The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from Egypt

This page contains a list of the greatest Egyptian Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 58 of which were born in Egypt. This makes Egypt the birth place of the 52nd most number of Soccer Players behind Ecuador, and Morocco.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Egyptian Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Egyptian Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Egyptian Soccer Players.

1. Abdulrahman Fawzi (1909 - 1988)

With an HPI of 55.43, Abdulrahman Fawzi is the most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.

Abdelrahman Fawzy (Arabic: عبدالرحمن فوزي) (August 11, 1909 – October 16, 1988) was an Egyptian professional football player and manager, who played as a centre forward. He played for Al-Masry SC and Zamalek SC (where he spent most of his career) as well as the Egypt national football team. He took part at the 1934 FIFA World Cup, where he scored twice for Egypt in their 4–2 loss against Hungary, which was the first time (and the only time before 1970) that an African team had competed at the FIFA World Cup. He was thus, the first African footballer to score at the World Cup. He would have been the first African to score a hat trick at the World Cup (a feat not yet achieved by any African footballer to date) but his third goal was disallowed. The Egyptian goalkeeper that day, Mustafa Mansour, later said: "When the game was 2–2, my colleague Fawzy took the ball from the centre and dribbled past all the Hungarian players to score a third goal. But the referee cancelled the goal as an offside!"

2. Hassan Shehata (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 54.46, Hassan Shehata is the 2nd most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Hassan Shehata (Egyptian Arabic: حسن شحاتة; born 19 June 1947) is an Egyptian retired football manager and former professional football player who played as a forward. He is considered as one of the best forwards in the history of African football. He was nicknamed the "Master". As a manager, Shehata led Egypt to three consecutive Africa Cup of Nations titles, in 2006, 2008 and 2010. He is the first ever coach to win three consecutive Africa Cup of Nations titles. Shehata is one of only two coaches to win the Africa Cup three times, along with Ghana's Charles Gyamfi. As a player, Shehata is widely regarded the best of his generation. He is considered one of the greatest Egyptian footballers of all time. He scored some memorable goals that lived in the fans' memories. The songs and chants that the fans sang in his name are considered eternal in the memory of football fans in Egypt. Shehata started his career in Zamalek, he played almost his whole career with the Cairo giants. He was a prolific goal scorer and is considered one of Zamalek's top scorers of all-time. In 1974, Shehata came 3rd in the African Player of the Year by France Football. Despite not winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt as a player and only obtaining a bronze medal in the 1974 edition, however, as a manager, he managed to win the title for three consecutive times, becoming the only manager to make this achievement. He stated in a press release that he is proud to be affiliated with the Zamalek Club, and stressed that he had spent the best days of his life inside the White Castle (Zamalek), and he was associated with great players during his career as a player in the team. Shehata pointed out that he is very proud of the Zamalek fans, who created the fame and stardom of all the players who played for the club throughout its long history, and that he considers the Zamalek fans to be the number one player in the system, and their support for the team has not differed over the ages.

3. Mohamed Salah (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 53.82, Mohamed Salah is the 3rd most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 85 different languages.

Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (Arabic: محمد صلاح حامد محروس غالي, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæˈħam.mæd sˤɑˈlɑːħ ˈɣæːli]; born 15 June 1992), known as Mohamed Salah or Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or forward for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt national team. Regarded as one of the best players of his generation and among the greatest African players of all time, he is known for his clinical finishing, dribbling and speed. Salah started his senior career in 2010 playing for Al Mokawloon Al Arab, departing in 2012 to join Basel, where he won two Swiss Super League titles. In 2014, Salah joined Chelsea for a reported fee of £11 million, but limited gametime led to successive loans to Fiorentina and Roma, who later signed him permanently for €15 million. In the 2016–17 season, Salah was a key figure in Roma's unsuccessful title bid, reaching double figures in both goals and assists. In 2017, Salah was transferred to Liverpool for £36.9 million, a club record at the time. In his first season, he set the record for most Premier League goals scored (32) in a 38-game season and helped Liverpool to the 2018 UEFA Champions League final. Having formed a formidable attacking trio with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané after the departure of Philippe Coutinho, Salah went on to be an integral player in the club's Champions League and Premier League title successes in the following two seasons, and has since also won the FA Cup, EFL Cup and FA Community Shield. Salah has achieved numerous individual accolades, including two PFA Players' Player of the Year awards, three Premier League Golden Boots, the Premier League Player of the Season, the Premier League Playmaker of the Season, finished third for the Best FIFA Men's Player in 2018 and 2021, and finished fifth in the 2019 and 2022 FIFA Ballon d'Or. He received the 2018 FIFA Puskás Award for his winning strike in the first Merseyside derby of the 2017–18 season. In 2023, Salah became Liverpool's top Premier League goalscorer, and became the fifth player to score 200 goals for the club. At international level, Salah represented Egypt at youth level before making his senior debut in 2011. Following his performances at the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was named CAF Most Promising African Talent of the Year. Since then, he finished as runner-up in the 2017 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, and was top scorer during CAF qualification as Egypt qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Salah was named CAF African Footballer of the Year (2017 and 2018), BBC African Footballer of the Year (2017 and 2018), and was selected in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament, 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament and the CAF Team of the Year on several occasions. Salah is regarded as a symbol of national pride in Egypt for his achievements and was named in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in 2019. Salah has also been credited for raising the profile of Liverpool among Egyptians. To Egyptians, Salah is known as the "Fourth Pyramid". Favoured across the Arab world, Salah is often known as the "Pride of the Arabs".

4. Essam El Hadary (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 51.20, Essam El Hadary is the 4th most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 41 different languages.

Essam Kamal Tawfiq El Hadary (Arabic: عصام كمال توفيق الحضري; born 15 January 1973) is an Egyptian goalkeeping coach and former professional footballer. Nicknamed the "High Dam", El Hadary spent the largest portion of his club career with Al Ahly, with whom he won eight Egyptian Premier League titles, four Egypt Cups, four Egyptian Super Cups, four CAF Champions League titles, three CAF Super Cups, one Arab Club Champions Cup, and two Arab Super Cups. Third on the list of all-time appearances for Egypt, El Hadary made 159 international appearances for his nation between 1996 and 2018. He won the Africa Cup of Nations four times, and was named the tournament's best goalkeeper on three occasions. In the 2018 World Cup, at the age of 45 years and 161 days, he became the oldest player in history to play in a World Cup match. After his retirement, he was very close to being the goalkeeping coach of Étoile Sahel of Tunisia, to be part of the technical staff under the leadership of Jorvan Vieira after agreeing to sign the contract, but his mother's illness forced him to step back in the end.

5. Mahmoud El-Gohary (1938 - 2012)

With an HPI of 50.85, Mahmoud El-Gohary is the 5th most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Mahmoud Nuseir Youssef El-Gohary (Arabic: محمود نصير يوسف الجوهري; 20 February 1938 – 31 August 2012) was an Egyptian footballer and football coach.

6. Mahmoud El Khatib (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 50.81, Mahmoud El Khatib is the 6th most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Mahmoud Ibrahim Ibrahim El Khatib (Arabic: محمود إبراهيم إبراهيم الخطيب; born 30 October 1954), popularly nicknamed Bibo (Arabic: بيبو), is an Egyptian retired footballer and current President of Al Ahly. He is considered as one of the best forwards in the history of African football.

7. Hossam Hassan (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 50.21, Hossam Hassan is the 7th most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Hossam Hassan Hussein (Egyptian Arabic: حسام حسن حسين; born 10 August 1966) is an Egyptian former professional football player who played as a striker, and current coach of the Egyptian national team. A prolific goal scorer, he is Egypt's all-time top scorer with 69 goals in 177 appearances. His twin brother Ibrahim also played professional football, and they shared teams for most of their extensive careers. Hassan represented the national team in the 1990 World Cup and seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He is regarded as one of the best players in African football history and is the 15th most capped player in men's international football. A prolific scorer, he is the 2nd in the list of the Egyptian Premier League's all-time top scorers. Hassan is one of his country's best players of all time.

8. Ahmed Hassan (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 49.27, Ahmed Hassan is the 8th most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Ahmed Hassan Kamel Hussein (Egyptian Arabic: أحمد حسن كامل حسين; born 2 May 1975) is an Egyptian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or on the right wing. He is the fourth most capped international male footballer in history, having made 184 appearances for the Egypt national team. Hassan is regarded as one of the best players in African football history.

