Egypt Cup

The Egypt Cup is the oldest tournament in the history of Egyptian football that is still being held to-date, and it is the first competition to be organized by the Egyptian Football Association. However, it is not the first football tournament to be held in the country. The first local football tournament in Egypt was the Sultan Hussein Cup.

It was launched in 1917, and its last edition was held in the 1937-38 season. The Sultan Hussein Cup witnessed the participation of Egyptian clubs with clubs belonging to the British army, which was present in Egypt at the time. With the establishment of the Egyptian Football Association in 1921, the need arose to launch a tournament with only Egyptian clubs participating, and from this time the Egypt Cup tournament emerged with the participation of Zamalek, Al Ahly, Tersana, Olympic, Schools team, Railway, Al-Abbasiya, Al Ittihad, Al-Haditha, and the Nile.

Zamalek achieved the title of the first edition of the Egypt Cup, after defeating Al Ittihad; 5-0 in the 1921-22 season's final match. In the 1932 final between Zamalek and Al Ahly, Zamalek won by a score of 2–1, winners goals were scored by Ismail Raafat, Said El-Hadary and Amin Shoeir scored for Al Ahly. In the 1934–35 edition, the final was held on 10 May 1935. The match was contested by Zamalek and Al Ahly, with Zamalek won 3–0, goals were scored by Helmy Zamora, El-Samkary and Marei.

The biggest win in the 1944 final match between the Cairo giants; Zamalek and Al Ahly with a 6-0 win for Zamalek. This was the second Cairo Derby in two years to end with a 6-0 win for Zamalek after the 1941–42 Cairo League match. After this huge score for Zamalek, Al Ahly won three consecutive titles in (1945, 1946, 1947), however, they didn't meet Zamalek in the final.

Zamalek dominated the 1950s, as the Cairo giant won seven titles from 1952 to 1962. They won the title for four consecutive times in (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960). In 1958, and 1959, Zamalek claimed their title from Al Ahly, who won the 1961 title by winning El Qanah 5–0, next year, Zamalek also claimed their title by winning Al Ittihad 5–1.

From 1962 to 1976, Zamalek and Al Ahly only won one title each, as El Qanah, Tersana and Al Ittihad dominated this era. However, Zamalek won the 1976–77, and 1978–79 titles, with Al Ahly claiming their title from their rivals in the 1978 final.

Despite its launch more than 100 years ago, the Egypt Cup Championship has witnessed the holding of 90 editions so far, and has been canceled on more than one occasion. The tournament was canceled in the 1942-43 season, after players from Zamalek and Al-Ahly (the final belligerents) were suspended after their travel to Palestine, and opposition to the Football Association’s decision in this regard.

The tournament was not played between 1967 and 1971 due to the War of Attrition, and it was canceled in the 1973-74 season due to the October War. For several other reasons, the tournament was canceled in 1979-80, 1986-87 and 1993-94 seasons, and was canceled in the 1981-82 edition due to Zamalek’s withdrawal. The cup was also canceled in the 2011-12 season after the Port Said Stadium riot in the league match between Al-Masry and Al-Ahly.