‘This time’: The World Cup commercials capturing Egypt’s soaring hopes

The advertisements all start the same way. It could be a barber, an aunt or a family member in discussion with others about the FIFA World Cup, but in each case, they assume Egypt will be heading home after the group stage. Then an Egyptian footballer pushes back: “To all the doubters, this time we’re staying longer.” It’s a line that’s resonating like never before in the nation of 120 million people, as Egyptian football fans wait with bated breath for the final round of group stage matches that could send The Pharaohs, as the national team are known, into uncharted territory: the knockout stages. Here’s why these commercials have captured the zeitgeist in Egypt: Egypt’s poor World Cup track record Egypt was the first African and Arab nation ever to play in a World Cup, back in 1934. It has won the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times. Football in Egypt isn’t just a sport, it’s a national identity, and The Pharaohs have long been a source of genuine pride and belief. But the World Cup has always told a different story. Before this tournament, Egypt had qualified just three times — in 1934, 1990 and 2018. It had never won a single match. Fans still carry the painful memories of a penalty shootout loss to Senegal that kept Egypt out of the Qatar World Cup 2022 entirely. Egyptian children play football in front of the Giza Pyramids in Giza, on Friday, May 17, 2002 [Amr Nabil/ AP Photo] What’s different this time? Everything — at least, so it seems. …