Marked for Mostafa Hassan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Nov 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Masr El Makasa are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Omar Elneny in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Walid Warda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karim Tarek, and the manager let it.
Match7 Nov 2026
Military Production left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation Masr El Makasa did not have in the autumn.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ibrahim Aboul-Yazid was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Messie Biatoumoussoka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market2 Nov 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Rivers United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Masr El Makasa and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match10 Oct 2026
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Mostafa Hassan decided nobody was going anywhere. Haras El Hodoud had no time left to answer.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match10 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Masr El Makasa did not have in the autumn.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Omar Elneny in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ashraf El Wensh and Masr El Makasa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Walid Warda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 win over Haras El Hodoud, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Messie Biatoumoussoka, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match26 Sep 2026
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Omar Elneny in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Walid Warda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mostafa Hassan. 2‑0 against Aswan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Karim Tarek
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I watch every Masr El Makasa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ittihad runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.67 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Masr El Makasa had the best player on the pitch.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
Everybody has an opinion about Karim Tarek
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Masr El Makasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Masr El Makasa sell a favourite for $630.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ashraf Elneny was one of the reasons people came, and $630.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Aug 2026
Smouha pay $630.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market31 Aug 2026
The name of Mostafa Hassan has come up in conversations Masr El Makasa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Walid Warda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Elneny, and the manager let it.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over El Dakhleya, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Masr El Makasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Shikabala Salah, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Ismaily for Mostafa Hassan was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ibrahim Aboul-Yazid was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Walid Warda is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Karim Tarek gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.65 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market24 Aug 2026
Ismaily are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Masr El Makasa will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.