Egypt without Mohammed Salah and Abdel Moneim for South Sudan AFCON qualifier

Egypt will miss the services of influential duo of Mohammed Salah and Abdel Moneim ahead of their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, with the Pharaohs aiming to return to winning ways after being held to a goalless draw by Angola in their opening Group B fixture.

Hossam Hassan’s side will travel to Juba Stadium for the second round of qualifying, with the match scheduled for 3pm on Tuesday.

Egypt will be looking for an away victory to put their qualification campaign back on track, having dropped two points at home against Angola in their opening game.

South Sudan, meanwhile, began their campaign with a 2-1 defeat away to Malawi. The result allowed Malawi to move to the top of Group B ahead of the second round, where they will face Angola as they look to maintain their position.

The top two teams in the group will qualify for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals, which will be hosted jointly by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Egypt will, however, have to cope without captain Mohamed Salah for the trip to Juba.

Salah has been left out of the squad for the match because of concerns over playing on an artificial turf surface. The Liverpool forward has previously experienced problems playing on such pitches, prompting the Egyptian technical staff to leave him out of the trip.

Hossam Hassan subsequently called up Al Ahly Bank striker Osama Faisal as a replacement for the Egyptian captain.

Egypt will also be without defender Mohamed Abdel Moneim, who was excluded from the travelling squad because of medical concerns surrounding his previous cruciate ligament surgery.

Egypt team director Ibrahim Hassan explained that Abdel Moneim’s French club Nice had provided medical advice against the defender playing on the artificial surface at Juba Stadium.

“Mohamed Abdel Moneim was excluded from the squad travelling to South Sudan because he previously underwent cruciate ligament surgery and there are medical warnings against him playing at Juba Stadium,” Ibrahim Hassan said.

There is some positive news for Hossam Hassan, however, with midfielder Marwan Attia available again after completing his two-match suspension imposed by the Confederation of African Football.

Attia received the suspension following Egypt’s semi-final against Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. He subsequently missed the third-place playoff against Nigeria and Egypt’s opening qualifier against Angola.

His return gives Hossam Hassan another option in midfield as Egypt look to secure their first victory of the qualifying campaign. A total of 23 players took part in Egypt’s final preparations before the trip to Juba.

With Salah unavailable and Abdel Moneim also missing, Egypt will rely on the rest of their squad to overcome South Sudan and claim three valuable points in Group B.

The Pharaohs know that a victory in Juba would provide an important boost after their disappointing opening draw and put them in a stronger position before the qualifiers resume.

Below is the traveling squad:

Mostafa Shobeir, El Mahdi Suleiman, Mohamed Alaa, Abdel Aziz El Balouti, Mohamed Hany, Tarek Alaa, Ramy Rabia, Hossam Abdel Meguid, Omar Fayad, Ahmed Fatouh, Karim Hafez, Marwan Attia, Mohannad Lashin, Mahmoud Saber, Emam Ashour, Ahmed Sayed Zizo, Ali Mahmoud, Ibrahim Adel, Mostafa Zico, Haitham Hassan, Omar Marmoush, Osama Faisal and Hamza Abdel Karim.