Football is the main sport in Egypt. Egyptians gather around to watch various Egyptian clubs and the Egyptian national football team play almost on a daily basis.
The most popular Egyptian clubs are El Ahly and El Zamalek, both which are based in Cairo. In the Egyptian Premier League, the main competition is split between these two teams making the majority of Egyptians rooting for either team. Fans call themselves Ahlaweyeen or Zamalkaweyeen while leaving the rest rooting for the other teams in the league. These two teams create the greatest football rivalry in Africa. The Cairo Derby is one of the most popular derbies in the world.
There's very little competition in Egypt. This is due to corruption since Egyptian Referees often 'help' Ahly and Zamalek by giving them fake penalties and giving unnecessarily huge amounts of extra time[citation needed]. Fans will often riot if either of these two teams lose. A notable example would be the Port Said Stadium riot.
Lesser popular teams are Ismaily, Wadi Degla, El-Masry and El Ittihad El Sakndary, El Itihad and El Mokawloon SC. It is notable that only El Mokawloon out of all these teams is based in Cairo.
Video Football in Egypt
Premier League
The Egyptian Premier League (League A) has twenty teams.
There is no official English translation or title for the Egyptian League.
Due to Sponsorships the official name of the league is the Etisalat Premier League. The league was also called Vodafone Premier League back in the 2006/2007 for the same reasons.
Maps Football in Egypt
National football team's achievements
The Egypt national football team, also known under the nickname of The Pharaohs, is, as their name states, the national team of Egypt and is administered by the Egyptian Football Association. The team was founded in 1921. The team has won multiple cups over the years. They won the African Cup of Nations 7 times. Egypt won the inaugural Cup in 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. Making them record holders of most African cup wins and most wins in a row (for winning 3 times in a row). This arguably makes them the best in Africa.
Their highest FIFA ranking was in July 2010 where they were ranked 9th in the world, making it their greatest achievement. They were the first from an African country and also, from an Arab country to participate in the World Cup when they played in 1934, losing to Hungary 4-2. Although they lost, they are still considered one of the strongest teams in Africa.
Egypt played their second World Cup in 1990, where they didn't pass through the first stage after tying Ireland, Netherlands and losing to England 1-0 in what still remains their last World Cup game.
Egypt Qualified for the 2018 World Cup which was the first time in 28 years. They were placed in Group A with hosts Russia, Uruguay and KSA.
Africa
- Africa Cup of Nations
- Winners (7): 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010 (Most successful team)
- Runners-up (2): 1962, 2017
- Third place (3): 1963, 1970, 1974
- Fourth place (3): 1976, 1980, 1984
- All-Africa Games
- Champions (2): 1987, 1995
- Third place (1): 1973
- Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
- Runners-up (2): 1988, 2007
- Nile Basin Tournament
- Champions (1): 2011 (Most successful team)
Other
Egypt won the 1955 Mediterranean games. They were also runners up in the 1951 tournament.
Egypt's best place in the Olympics was fourth place in 1928 and 1964.
In 2014, Egypt was one of the eight nations to take part in the first Unity World Cup.
They have won the Pan-Arab Games 4 times, the Arab Cup in 1992 and the Palestine Cup twice.
Stadiums
Egypt has a total of 27 soccer stadiums spread around the country. The main stadium used to be Cairo International Stadium but when the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria was built, it replaced it. The stadium has become the home stadium for the Egyptian National Team. This stadium carries a capacity of 86,000 which is great for all the fans who watch the Egyptian Premier League games. The reason the Stadium was built was because of Egypt's 2010 bid for the World Cup.
Egypt has hosted 4 African Cups in 1959, 1974, 1986 and 2006. The country also hosted the 1997 U-17 World Cup and the 2009 U-20 World Cup.
See also
- Egypt Cup
- Egyptian Premier League
- Egyptian Super Cup
- Sultan Hussein Cup
- List of football clubs in Egypt
- Women's football in Egypt
References
External links
- Soccer Egypt Dot Com
Source of article : Wikipedia
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