Six years after the Port Said tragedy, Egypt is back at the World Cup

Egypt has firmly established itself as one of the best teams in Africa, and they’re one of the continent’s best hopes to make a deep run in the 2018 World Cup. Led by superstar Mohamed Salah, the Pharaohs made it to the final of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, then finished atop its qualifying group to secure its spot in Russia.

Given where Egyptian soccer was six years ago, it’s a truly incredible turnaround.

On Feb. 2, 2012, 74 people were killed and over 500 were injured during a riot at Port Said Stadium in Port Said, Egypt. Following a match between home side al-Masry and Cairo-based al-Ahly, thousands of fans attacked the visiting supporters, in many cases with weapons. Police reportedly refused to open some of the gates, trapping fans and leading to more casualties. Video of the tragedy quickly spread around the world. Dozens have been convicted of crimes in connection with the riot, including police officers and an al-Masry club official.

In response to the incident, the Egyptian government suspended its domestic league. Qualifying matches for the national team and continental matches for Egyptian clubs were all played behind closed doors. It took two years for the Egyptian Premier League to restart, which unsurprisingly had a negative effect on the national team. Egypt did not qualify for the 2014 World Cup, nor the 2012, 2013 or 2015 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The manager of Egypt during that period was Bob Bradley, the former United States men’s national team manager. He was widely praised both inside and outside of the country for living in Cairo and never insulating himself from public life during the 2011 Egyptian revolution or the aftermath of the Port Said disaster.

Egyptian-American filmmaker Hossam Aboul-Magd made a documentary called American Pharaoh for PBS about Bradley’s time as coach. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tannenwald, Aboul-Magd talked about how well-liked Bradley was during his time as Egypt’s manager.

“Egyptians absolutely loved the Bradleys. Wherever we went — with cameras, without cameras — he was welcomed like a king. Not just because of the football side, not just because of his job, but what Bob was doing every day. Egyptians really appreciated him being part of the Egyptian society, not just a foreign coach who’s coming to stay at a nice hotel and not interact with them.”

Unfortunately for Bradley, the cancellation of Egypt’s domestic league and an unlucky draw proved too much to overcome. He was let go in 2013 after Egypt lost a World Cup qualifying playoff to Ghana.

Bradley’s successor, Shawky Gharieb, was not any more successful. But in 2015, with Egypt’s domestic league starting to get back on track, Argentinian manager Hector Cuper was brought in. He engineered a makeover of the Egyptian national team, while Egyptian club Zamalek made it to the 2016 African Champions League final. The next year, al-Ahly matched that achievement. Egypt’s 2018 World Cup squad has representatives from both clubs.

In 2012, an Egyptian FA spokesperson said that the government’s decision to shutter the domestic league would “[threaten] the future of Egyptian football for years to come.” An al-Ahly board members said it “could destroy a whole generation of players.” For a while, it really did look like Egyptian soccer really would be damaged beyond repair.

But now, six years later, Egypt has done something that even the back-to-back-to-back African champions of the 2000s couldn’t pull off — this squad made it to a World Cup.