Egypt national under-23 football team

The Egypt national under-23 football team (Arabic: منتخب مصر الأوليمبى), sometimes called the Egypt Olympic Team, nicknamed The Pharaohs (Arabic: الفراعنة), is the national team of Egypt Under-23 and is administered by the Egyptian Football Association. The team's main objectives are to qualify and play at the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations and Olympic Games. As of Paris 2024, players need to be born on or after 1 January 2001 to participate but the team may be supplemented with 3 over-age players.

The team has played at the Olympic Games 13 times, with four of these being after the tournament became age capped. They're also the top-medalist at the U-23 African Cup.

History

Egypt's first ever appearance in football was in Antwerp 1920 where they played one match against Italy. This was the first official international match for the Pharaohs as they lost 2–1 on August 20, 1920. Egypt would later qualify for 9 straight tournaments from 1920 to 1964. With their best result achieved being Fourth Place in Amsterdam 1928 and Tokyo 1964, this means that Egypt is the best team that never won a medal at the Olympics (most 4th-place finishes without a higher finish).

Egypt has had limited success since 1992, when the tournament first became locked for U-23 players. Egypt qualified to the 2012 Olympics after beating Senegal in the Bronze Metal Match. In the Olympics, they placed second in their group after a loss against Brazil, a draw with New Zealand and a win against Belarus. Their run was abruptly stopped by a 3-0 loss to Japan in the quarterfinals. They missed out on Rio 2016 but reached Tokyo 2020 as African Champions after winning the U-23 tournament at home. They placed second in their group after a nil-nil draw with European Champions Spain, a loss against South American Champions Argentina and a 2-0 win against Australia. They lost 1-0 at the quarterfinals to eventual gold-medalist Brazil.

Egypt qualified for the 2024 tournament after placing second in the 2023 U-23 African Cup. This marks the first time they play in successive tournaments since Tokyo 1964.

Results and fixtures

Legend  Win

  Draw   Lose   Fixture

2022

2023

2024

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Ghana and Congo on 15 , 20 June and the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations between 24 June and 8 July 2023.

Previous squads

• 1920 Summer Olympics squad
• 1924 Summer Olympics squad
• 1928 Summer Olympics squad
• 1936 Summer Olympics squad
• 1948 Summer Olympics squad
• 1952 Summer Olympics squad
• 1960 Summer Olympics squad
• 1964 Summer Olympics squad
• 1984 Summer Olympics squad
• 1992 Summer Olympics squad
• 2012 Summer Olympics squad
• 2020 Summer Olympics squad

Overage players in Olympic Games

Competitive record

Olympic Games

• Prior to the 1992 Olympic Games campaign, the Olympic football tournament was open to full senior national teams.
• Egypt withdrew from the 1956 Football tournament and boycotted the 1980 Olympics after qualifying for both.

Africa U-23 Cup of Nations

African Games

• Prior to the Cairo 1991 campaign, the All-Africa Games was open to full senior national teams

See also

• Sport in Egypt
• Football in Egypt
• Egypt national football team
• Egypt national under-20 football team
• Egypt national under-17 football team
• Egypt national futsal team
• Egypt national beach soccer team

References

1. Uzbekistan national under-23 football team
2. Iraq national under-23 football team
3. Qatar national under-23 football team
4. Saudi Arabia national under-23 football team
5. Egypt national football team
6. South Korea national under-23 football team
7. Japan national under-23 football team
8. Australia men's national under-23 soccer team
9. Brazil national under-23 football team
10. Spain national under-23 football team
11. Morocco national under-23 football team
12. Mali national under-23 football team
13. Argentina national under-23 football team
14. United Arab Emirates national under-23 football team
15. Nigeria national under-23 football team
16. Egypt national under-20 football team
17. Egypt national under-17 football team
18. New Zealand men's national under-23 football team
19. Dominican Republic national under-23 football team
20. Senegal national under-23 football team