9. Ad-Diba (1927 - 2016)

With an HPI of 48.13, Ad-Diba is the 9th most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Mohamed Diab Al-Attar, known as Ad-Diba, (Arabic: محمد دياب العطار‎; 17 November 1927 – 30 December 2016), was a footballer who played for the Al Ittihad Alexandria Club and the Egypt national football team. He later served as an international football referee. In 2007, he was named one of the 200 greatest African footballers of all time.

10. Mohamed Zidan (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 48.13, Mohamed Zidan is the 10th most famous Egyptian Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed Zidan (Arabic: محمد عبد الله محمد زيدان; born 11 December 1981) is an Egyptian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Mohamed Zidan was born in Port Said to an Egyptian family. His career started as a striker for his hometown club El Masry in 1998. Al-Masry dropped Zidan because of a perceived lack of passing ability, leading to his family moving to Denmark. In his first year in Denmark, while training with B93 for a contract, he played a few games for the Danish-Turkish club FC Anatolien, now Kokkedal BK, in Nivå in Northern Zealand. Zidan was scouted by the Danish Superliga club Akademisk Boldklub (AB) while he was juggling a ball at a Danish park in 1999. In June 2003, he moved to the league rivals FC Midtjylland (FCM), as AB experienced financial hardship. At FCM, he became the league's top scorer in the 2003–04 season, and he was awarded the Rookie of the year award, becoming Player of the Year the following season. In all, he scored 30 goals in 47 appearances for FC Midtjylland, and especially his nine goals in the first three games of FCM's newly built SAS Arena stadium, made the stadium colloquially known as "Zidan Arena". Zidan's performance in the Danish League had resulted in several top European clubs gaining interest in signing the striker. In the winter break of the 2004–05 season, he was loaned by German club Werder Bremen for the remainder of the 2004–05, with an option to buy in the summer. In the summer of 2005 he was bought by Werder for a fee believed to be around €3.5 million. On 31 August 2005, Zidan was loaned out to Mainz for the 2005–06 season. He went on to score nine goals in 26 appearances, seven as a substitute for Mainz. In the 2006–07 pre-season friendly matches, he retained his form with Werder Bremen, starting six of the seven matches he had played and scored four goals. Zidan's performance in the semi-final match of the 2006 DFB-Ligapokal against Hamburger SV on 1 August 2006, including bagging a goal in the 50th minute, earned him the man of the match award and ensured his club's qualification to the cup final. However, after a trail of injuries, Zidan was on the receiving end of less playing time. After months of speculations, following the limited playing time and injuries, Werder Bremen announced on 16 January 2007 that Zidan would be transferred to Mainz for a reported 2.8 million Euros fee, which made it the largest ever purchase in the club's history, passing his medical on 17 January 2007. He scored six goals in the first 5 matches with his new club, catapulting the team from last, to 10th place on 1 March 2007 with 27 points. The Egyptian talent also received 50% of votes by the Kicker magazine, and earned himself the title of "Player of the month" in February in Germany, while Mainz became "Team of the Month" in the German Bundesliga. Fans of Mainz loved Zidan since his loan spell with the red shirt in which he managed to dazzle them with his skills, talent, and goals. The most notable show of talent was in a game against Bayern Munich during the 2005–06 season. Zidan earned a man of the match award when he dribbled past Philipp Lahm and scored against Oliver Kahn. Whilst loaned to Mainz, Zidan scored a goal against the club he was contracted to, Werder Bremen, in 14 seconds. This marked it as the fastest goal scored in the Bundesliga season and is ranked sixth as the quick fastest scored goals in the Bundesliga's history. In an interview with Bild in Germany, Zidan admitted that he had high aspirations and had ambitions to play in either "Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool or Manchester United". He stated that he wanted to play for Barcelona within the next three years to play alongside Brazilian sensation Ronaldinho or Liverpool to play with Steven Gerrard. During the 2007 season Zidan contributed many spectacular goals, but could not save Mainz from relegation. The club had only been able to score 34 goals in the entire season, 13 of which, despite having played for less than half of a season, came from the Egyptian forward's feet. Unfortunately Zidan's hard-work and valuable solo contribution was insufficient to prevent Mainz from the depths of despair of being relegated to the second division. However, Zidan's work was noticed by number