hossam took over as the coach of the Egyptian national team, a position he took on after many others — Egyptians and foreigners alike — had failed to achieve a real accomplishment that would satisfy Egyptians. The Egyptian Football Association decided to assign the task to the twins, after many years of them putting themselves forward for the position, as had been suggested by many fans in an attempt to restore the spirit and determination that had been absent from the national team for years.  As if repeating what he has been doing since he started playing, Hossam, the national team’s coach, continued to develop himself. In his first real test, last year’s Africa Cup of Nations, he played with defensive tactics, only to find that they could not take the team any further than fourth place.  He then showed a remarkable tactical change during this year’s World Cup, with more attacking approaches and better game management, appearing to have quickly learned from the continental lesson.  Even before that, while selecting his World Cup players, Hossam had slipped back into his original stubborn self, activating the “I’m free attitude” he once used in response to a broadcaster, who had asked him about the reason for substituting a player in a match, saying that he “sees things better than anyone else spouting their opinion.”  Courtesy: Egyptian Football Association’s official Facebook page. After “his achievement” of reaching the World Cup and topping his group in the qualifiers, Hossam chose for the tournament the players who spoke to what he believed was essential: those hungry for an opportunity, those he could infect with his enthusiasm, those he trusted to deliver.  He turned a deaf ear to a torrent of criticism — some of which was perfectly reasonable, such as the outcry over his decision to include a fourth goalkeeper at the expense of an additional striker, making Egypt the only team in the tournament that included a fourth goalkeeper among its 26 players. The two most prominent points in Hossam’s World Cup blend lay in the clever way he handled two things: Mohamed Salah and the fans.  Hossam, who spent his own career as the central figure on every team he played for and who coveted every opportunity to score, was never going to overlook the significance of what Salah has achieved or the scale of his influence, and not just in Egypt.  Many speculated that Hossam feared Salah’s brilliance would overshadow his own personal achievements as coach. But, drawing on decades of experience, Hossam stepped back just enough to allow his most famous player to become the team’s focal point: its leader, its driver, its example — the player who inspires his own generation and the rising stars who look up to him. Off the pitch, Salah became the face of the national team, while Hossam afforded him the respect that he deserved, as if agreeing to share leadership with him — but without forgetting to emphasize the importance of all the players, even if they themselves acknowledged Salah’s pivotal role and his unprecedented global stature.   On the pitch, Hossam followed his predecessors in relying on Salah as the sole attacking outlet, something that earned the team the nickname “the pass-to-Salah team.” But he also developed the team’s structure. Salah remained its biggest star, but not its only pillar, surrounded by a rich blend of players whom Salah himself helped give confidence to attack.  This resulted in a positive performance during the tournament, something the team had lacked for years. Hossam, meanwhile, credited himself  for having “played a major role in developing Salah” and using him “in a position no one in the entire world was used to seeing him play in.”  Hossam Hassan and Mohamed Salah after the Egypt-Australia match, July 3. Courtesy: Egyptian Football Association’s official Facebook page. As he adjusted his tactics, varied his selections, studied opponents and tried to draw from whatever football knowledge, assistants, analysis tools and data were available to him, Hossam continued to rely on his trusted magic ingredient that had accompanied him in his playing days: his relationship with the fans.  He tried to pass on his own belief — the genuine belief — that we can do it. That he was one of them — a hardcore, behind-the-goal daraga talta fan, driven by the desire to win. Someone who believes, with absolute certainty, that football’s true measure was sweat and dedication, that he was no less capable than any player in the world and that, given the resources, he could compete with anyone.  As the World Cup progressed, it seems that the fans gradually began to believe it as well.  What stands out about this version of Egypt’s national team is that it is associated with Hossam himself, not with Egypt’s football establishment.  Nothing within the establishment has fundamentally changed for years. There are the same structural problems. There is still no serious long-term planning to build a complete footballing project capable of producing a team like Morocco, the fourth-place finisher in the last World Cup and a team that now has ambitions to match or even surpass that this time around, after choosing to change the coach who delivered its last achievement, to suit a different phase. The Egyptian Football Association, meanwhile, turned to Hossam to placate the voices that had long been calling for him. After all, they had tried every other path, with little to show for it. And Hossam took us to the tournament we had repeatedly failed to reach — earning renewed confidence in himself and giving the federation every reason to stand behind him, at least until he fails.   Politics  Hossam’s national team qualified for the World Cup just as the tournament expanded from 32 to 48 teams. FIFA presented the move as a way of broadening competition and participation, while also increasing revenue through more matches, higher attendances and greater advertising money.  But the expansion also prompted questions about whether the tournament’s overall standard would decline, given that it would include teams that had repeatedly failed to qualify before, such as Egypt. This criticism was even echoed by some of football’s own officials, such as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) president who said that the larger format had created matches that were “uninteresting.” Thirteen national football associations rejected those remarks, ten of them African, including Egypt. In a joint statement, they stressed that “the strength of football stems from its global nature and from not being limited to a select group of countries and [we] emphasise that participation in the tournament inspires generations, contributes to the development of the game and is a source of pride and unity for societies.”  