Mohamed El Shenawy’s Egypt dispute with Hossam Hassan linked to World Cup promise

A reported disagreement between Mohamed El Shenawy and Egypt manager Hossam Hassan began with a promise over the goalkeeper’s selection for the national team’s World Cup 2026 match against Iran, rather than solely with his recent injury.

El Shenawy, Al Ahly’s goalkeeper, is believed to have become frustrated with the Egypt coaching staff after an incident before the third group-stage game against Iran during the Pharaohs’ World Cup 2026 campaign.

According to journalist Karim Rizqallah, the tension started when El Shenawy was told he would start against Iran if Egypt secured qualification for the next round. Egypt came close to confirming their progress before the match, but the team sheet announced on the day listed Mostafa Shobeir in goal instead.

That decision reportedly angered Al Ahly captain El Shenawy, who felt the earlier agreement had not been honoured.

The dispute comes as El Shenawy prepares to return to contention for Egypt after recovering from injury. He had been injured while playing for Al Ahly before Hossam Hassan named his squad for the forthcoming fixtures against Angola and South Sudan on 25 and 29 September, the opening two matches of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

Egypt are also scheduled to play South Africa in a friendly on 4 October.

Request to clarify the decision

Rizqallah said El Shenawy expressed his dissatisfaction after the national team bus arrived at the stadium for the Iran match. He reportedly told one of the team administrators that he was upset and asked for his position to be passed on to Ibrahim Hassan.

The goalkeeper was also said to have suggested that he might not sit on the substitutes’ bench, particularly because four goalkeepers were included in the matchday squad.

Ibrahim Hassan intervened to try to settle the situation before he and Hossam Hassan met with both El Shenawy and Shobeir.

During that meeting, Hossam Hassan reportedly explained to Shobeir that he had previously promised El Shenawy the chance to start. He then asked Shobeir to allow El Shenawy to play from the beginning, a request Shobeir accepted without objection.

Team sheet prevented late change

The proposed switch was ultimately abandoned after administrator Walid Badr informed the coaching staff that the official match sheet, known as the “score sheet”, had already been submitted to the organising committee.

Any alteration at that stage would have counted as the team’s first official change of the match. As a result, the announced line-up remained unchanged and Shobeir started against Iran.

El Shenawy initially understood the explanation, but the account suggests he later began to suspect that the episode had been carefully staged to calm his anger and manage his objection to the unfulfilled promise.

The incident is now regarded as one of the reasons for the strained relationship between El Shenawy and the Egypt coaching staff, with the goalkeeper due to come back into national-team consideration following his recovery.