Ismaily relegated after 68 years of top-flight history

Ismaily have officially been relegated from the Egyptian Premier League to the Professionals League after a 2–1 defeat to Wadi Degla on Tuesday evening in the 10th round of the relegation phase.

Mahmoud Diasty scored twice for Wadi Degla in the 22nd and 62nd minutes, while Eric Traoré pulled one back for Ismaily in the 72nd minute.

The loss leaves Ismaily stuck on 19 points in 14th place, bottom of the mini-league table, while Wadi Degla move to 48 points, putting them eighth and top of the survival group. Ismaily have only three games left to play and trail Kahraba El Ismailia, who sit 10th as the first team outside the drop zone, by 11 points, making any late escape mathematically impossible.

This is the first time the famed “Dervishes” have dropped to the second tier in 68 years, the last relegation dating back to the 1957–1958 season. They collected just 11 points in the first stage of the league and added only eight more in the second phase, sealing their fate.

Ismaily had technically gone down last season as well, but the Egyptian league body scrapped relegation, handing them a lifeline they could not take this time. The club remains one of Egypt’s most storied sides, and with three league titles, they are the third-most decorated champions after Al Ahly and Zamalek.