By Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (December 18^th 2025)

Lessons in Ignored History

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is by far the most important tournament in the history of the continent’s football. Its history offers a vital lesson on the power the world’s most popular sport possesses. Football played a role that no other sport could in the world’s oldest inhabited continent – it contributed to struggles for independence and against colonialism and helped to win those fights.

But football existed long before the AFCON made its first appearance – take Egypt for example. Egypt – by far the most successful nation in the tournament’s history – was making history 35 years before the first AFCON took place in February 1957.

Its Universal Declaration of Independence was recognised by the United Kingdom in February 1922, but how independent was that?[1] That was two years after it became the first African nation to participate in the Olympic Games’ football competition. In Antwerp’s Olympiad – back then it mattered as it was an unofficial World Cup a decade before FIFA established its own World Cup – Belgian football delivered its first and, so far, only successful golden generation, although the format to determine the lesser medallists was unusual by modern standards and Belgium’s success was controversial – Czechoslovakia was disqualified after refusing to continue due to what they considered an unfair sending off. The Netherlands and Spain contested the silver and bronze medals.

This tournament was controversial as nations defeated in the First World War were belatedly banned from the tournament. England – the defending champions – had pulled out over FIFA’s original refusal to ban those countries. The English FA and those of Scotland, Ireland and Wales withdrew from FIFA which persuaded those nations to compete as Great Britain, but they performed dismally. In the absence of Germany, Austria, Hungary and others, it should not be considered an unofficial world cup, at least to the extent that 1924 and 1928 can be.

Egyptian football made its Olympic bow in 1920 along with Greece despite not being members of FIFA, or even having a Football Federation at the time. The USA boycotted the tournament in protest at the inclusion of Great Britain despite those Football Associations not being members of FIFA, but had no issue with the inclusion of Egypt and Greece.

Italy beat Egypt 2-1 in the first round. Hassan Allouba had the distinction of being the first African to score in the Olympic Games, but one of Italy’s inter-war years greats Adolfo Baloncieri scored the first goal that Egypt conceded at the Olympics 7 minutes earlier. Guglielmo Brezzi scored the winner for Italy in the second half.

Allouba only represented Egypt twice – the other match was labelled a friendly at those Olympic Games against Yugoslavia. Egypt won 4-2. Allouba scored the first goal. Egypt was captained by Hussein Hegazi – he scored their second and had played in England for Dulwich Hamlet and also once for Fulham, despite scoring for Fulham who had wanted to sign him. Hegazi returned to Egypt just before the outbreak of the Great War.

Hegazi put Egypt 2-0 ahead early in the second half just over ten minutes before his opposite number Artur Dubravčić pulled one back and Jovan Ružić equalised before El-Sayed Fahmi Abaza – a defender – scored a late brace to give Egypt their first win at the Olympic Games, even though the match was not scheduled within the tournament. A year after its first appearance in the Olympic Games’ football tournament Egypt’s Football Federation was established.

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[1] In 1922 Sudan was included in that declaration, but full independence for both came later. Egypt overthrew its monarchy in 1952 and became an independent republic in 1953. Sudan became a separate independent nation in January 1956 after more than three decades of joint rule by the UK and Egypt.