Egypt has sacked national team coach Hossam Hassan, with the country’s football federation citing “a negative impact on the positive image of the team”.
Key Points
- Egypt sacks Hossam Hassan — the Egyptian Football Association sacked Hassan on Sunday, days before Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
- He was immediately replaced by Ali Maher, the long-time Egyptian Premier League coach.
- Egyptian media believe the reason was the publicisation of the coach’s personal life, not results.
- Hassan was banned last week from appearing in any media outlets by Egypt’s media regulator.
Hassan was appointed as Egypt coach in 2024 and became the first former Egypt player to coach the national team at a World Cup this year. Egypt were knocked out by Argentina in the last 16. He was immediately replaced by Ali Maher, a long-time head coach in the Egyptian Premier League who is currently leading fourth-placed Ceramica Cleopatra.
Hassan is one of the most famous figures in Egyptian football. As a striker he was the national team’s record goalscorer and a central figure in Egypt’s Africa Cup of Nations triumphs, and his appointment as coach two years ago was welcomed as a homecoming. But his tenure was troubled almost from the start: in October, FIFA suspended both Hassan and a player following criticism of a referee, and the media ban imposed last week by the Supreme Council for Media Regulation was the first of its kind against a national coach.
Maher has little time to settle in. Egypt, who top Group B, play Malawi on 13 and 17 November in qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Why Hassan was removed
The federation’s statement pointed to image rather than results, and Egyptian media believed the reason for the sacking was the publicisation of the coach’s personal life rather than rumours of disagreements with Egypt players, including the team’s star forward Mohamed Salah.
The move followed an extraordinary step last week, when Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation banned Hassan from appearing in any media outlets — an unprecedented decision against a national coach. The federation gave no further explanation for the decision, and Hassan has not commented publicly since the announcement.
What happens next
Maher takes charge of a team built around Salah and sitting top of its qualifying group. The two matches against Malawi will be his first test, and the federation will be hoping the change of coach steadies a camp that has spent the past week in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
For background on Hassan’s troubled tenure, see our report on the Egypt coach and player suspended by FIFA following referee criticism, and on Carlos Queiroz returning as Ghana head coach. More in our Sports section.
Sources: The New Indian Express (Associated Press), “Egypt sacks coach Hossam Hassan over ‘negative impact’ on team image“.