Wigan Athletic's Poor Form Sees Mido Dropped From Egypt World Cup Squad

"The main reason for not calling Mido is his poor performance with Wigan, and also because he is not playing in the starting XI for his club," one of Egypt's coaches, Hamda Soudqi, told Goal.com

Soudqi also explained that Mido's recurring injuries did not help his cause.

This puts to rest speculation that Mido was axed because of his rivalry with Wigan team-mate, Amr Zaki.

The Egyptian Football Association announced on their official website a 28-man squad, who will provide the teams to play against Oman in a friendly on May 30 and then Algeria and Rwanda in the World Cup qualifiers.

Zamalek youngster Hazem Emam received his first-ever call-up after impressing for his club in the second round of the league.

Also, Arab Contractors' striker, Ihab Al-Masri, was included in the squad, which will be trimmed to 23 before the Algeria trip.

The Egypt squad will get together on May 25 before heading to Oman for a week's training camp and a friendly game with the country's national side.

The same squad will feature at the FIFA Confederations Cup, which kicks off on June 14 in South Africa.

They will then clash with Rwanda on July 1 in another World Cup qualifier.

The full squad:

Goalkeepers: Essam El-Hadary (Sion), Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed (Zamalek), Mohamed Sobhi (Ismaily), Al-Hani Soliman (Ittihad).

Defenders: Hani Saied and Mahmoud Fathalla (Zamalek), Wael Gomaa and Sayed Moawad (Ahly), Ahmed Saied (Harras Hodoud), Sherif Abdul-Fadil (Ismaily), Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (ENPPI)

Midfielders: Ahmed Samir Farag (Ismaily), Mohamed Aboutrika, Ahmed Fathi and Ahmed Hassan (Ahly), Hazem Emam (Zamalek), Mohamed Shawki (Middlesbrough), Hosni Abd-Rabou (Ahli Dubai), Ahmed Khairi and Mohamed Hommos (Ismaily), Abdul-Aziz Tawfik (ENPPI), Ahmed Eid (Harras Hodoud).

Strikers: Mohamed Zidan (Borussia Dortmund), Mohamed Mohsen Abou-Greisha (Ismaily), Ahmed Raouf (ENPPI), Ahmed Abdul-Ghani (Harras Hodoud), Ihab Al-Masri (Arab Contractors), Amr Zaki (Zamalek).

Samm Audu, Goal.com