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All ads start the same way. It may be a barber, an aunt or a relative talking to others about the FIFA World Cup, but they always think that Egypt will return home after the group.
Then the Egyptian football player pushes back: “For all the doubters, this time we will stay longer.”
It’s a row that’s running better than ever in a country of 120 million people, where Egyptian football fans wait with bated breath for the final group stage that will send The Pharaohs, as the national team calls it, to the unknown: the knockout stages.
This is why this commercial has captured the zeitgeist in Egypt:
Wrong history of Egypt Cup World Cup
Egypt was the first African and Arab country to participate in the World Cup, back in 1934. It has won the African Cup of Nations seven times. Football in Egypt is not just a game, it is a national identity, and The Pharaohs have always been proud and a true believer.
But the World Cup has been telling a different story. Prior to this tournament, Egypt had qualified only three times – in 1934, 1990 and 2018.
They have never won a single match. Fans still have painful memories of the penalty shootout loss to Senegal that saw Egypt exit the Qatar World Cup 2022.
What is different this time?
Everything – at least, it seems.
After two games at the World Cup, Egypt are top of Group G, ahead of Iran, Belgium and New Zealand.
26th-ranked Egypt were held to a 1-1 draw by Belgium – ranked 10th in the world – in their opening game. Then, it defeated New Zealand 3-1.
His four points are Egypt’s most ever at the World Cup. His four goals are Egypt’s most ever scored at the World Cup.
Now, on Friday night in Seattle – Saturday morning in Egypt – the team will face Iran in their final game. A win or a good performance will ensure that the Egyptian national team will enter the first round of the final.
If Egypt lose to Iran, they can progress to the round of 32, but their fate will depend on what happens in the Belgium-New Zealand match that will be held at the same time, and possibly, on the results of the games in other groups. Eight of the 12 teams that finish third in their group will also qualify for the next round.
So, in short, Egypt is about to go where it has never been before – and only a few concessionaires can deny the opportunity.
But it’s not just theater. One of the things that makes this year different, for many fans, is the identity of the big man standing outside the stadium, next to the Egyptian stadium.
Hossam Hassan is Egypt’s all-time leading scorer and one of the most iconic figures in the country’s football history. In 1990, he scored the goal that ended a 56-year wait and sent Egypt to the World Cup in Italy. Now, more than three decades later, he is the coach of the national team, making him the first Egyptian to reach the World Cup as a player and manager.
For old fans, his presence recalls a time when Egypt believed it could make its mark on the world stage.
So what are the ads?
They are not really laughing at this team. They are laughing at the deep-seated hope that Egypt will not go far. And that hope, many argue, goes beyond football. Years of economic crisis and political uncertainty have made expecting the worst understandable for many Egyptians. He protects himself from being disappointed. They think it can’t happen before it happens.
This is what has also made this campaign so divisive. For some viewers, the jokes came across as sincere — a reflection of the addiction that fans know they have. It raised real questions about why low expectations have become the norm. Others argued that the ads risked making those same low expectations permanent, even legitimate.
In any case, they confirm how the 2026 World Cup has helped the faith among Egyptian fans, while waiting for the game in Iran. The anti-skeptic advertising campaign has gone so far as to highlight the many hopes, doubts and controversies surrounding the Pharaohs.
