FIFA World Cup 2026Sport
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan during a press conference before a match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup | Issei Kato | Reuters
New Delhi:When Egypt defeated Australia Friday on penalties to reach the Round of 16inthe2026FIFA World Cup for the first time in the nation’s history, the moment belonged to the players.But the architect of the Pharaohs’ historic breakthrough was coach Hossam Hassan.
Egypt took an early lead with a pinpoint header from Emam Ashour before Australia levelled the scoresheet from an own goal just a few minutes into the second half.
The Pharaohs eventually won the match 4-2 in the penalties.
Then came the image that quickly travelled across the Arab world. Standing on the field after the shootout, Hassan draped himself in the Egyptian and Palestinian flags before dedicating the victory not only to his own country but also to the Palestinians. Across Gaza and elsewhere in the Arab world, supporters celebrated alongside Egyptians
“May God grant them victory, may God have mercy on their martyrs,” Hassan saidin the post-match interview. “I’m dedicating this victory to the Egyptian people and Palestinian people, those kind and honourable people.”
Football has always been political in nature, but Hassan’s politics involves the art of doublespeak. Hassan speaks of Palestinian liberation in the same breath as he strangely sings a paean about his own military dictator, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Sisi’s military government turned the 2013 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters into a campaign of “state terror”. In a 2013Al Jazeeraarticle, professor Irfan Ahmed claimed the real terror was not only the mass killings but also ‘the abolition of politics,’ as arrests, censorship and repression repressed dissent. He argued that “the greatest obstacle to democracy is posed not by Islam but by military and intelligence organisations unaccountable to democratic authority,” and that authoritarianism remains Egypt’s central democratic challenge.
He had then posed a rhetorical question: “How many monsoons will it take to wash the stains of macabre bloodbath engineered against the resolute pro-democracy protesters by General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi-led military regime?”
Hassan’s optics of support for Palestinian rights fall flat on his unflinching support for his country’s military dictator.
Who is Hossam Hassan?
Hassan’s football credentials are unquestioned. Widely regarded as the country’s greatest striker, Hassan won three Africa Cup of Nations titles as a player before returning to guide the national team.
He made 176 international appearances and scored 83 goals for Egypt. He played in the 1990 World Cup and was the tournament’s top scorer in the 1998 AFCON
After taking charge of the Pharaohs as manager, he guided the squad through the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, becoming a legendary figure for multiple generations of Egyptian football
In the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Hassan prefers an organised, classic 4-4-2 system that focuses on narrowing spaces between the lines to strangle opponents. In that formation, rather than restricting Mohamed Salah to the right flank, Hassan deploys him centrally as a number ’10’ playmaker to dictate the tempo and feed striker Omar Marmoush
His strategy relies heavily on an aggressive defence, intensive pressing from the forwards, and swift counter-attacks that exploit the wings once possession is won
His public role, however, extends well beyond the touchline.
After Egypt defeated New Zealand on Wednesday, Hassan devoted much of his post-match remarks to Sisi, who had congratulated the team
The president’s message, Hassan said, was “a medal on my chest” and had “the effect of magic.” He went further, praising what he described as the “unprecedented development” of Egyptian sport under Sisi’s leadership
Such declarations have become characteristic of Hassan’s tenure. Since taking charge of the national team in 2024, the former striker has repeatedly portrayed Egypt’s football successes as inseparable from the country’s political leadership
After Egypt qualified for the World Cup, he argued that “success begins from the top of the pyramid,” saying the greatest reward he sought was an opportunity to meet the president. Sisi, he added, had “shouldered a great burden that no one else could bear.”
During an African Cup of Nations event in 2025, Egypt’s sports minister, Ashraf Sobhy, called on journalists and television analysts to refrain from criticising the coaching staff, saying they should support the national team “the same way we all have our military and political leadership’s backs”
Ironically, even criticism of Hassan has at times drawn legal consequences. In an unusual step for an international football manager, Hassan appointed a lawyer from Egypt’s Court of Cassation as his official legal spokesman, authorising him to pursue legal action against individuals accused of spreading rumours or creating division around the national team,TheGuardianreportedin a piece on Hassan’s politics.
Furthermore, this year, complaints were filed with Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation against television personalities who criticised Hassan and his twin brother, Ibrahim Hassan, the team’s director. One complaint argued that criticism of the coaching staff undermined Egypt’s “official national mission.”
Military & football go hand in hand
In Egypt, the military essentially runs the sports infrastructure, and Hassan endorses it wholeheartedly.
The national team’s shirt sponsor is Administrative Capital for Urban Development, a military-owned company responsible for Egypt’s new administrative capital. Match tickets are sold exclusively through Tazkarti, a platform requiring biometric fan registration and operated by a subsidiary of United Media Services, a media conglomerate linked to Egypt’s General Intelligence Service,The Guardianreport further added
Other subsidiaries oversee television broadcasting, commercial rights, stadium management and even official World Cup fan zones. The result is that nearly every interaction between supporters and the national team passes through organisations connected to the state
For Hassan, navigating that landscape appears almost inseparable from coaching itself. His recent dedication of Egypt’s World Cup victory to Palestinians demonstrated another side of his public identity, one that resonated deeply across the Arab world and reflected a sentiment shared by many Egyptians. Yet even that emotional gesture existed alongside his longstanding expressions of loyalty to Egypt’s political leadership
In Egypt, the country’s most successful football coach has become something more than a manager. He has become a reflection of how deeply the nation’s most popular sport has become entangled with power
(Edited by Saptak Datta)
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- FIFA World Cup 2026
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