As part of our Language of Soccer World Cup series, The Athletic is speaking to supporters of all 48 nations competing at the 2026 edition to capture their unique football culture, distilled into a single phrase. You can read the articles in one place here.“Masr! Masr! Masr!” — “Egypt! Egypt! Egypt!”It’s a simple chant, accompanied by claps and whistles between every instance of the word ‘Egypt’ in Arabic.For years, it has filled the Cairo International Stadium, the arena where 46-year-old Ahmed Hamdy had his most unforgettable football experience.“My biggest memory of the Egyptian national team was when I was a little kid,” says Hamdy, who lives in New York after moving to the United States in 2000. “I went to the stadium with my father, against Algeria in 1989 — the final match that took us to the World Cup at Italia ’90.“We had box seats, and my dad wanted to attend the Friday prayers. What he didn’t realise was that people were at the stadium from 9am, and we couldn’t even get into our seats because the stadium was over-capacity (the reported attendance for the match is over 100,000). They let us go and sit in another stand.“It was a hell of an experience — everybody chanting non-stop from the morning all the way to a 3pm game. Some people didn’t even go to the Friday prayers. They prayed in their seats!”Egypt’s 1-0 victory that day is etched into the memory of the fans who attended because it was the second leg of a play-off to reach the 1990 World Cup. With the first match a month earlier having ended goalless, the result secured just Egypt’s second appearance at the tournament, 56 years on from their first.Reaching that World Cup meant a lot to Egyptians. “The real memories I have are from 1990, watching us play the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands (draws in the first two group matches), and when we lost to England (in the third and final one, meaning Egypt were eliminated from the tournament),” says Teymour El Derini. “It had a big impact on me — my company is called ‘1990’.”Qualification for the upcoming World Cup was straightforward, winning eight of 10 games to finish five points clear at the top of their group, but before the tournament’s expansion from 32 teams to 48 for the 2026 edition, getting this far was a hoodoo for Egyptians.Egypt fans make themselves heard at the Cairo International Stadium during a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Senegal (Mohamed Hossam/Getty Images)“It’s frustrating because we are the kings of Africa (no country has won more Africa Cup of Nations titles), but when we play other matches (it’s not the same),” says El Derini. “There has been frustration over the years of not making the World Cup with our golden generation.”“The one defining characteristic in supporting Egypt is that you are very confident heading into the Africa Cup of Nations but you lack confidence when you go into World Cup qualifiers — it’s a tale of two tournaments,” says Ahmed Assem, who echoes the thoughts of El Derini, despite the 15-year age gap between them.