FIBA World Cup starts on August 25 and Egypt will be part of the tournament. This is the seventh appearance for them.
“Basketball Sphere” brings you more detalis about the Egypt. They are part of group D with Lithuania, Mexico and Montenegro.
FIBA World Cup – Egypt: Previous editions and the best results of the national team
This is seventh visit to the World Cup for Egypt. In the past, they did not have much reasons for celebration. In the last five tournaments in which they participated, they won only 2 out of 33 games. Going to the Mundobasket this time is already a great success for them.
At the first FIBA World Cup ever played back in 1950, Egypt manage to achieve triumphs over Ecuador, Spain, France and Chile for fifth place in the world. Nine years later, they finished 11th out of 13 participants. Three times (1970, 1990 and 2014), Egypt were dead last.
FIBA World Cup – Egypt: Road to Mundobasket
Congo, Kenya and Senegal were their rivals in the first stage of the qualification. They qualified for the next round with only one defeat. South Sudan, Tunisia and Cameroon were their rivals during the last stage of the qualifiers.
They booked their spot for the World Cup even before the last two scheduled games. Only one team was better than Egypt. That was South Sudan with 11 wins and only one defeat. Egypt ended qualifications with eight wins and four lost games.
FIBA World Cup – Egypt: Roster and focus on those who are expected the most
Ehab Saleh is certainly the best player of this national team. The point guard led Egypt in scoring with 14.5 points and four rebounds on average during the qualifiers. In the last two seasons, he was MVP of the Egyptian League and that says it all.
Starting center Assem Marei cooperated extremely well with Saleh on the floor. His 12.6 points and slightly more than nine rebounds per game are the figures that make him the second leading scorer of the national team. Unlike Saleh, Marei brings experience from Europe where he played for clubs like Galatasaray, Pinar Karsiyaka and Bamberg.
Interesting fact: Amr Abdelhalim is the third best player in this team. The power forward had an incredible performance in the last game of the qualifiers. Although his team was defeated by South Sudan, he scored 42 points. It is a new record for African qualifiers. Until that moment, Nigerian Jordan Nwora was on the first place with 38 points.
Abdelhalim had 12 points per game with 3.8 rebounds in qualifiiers. It is also worth mentioning the contribution made by Anas Mahmoud. He played 11 games with the most minutes on the court. Mahmoud’s average was 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Extended roster: Khaled Abdelgawad, Waleed Aly, Seinfeldin Said, Omar Farag, Youssef Aboushousha, Yusuf Shehata, Mohab Yasser and Karim Hatem Elgizawy
FIBA World Cup – Egypt: More about head coach – Roy Rana
Roy Rana, the son of Indian parents Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, was born in Wolverhampton. When he was only one year old, his mother moved to Canada. He grew up in Toronto and because of that the biggest part of his career is concentrated in Canada.
In the past, Rana worked as the head coach of the Canadian youth national team. In 2010, U17 World Cup was held in Hamburg and it was really successful for him. They brought home a bronze medal. He made the biggest breakthrough on Egypt soil nine years later. There, coach Rona led Canada U19 selection to the World Cup title.
In 2019, Rana was coaching Canada national team and qualified with them for the World Cup in China. He did not stay on the bench for the tournament and was replaced by Nick Nurse.
Rana also worked as a assistant coach in the Sacramento Kings. Two years ago, he became head coach of the Egypt national team.
FIBA World Cup – Egypt: Expectations
Draw for the World Cup did not have mercy for Egypt. Montenegro, Lithuania and Mexico are their rivals in group D. They won only two games in the last 33 appearances on Mundobasket. Now they will come in good mood because of results trough the qualifications.
The top-ranked African team in the FIBA World Cup will get a place at the next year’s Olympic Games. Egypt hopes that it could be them because in the absence of Nigeria, everyone sees their chance.
In games against Montenegro and Lithuania, Egpyt chances are really small. Second round is only a dream. Their only realistic possibility is to beat Mexico. Final position for them will be determined after classification round.