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Egypt Omit Nantes Forward Mostafa Mohamed from World Cup Squad

A partial covering is seen over Lumen branding at Lumen Field, which will be named Seattle Stadium during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A partial covering is seen over Lumen branding at Lumen Field, which will be named Seattle Stadium during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
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Egypt Omit Nantes Forward Mostafa Mohamed from World Cup Squad

A partial covering is seen over Lumen branding at Lumen Field, which will be named Seattle Stadium during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A partial covering is seen over Lumen branding at Lumen Field, which will be named Seattle Stadium during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Nantes forward Mostafa Mohamed has been left out of Egypt's preliminary squad for next month's World Cup but uncapped teenager Hamza Abdelkarim, who plays for the Barcelona under-19 team, was included.

Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah will captain the squad and combine with Manchester City's Omar Marmoush to lead the attack at the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19 in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Coach Hossam Hassan will drop one player to reduce the squad to the FIFA-mandated 26 players after ⁠Egypt take on ⁠Russia in Cairo on May 28 in their last home friendly before heading to the United States, Reuters reported.

Mohamed was a surprise omission even if he has struggled for form with only four goals in 24 matches this season for Nantes as the French club were relegated ⁠from Ligue 1.

Abdelkarim, by contrast, has been in great form for the Barcelona youth team and is one of the most promising forward talents in Egyptian football.

Egypt will play Brazil in a friendly in Cleveland on June 6 before opening their World Cup campaign against Belgium in Seattle nine days later.

They then face New Zealand in Vancouver on June 21 before returning to Seattle five days later to round out their Group G ⁠matches ⁠against Iran.

Egypt squad:

Goalkeepers: Mohamed El Shenawy (Al Ahly), Mostafa Shobeir (Al Ahly), El Mahdi Soliman (Zamalek), Mohamed Alaa (El Gouna)

Defenders: Mohamed Hany (Al Ahly), Tarek Alaa (Zed), Hamdy Fathy (Al Wakrah), Rami Rabia (Al Ain), Yasser Ibrahim (Al Ahly), Hossam Abdelmaguid (Zamalek), Mohamed Abdelmonemn (Nice), Ahmed Fatouh (Zamalek), Karim Hafez (Pyramids)

Midfielders: Marwan Ateya (Al Ahly), Mohanad Lasheen (Pyramids), Nabil Emad (Al Najma), Mahmoud Saber (Zed), Ahmed Zizo (Al Ahly), Emam Ashour (Al Ahly), Mostafa Ziko (Pyramids), Mahmoud Trezeguet (Al Ahly), Ibrahim Adel (Nordsjaelland), Haissem Hassan (Real Ovideo)

Forwards: Omar Marmoush (Manchester City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Aqtay Abdallah (Enppi), Hamza Abdelkarim (Barcelona U19)

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Head of Palestinian Football Not Granted US Visa to Attend World Cup

Demonstrators place missing person flyers on the trailer of a mounted police truck during a protest outside Azteca Stadium ahead of the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico City, Mexico, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Demonstrators place missing person flyers on the trailer of a mounted police truck during a protest outside Azteca Stadium ahead of the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico City, Mexico, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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Head of Palestinian Football Not Granted US Visa to Attend World Cup

Demonstrators place missing person flyers on the trailer of a mounted police truck during a protest outside Azteca Stadium ahead of the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico City, Mexico, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Demonstrators place missing person flyers on the trailer of a mounted police truck during a protest outside Azteca Stadium ahead of the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico City, Mexico, June 11, 2026. (Reuters)

The head of the Palestinian Football Association is waiting in Mexico City for permission to enter the United States with other federation heads attending the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Jibril Rajoub went to the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday. But he is among several people accredited to attend the World Cup who have been denied visas or have yet to receive them from the United States.

“I don’t believe that it’s fair to use or to abuse and deny the right of all footballers all over the world to attend,” the veteran Palestinian political figure said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Palestinian team did not qualify for the World Cup, but FIFA typically invites the heads of football associations from around the world to the event every four years, which it frames as a celebration of global unity.

“Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year. We are working exactly for that,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last year.

The United States, however, has refused entry to delegates from a raft of countries, including a referee from Somalia and a photographer traveling with Iraq’s team.

Infantino said this week that FIFA had been trying to resolve visa issues but could not overrule the US government.

“We need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

The US State Department had no immediate comment on Rajoub’s visa, but last year implemented new restrictions on Palestinian passport holders, including on anyone who had been employed by the Palestinian Authority.

It revoked a visa to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to the United Nations General Assembly last September.

Rajoub and other Palestinian football officials have long argued that Israel violates statutes by allowing teams from settlements in the occupied West Bank play in Israel’s national league. They have pushed FIFA to sanction Israel, also decrying restrictions on the movement of Palestinian players and how war in the Gaza Strip has destroyed 80% of sports facilities there.

Last month, Rajoub refused to shake hands with the head of Israel’s football federation at Infantino’s behest because he said the gesture would not heal wounds but instead whitewash Israel’s actions.

