CAIRO, June 2 (Reuters) - When Egypt's all-time leading scorer Hossam Hassan headed the winner against Algeria to send his country to the 1990 World Cup, frenzied celebrations erupted across the soccer-mad nation.
Nearly four decades later, the 59-year-old has guided Egypt to the 2026 finals as coach but qualification this time was met with far less emotion, with supporters already looking ahead to how the team might perform on the global stage.
Egypt's previous three World Cup appearances were celebrated as achievements in themselves but with Africa now allocated almost double the number of places it had in 2022, simply qualifying no longer satisfies expectations.
Hassan now faces pressure to deliver Egypt's first-ever World Cup victory and erase memories of first-round exits in 1934, 1990 and 2018 — a modest return for a nation holding the record for the most Africa Cup of Nations titles with seven.
The Pharaohs have been drawn in Group G alongside Belgium, Iran and New Zealand, with realistic hopes of reaching the knockout stage for the first time.
"I see the ambition in the players. They want to achieve more than what Egypt did in past World Cups," Hassan told CAF's official website. "We need to perform better at the World Cup. This is my main goal."
SALAH STILL THE MAIN MAN FOR EGYPT
Mohamed Salah was 26 when he scored Egypt's only two goals at their last World Cup appearance in 2018 following a sensational debut season with Liverpool.
While Salah is no longer at the peak of his powers after an underwhelming final campaign at Liverpool, the 33-year-old remains Egypt's main attacking threat and sits two goals shy of Hassan's national scoring record.
Egypt will also rely on Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush for firepower, with the Premier League pair carrying the hopes of a squad largely made up of locally based players.
Hassan has also handed a surprise call-up to 18-year-old striker Hamza Abdelkarim, who is on loan at Barcelona's U19 side, at the expense of Nantes frontman Mostafa Mohamed.
"I trust my players because their level is very high, whether it's Mohamed Salah, Marmoush, or the players in the Egyptian league. They have great ambition," Hassan said.
Egypt open their campaign against Belgium on June 15 before facing New Zealand a week later and Iran on June 27.
(Reporting by Hatem Maher; Editing by Ken Ferris)
