Egypt have named a 25-man squad for the North African qualifiers for the 2027 African Youth Championship, with Al Ahly midfielder Mahmoud Salah included and Racing Santander player Bilal Attia left out.
The Egyptian Football Association has announced the squad ahead of the qualifying tournament, which will take place in Ismailia from 21 September to 6 October.
Egypt will host the qualifiers, with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya also competing for places at the 2027 African Youth Championship, which will be hosted by Ghana in February and March.
Salah is among the notable names in the squad after recently joining Al Ahly from Ghazl El-Mahalla.
The 25-player group contains three goalkeepers, nine defenders, 10 midfielders and three forwards.
Attia, who joined Spanish club Racing Santander several months ago, was not included in the squad. However, another young Egyptian player from the same club, forward Mohamed Haitham, has been selected.
Egypt’s full squad
Omar Abdel Aziz, the Zamalek goalkeeper, leads the goalkeeping group alongside Iyad Tamer and Youssef Al-Bashir.
The defenders selected are Iyad Medhat, Mohamed Abdel Basir, Abdullah Badir, Omar Al-Amin, Nour Ashraf, Mohamed Awad, Mohamed Farag, Hamza Al-Dajwi and Mohannad Al-Shami.
The midfield includes Mohamed Samir Konta, Mohamed Raafat, Omar Tharwat, Jonas El Mallah, Omar El Azab, Yassin Atef, Anas Rashdi, Mahmoud Salah, Mohamed Hamad and Adham Karim.
Mohamed Haitham, Ali Al-Jarhi and Mohamed Abdel-Fattah make up the attacking options.
Egypt’s qualifying schedule
Egypt will begin their campaign against Libya on 24 September in the opening round.
The young Pharaohs will then sit out the second round before returning to action against Tunisia on 27 September.
Their fourth-round fixture will be against Morocco on 3 October, while Algeria will provide the opposition in Egypt’s final match on 6 October.
The qualifying format means the top two teams in the final standings will secure places at the African Youth Championship finals in Ghana.
The tournament is scheduled to take place in February and March, giving the successful teams from the North African qualifiers a route to the continental competition.
For Egypt, preparations will now focus on the opening match against Libya, with the squad containing a mixture of players from domestic clubs and those developing their careers abroad.
The inclusion of Salah provides Al Ahly representation in the group, while Haitham’s selection gives Racing Santander another link to the Egyptian youth side despite Attia’s absence.
Egypt will have five matches available across the qualifying schedule, although they will not play in the second round because of the tournament’s format.
The final standings after the last round on 6 October will determine which two teams from the five-nation group progress to the African Youth Championship in Ghana.
