The Egyptian national football team was directly affected by the surprising defeat against South Africa, 1-0, in the friendly match held between them on Sunday evening at Cairo International Stadium, during the final days of the international break.
Egypt's team, led by coach Hossam Hassan, attempted to achieve a positive result against their guest South Africa in Sunday's match, aiming to return to calmness after a series of crises that accompanied the current September camp.
Jayden Adams scored the first goal for Bafana Bafana in the 50th minute, capitalizing on Mostafa Shobir's error in clearing the ball; he dribbled past Hossam Abdel Magid and easily shot into the net.
FIFA Rankings: Egypt falls behind South Africa
The updated FIFA ranking for national teams resulted in Egypt dropping one place, while South Africa advanced six places at once, as follows..
- Egypt - 25th place - 1585.86 points - lost 6.22 points (allowing Ecuador to move up) - dropped one place
- South Africa - 48th place - 1468.88 points - gained 6.22 points - jumped six places
Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Abdelmonem were absent from the Pharaohs' squad against South Africa after leaving the camp, having requested not to play against South Sudan due to it being held on an artificial turf pitch ("Tartan"), in addition to resting Haitham Hassan due to injury.
The Pharaohs achieved a 5-0 victory over South Sudan in the match played in Juba, continuing the team's preparations before concluding their camp with a friendly against South Africa in Cairo.
Egypt had started its journey in the current international break with a goalless draw against Angola, in the match held at Cairo Stadium, before achieving a big win against South Sudan with a score of 5-0.
Egypt is scheduled to resume its journey in the third round of the qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations, with a strong match against Malawi on November 11, 2026.