As the tournament progressed, the responses of the 13 federations seemed increasingly vindicated.  The group stage produced competitive matches and some remarkable results — including, of course, Egypt’s first ever World Cup victory. Egypt advanced to the next round for the first time, unbeaten, finishing second in its group behind Belgium, only on goal difference.  Nine out of the ten African teams that entered the tournament progressed to the Round of 32, giving Africa the highest qualification rate among the continents.  The Round of 32 was the perfect response to the UEFA president, as it saw European teams strongly favoured to win, such as Germany and the Netherlands, be knocked out by Paraguay and Morocco respectively. England barely managed to get past Congo, while Cape Verde gave Argentina a very tough time.  If the tournament reminded older fans of the enduring enthusiasm for poorer teams and the urge to cheer for the underdogs, its defining feature was the smell of politics mixed with the football — especially with the United States as co-host with Canada and Mexico. As much as many like to claim that sports are separate from politics, the UEFA president’s remarks about national teams came from a distinctly political worldview shaped by the divide between the Global North and Global South.  The punishing back-and-forth imposed on Iran’s team, forcing it to repeatedly cross between the US and Mexico before and after its matches, was politics. The arbitrary American refusal to grant a visa to Africa’s top Somali referee, forcing his exclusion from the tournament, was politics.  Even through TV screens, there was politics. For example, there was renewed attention to Mohamed Abu Treika’s love for Egypt and how he represents a role model for its players, who are now at the forefront of national football, despite his continued exile, reopening the door to political questions about why he remains barred from his country.  All of that came before politics swept over the game, trampling over its fundamental principles. FIFA’s president continued to bow down to his friend, US President Donald Trump, culminating in the unprecedented decision to suspend the disciplinary ban on an American player ahead of the Round of 16 match against Belgium, despite having been sent off with a red card in the previous match. Gianni Infantino tried to present the move as an internal procedure within the sporting system, but the claim was contradicted by Trump.  Despite the fierce criticism of this unprecedented move — which didn’t prevent the US from losing its match and exiting the tournament — it may have been a chance for the UEFA president to recognize what the real threat to the game is, after FIFA crossed what an angry European statement said is “a red line.” Amid all this politics, Hossam Hassan was present. He raised the Palestinian flag and dedicated the victory over Australia in the Round of 32 to the Palestinian people, prompting widespread Israeli anger and even wider Arab celebration.  Then he repeated the gesture on American soil, in a press conference before the Round of 16 match, with an unprecedented speech about Palestinians’ right to life, the world’s responsibility for their plight and the extent of its inhumanity.  For five minutes, he spoke spontaneously, in the way that has always been familiar throughout his career. And within those few minutes, he became the focus of attention across the Arab world, garnering support and celebration that transcended footballing and personal disagreements with him, whether before or during the tournament.  Hossam gave his team a huge boost of Arab support ahead of its greatest test: a face-off with Messi’s Argentina. Hossam Hassan celebrates with a Palestine flag after the match as Egypt qualify for the Round of 16 stage of the World Cup, July 3. Courtesy: Hannah Mckay/Reuters What now, Messi?  After this journey, after all the surprises and the countless cries of “Ya Masr, how do you do it?” after Egyptians found something they could unite around, something that allowed them to take over the streets, raise their voices and celebrate without security crackdown, but rather with official blessing and protection, after bringing back the family atmosphere that defines getting behind the national team, as was the case during the Africa Cup of Nations triumphs between 2006 and 2010. After all of this, do we dare hope that Salah’s team, prepared by Hossam’s blend, will overcome Messi’s team in today’s match? Throughout the history of the two teams’ meetings, Egypt has never beaten Argentina. They have never even managed a draw. Argentina remains a candidate to win the tournament and is the current titleholder, particularly as it has the best player in the world, if not in history.  But who said football only recognizes history? In their previous match, the Argentinians struggled against Cape Verde, the small African team making its World Cup debut. They barely managed to break through in extra time, despite having Messi. After the match, former French international player Thierry Henry said, “everyone now knows where Cape Verde is,” adding that numbers matter little if you truly believe that you can do it. What Henry said is not too different from what Hossam believes. Hossam said that since taking charge of Egypt, he has tried to make players focus on themselves, on their style of play, on imposing it on the field and on “playing in our own way, without worrying too much about the name of the opponent or its prominent players,” as he put it in the team’s pre-match press conference. He insisted his team is ready, even with Messi present, and that he “fears no one.”  And why should he, when he also has Salah, one of the best players in the world?  And so, as he approaches sixty, Hossam remains true to what he has been throughout his career: defiant and believing in his abilities to the fullest extent. That is what he needs to pass on to his players after fulfilling his most important role, drawing on his accumulated experience and the tools at his disposal. Perhaps then the miracle will happen. Perhaps the dean, al-Ameed, the “young-old” man, can prove he is still a star of the net, and that “you can do it, Hossam.” Courtesy: Egyptian Football Association’s official Facebook pageThe post Gone from the cup but not forgotten: Hossam Hassan, Egypt’s national football coach first appeared on Mada Masr.