Afsha, Sherif ruled out of Queiroz’s Squad for World Cup qualifiers

CAIRO-1 October 2021: Carlos Queiroz, Egypt national team head coach, announced his squad for the two crucial games against Libya in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The Portuguese coach did not include Al Ahly’s in-form stars, Mohamed Sherif and Mohamed Magdy Afsha, in the list in a surprising decision.

Afsha and Sherif are considered two of the best players in the country, having played a huge role in Al Ahly’s successes in the last two years.

Sherif, Al Ahly’s main talisman, finished the league campaign as top scorer with 21 goals while Afsha is enjoying the best days of his career.

Also, the Portuguese coach decided to rule out foreign-based players, Ahmed Yasser Rayan, Karim Hafez and Sam Morsy from the squad that will face Libya.

On the other hand, Queiroz decided to call up veteran defender Ahmed Fathy and Al Ahly’s defender Yasser Ibrahim while Stuttgart’s Egyptian striker Omar Marmoush earned his first call-up for the Pharaohs.

Egypt’s squad for World Cup qualifiers:

Goalkeepers:
Mohamed El Shenawy – Mohamed Abo Gabal – Mohamed Sobhy – Mohamed Bassam

Defenders:
Ahmed Hegzai – Mahmoud Hamdy El Wensh – Ahmed Fathy - Akram Tawfik – Baher El Mohamady – Yasser Ibrahim – Ayman Ashraf – Ahmed Fattouh  

Midfielders:
Mohamed Elneny - Amr El Soulia - Tarek Hamed – Hamdy Fathy – Ibrahim Adel – Ramadan Sobhy – Ahmed Sayed Zizo – Abdullah El Said

Strikers:
Ahmed Hassan Koka - Mostafa Mohamed - Omar Marmoush - Mohamed Salah

Egypt will face Libya at home on 8 October and the two teams will meet again in Benghazi on 11 October.

Egypt comes second in group F of the African World Cup qualifiers with four points, two points behind the group leaders, Libya.