of top established clubs based in Spain, France and England as well as German champions VfB Stuttgart. Zidan's run of good form during the 2006–07 season fueled many transfer rumors, and major clubs as Hamburger SV, newly crowned German champions VfB Stuttgart and several Spanish clubs were named as possible future clubs. Mainz manager Christian Heidel was very keen to keep Zidan at the club, so the club could mount a promotion challenge for the 2007–08 2. Bundesliga season. On 3 June 2007, Zidan passed a medical and thereby completed his move to HSV. He said that he always wanted a move to the north-German club, because he still has many ties to Denmark. The transfer fee was suspected to be about €5.8 million. Zidan was handed the number 7 shirt, a number previously worn by Hamburger SV prized player and Iranian captain, Mehdi Mahdavikia. Zidan proved himself as a capable striker and could adjust to the new team in friendly games, often scoring when substituted or scoring four goals when he played the full game. Mohamed Zidan scored his first official goal for Hamburger SV in the away DFB-Pokal match versus Holstein Kiel. However several appearances in Hamburg's start to the Bundesliga saw Zidan goalless, and often substituted off before the full 90 minutes of the game. Zidan however proved himself as a dangerous striker and playmaker, as he was brought on as a substitute against Bavarian giants Bayern Munich in the 74th minute. Zidan scored his first Bundesliga goal for HSV in the 87th minute, with the goal bearing a lot of significance as it ended Bayern's early undefeated run in the competition and was the first goal that Oliver Kahn had conceded up until then and was also the third goal that Zidan has scored against Bayern during his years in the Bundesliga. He also scored Hamburg's only goal in the game against Real Madrid in the Emirates Cup which took place in the summer of 2008, and later only played one competitive game for Hamburg during the 2008–09 season, as a late substitute in the first round of the DFB-Pokal against FC Ingolstadt 04. Eventually, his time at Hamburg turned out to be for a short period. On 17 August 2008, Zidan's transfer from Hamburg to Borussia Dortmund was confirmed by both clubs' official websites as part of a deal that also saw Croatian international Mladen Petrić moving in the opposite direction, with both players signing four-year contracts. Dortmund also confirmed they had received an officially undisclosed transfer fee, which were believed to be worth around 5 million euro. His transfer to Dortmund reunited him with former Mainz coach, Jürgen Klopp, who was in charge of the club during Zidan's two successful spells there in 2005–06 and the second half of the 2006–07 season. He received the number 10 shirt. His first appearance with Borussia Dortmund was on 23 August 2008 against Bayern Munich in a game which ended 1–1. On 17 April 2010, Zidan suffered an injury in his knee that prevented him from playing for almost 6 months. On 3 May 2011, Borussia Dormund were crowned champions of the Bundesliga for the first time since 2002. On 31 January 2012, Zidan left Borussia Dortmund and signed a new contract with his former club Mainz. He scored once in each of his first six games for Mainz, becoming the first player in the history of the Bundesliga to score in each of his first six games with his new club. This surpassed VfB Stuttgart striker Fredi Bobic who had scored in the first five games for his new club in the 1994–1995 season opener. On 10 April 2012, he scored once and assisted two goals against Köln in a 4–0 win. At the end of the season, Zidan refused to sign a contract extension by rejecting a one-year offer, claiming that he wanted a two-year offer. On 31 July 2012, Zidan signed for Emirati club Baniyas, signing a two-year contract. In January 2013 he was omitted from the Baniyas roster for the rest of the season and decided to have his contract terminated. He was not registered in the club's squad list for the next season, so he did not play a single match in the 2013–14 Season. He left the club after his contract expired. He later described his stay in UAE as the biggest mistake in his life. Weeks before the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, the Egyptian Football Association sent a fax on 23 December 2005 to Mainz, asking for an international call-up for Zidan. There was no answer from Mainz or the player for that matter, and as a consequence he drew much criticism from the Egyptian fans and officials. He had allegedly chosen not to represent Egypt, as he felt he would lose his starting spot with Mainz. However, in an interview, after Egypt had won the African Cup of Nations in 2008, he stated that he did not play in 2006 was caused by a leg injury. In a January 2006 interview with the Danish tabloid newspaper BT, Zidan criticized the Egyptian Football Association for contacting Mainz