Rajoub pointed out that when Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup, it did not implement comparable visa restrictions for people who were invited to the tournament.

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Sweden Strike Force Faces Tough Tunisia Test in World Cup Opener

Tunisia's French head coach Sabri Lamouchi takes part in a training session at Rayados Training Center in Santiago, Nuevo Leon state, Mexico on June 9, 2026, ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament. (AFP)
Tunisia's French head coach Sabri Lamouchi takes part in a training session at Rayados Training Center in Santiago, Nuevo Leon state, Mexico on June 9, 2026, ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament. (AFP)
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Sweden Strike Force Faces Tough Tunisia Test in World Cup Opener

Tunisia's French head coach Sabri Lamouchi takes part in a training session at Rayados Training Center in Santiago, Nuevo Leon state, Mexico on June 9, 2026, ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament. (AFP)
Tunisia's French head coach Sabri Lamouchi takes part in a training session at Rayados Training Center in Santiago, Nuevo Leon state, Mexico on June 9, 2026, ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament. (AFP)

Sweden boast a formidable strike partnership in Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres, but the two will have their work cut out in their opening World Cup Group F game on Sunday when they take on a Tunisia side that didn't concede a goal in qualifying.

The 28-year-old Gyokeres arrives in the US fresh from winning the English Premier League title with Arsenal, and it was his late goal in a 3-2 playoff win over Poland ‌that punched Sweden's ‌ticket to the World Cup, where they will also ‌face ⁠the Netherlands and ⁠Japan.

Strike partner Isak may have struggled with injuries since his big-money move from Newcastle United to Liverpool last September, but on his day the 26-year-old has a blend of speed and skill that can leave even the best defenders in his wake.

"Alex has had a difficult spell at Liverpool because of injury, but the player doesn't change, his quality doesn't change - he's still a top, top, ⁠top player," Sweden coach Graham Potter said during the build-up ‌to the World Cup.

Isak will need every ‌ounce of that quality against a Tunisia side that was rock-solid in defense in ‌qualifying as they won nine and drew one of their games to ‌make it to their third World Cup in a row.

"(That defensive performance in qualifying) shows you're a great side that, above all, defends well as a team, even if the World Cup will be a higher level altogether," Tunisia coach Sabri Lamouchi told ‌FIFA.com ahead of the tournament.

"The teams we're going to face will make much more difficult demands of us, at ⁠a much higher ⁠level of intensity, and we'll have to stand up and be counted."

Lamouchi's somewhat cautious approach is mirrored in that of Potter, who inherited the Sweden job in the midst of a catastrophic qualifying campaign that had them finish bottom of their group with two points, only qualifying thanks to a Nations League playoff lifeline.

Potter has since righted the listing Swedish ship, restoring some sense of defensive organization and giving Isak and Gyokeres a license to go and attack, supported by creative wide players such as Lucas Bergvall, Anthony Elanga and Benjamin Nygren.

"We know that it's not easy winning games in international football, but at the same time, you have to have a belief that you can win any game," Potter told Reuters ahead of the tournament.

Sports

Empty Seats at World Cup Match Renews Concerns over Ticket Prices

11 June 2026, Mexico, Mexico city: A general view bfore the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa at the Azteca Stadium (Mexico City Stadium). Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
11 June 2026, Mexico, Mexico city: A general view bfore the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa at the Azteca Stadium (Mexico City Stadium). Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
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Empty Seats at World Cup Match Renews Concerns over Ticket Prices

11 June 2026, Mexico, Mexico city: A general view bfore the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa at the Azteca Stadium (Mexico City Stadium). Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
11 June 2026, Mexico, Mexico city: A general view bfore the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa at the Azteca Stadium (Mexico City Stadium). Photo: Tom Weller/dpa

FIFA reported an attendance of 44,985 for Thursday's World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, but swathes of empty seats around the stadium renewed concerns over ticket pricing and demand for the expanded tournament.

While more than 80,000 squeezed into the Azteca stadium to watch the opener between co-hosts ‌Mexico and ‌South Africa, the optics of ‌unoccupied ⁠rows at the ⁠46,000-seat stadium in Guadalajara, a city with a deep-rooted football culture, have intensified criticism of FIFA's commercial strategy for the first 48-team World Cup.

Some fans at the stadium blamed the high ticket prices for the rows ⁠of empty seats and criticized ‌FIFA for their pricing ‌model.

Reuters has contacted FIFA for comment.

FIFA President Gianni ‌Infantino on Wednesday defended FIFA's ticket pricing ‌following criticism from supporters who argued the cost of attending matches had become prohibitive. He said ticket prices were on a par with other ‌major sporting events.

FIFA has sold more than 6 million tickets for ⁠the tournament ⁠and previously highlighted strong interest from across the Americas, with Infantino saying demand had exceeded expectations by "a factor of 10 or more".

However, groups such as Football Supporters Europe (FSE) had warned that "extortionate" pricing would exclude ordinary fans. According to FSE, ticket prices for this tournament have jumped fivefold compared to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

South Korea beat the Czechs 2-1 in the Group A match.