during Christmas time when everybody was on holiday, and said that the Egyptian national team should have talked to him personally, as they had with Tottenham Hotspur striker Mido. He also said that the Egyptian head coach Shehata had not treated him well, and that the whole thing seemed too unprofessional for him. In April 2006, Hassan Shehata declared he would never again invite Mohamed Zidan to join the national team. He stated, "Zidan refused to join the team when we needed him most, before the Nations Cup. You can never count on these kind of players". During this time there was also talk about Zidan wanting to play for the Denmark national team, if Egypt did not want him. However, on 5 August 2006, just 11 days before Egypt's friendly match against Uruguay, Shehata backed down from his decision by calling up Zidan for the national team. However, Zidan remained doubtful for the friendly match against Uruguay due to an injury that forced him to miss Werder Bremen's season opener. Zidan was called to represent Egypt in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Burundi, where he scored his first international goal only five minutes after kick-off. In Egypt's 2008 Africa Cup of Nations opening Group C match against Cameroon, in a match hotly billed as the Group C decider for top and second spots in the group, Zidan turned in a strong performance, scoring two goals – helping the African Champions' cause for defending their title during an impressive 4–2 victory. Zidan was not out of the woods yet when it comes to controversy as he was reportedly injured in training with the national team before their match with Angola, ART reporter said that he thought that Zidan is being "spoilt", and that he refused to continue the warm up and treatment for him before the game, this was denied by Shawky Gharib the Egyptian Head Coach, Zidan and the Manager; Hassan Shehata. After missing a few games and a few starts after the display in the opening Cameroon game, Zidan was used as a substitute on numerous occasions, always posing a great threat to the opposition. He was used in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana as a striker, sometimes a lone striker, a winger and as an offensive midfielder. One of the most notable plays was in the final against Cameroon, when he applied pressure on veteran defender Rigobert Song and effectively wrestled the ball out of the defender's legs and managed to supply Mohamed Aboutrika for the winning goal. In Egypt's opening 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup game, Zidan scored two goals against Brazil in a 4–3 loss. He was called up to rejoin Egypt national team for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. He was Egypt's striker along with Emad Moteab. He played in the opening Group C match against Nigeria. He scored his a goal against Algeria in the semifinal, in a match that ended 4–0 to Egypt, and where he also assisted Mohamed Abdel-Shafy for the 3–0 goal. He supplied the final's winning goal, once again, but not to Aboutrika this time; this time it was Mohamed Nagy Gedo who got the winning goal. On 3 March 2010, Zidan scored the only goal for Egypt in a 3–1 loss to England. Zidan is unlikely to play for Egypt again after refusing to play a crucial qualifiers match against Central African Republic to fly off to China for a discussion with a Chinese club. Zidan also holds German citizenship. He was married to his long-time girlfriend Stina, who holds Danish citizenship, in 2014 in Germany. They have two children together, born in 2010 and 2014. In 2015, Zidan moved back to Cairo. In 2017, he married his current wife, Menas. They have a son born in 2018. In 2014, Zidan worked as an analyst at beIN SPORTS channel for matches involving German clubs. Scores and results list Egypt's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zidan goal. Werder Bremen DFL-Ligapokal: 2006 Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga: 2010–11, 2011–12 Egypt Africa Cup of Nations: 2008, 2010 Individual Danish Superliga top scorer: 2003–04 (shared) FC Midtjylland Player of the Year: 2003–04, 2004–05 Africa Cup of Nations Best XI: 2010 Official website Video on YouTube EgyptianPlayers news items at the Wayback Machine (archived 2 September 2006) SoccerEgypt profile at archive.today (archived 17 December 2012) Mohamed Zidan at DR (in Danish) (archived) Mohamed Zidan at fussballdaten.de (in German)

People

Pantheon has 80 people classified as Egyptian soccer players born between 1905 and 2004. Of these 80, 72 (90.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Egyptian soccer players include Hassan Shehata, Mohamed Salah, and Essam El Hadary. The most famous deceased Egyptian soccer players include Abdulrahman Fawzi, Mahmoud El-Gohary, and Ad-Diba. As of April 2024, 21 new Egyptian soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Ad-Diba, Magdi Abdelghani, and Ismail Youssef.