Nabil Emad
Squad number 18 · Al-Najma
Their 2026 World Cup
Nabil Emad travelled to the 2026 World Cup with Egypt, wearing number 18, without ever getting on the pitch. His side played 5 matches (1 win, 3 draws and 1 defeat) and bowed out in the round of 16, beaten by Argentina 3-2.
Midfield went to Marwan Attia (5 matches, 434′) and Mohamed Salah (5 matches, 428′).
Another 5 players in the Egypt squad ended up the same way, without a single minute. The full run is on the Egypt team page.
Biography
Nabil Emad Aly Elmahdy (Arabic: نبيل عماد علي المهدي; born 6 April 1996) also known as Donga (Arabic: دونجا), is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Najma and the Egypt national team.
Club career Emad started his career at Baladiyat El Mahalla, then played for Grand Hotel, El Gouna, MS Aga and Beni Ebeid. In 2016, Emad was transferred from Beni Ebeid, a team in the Egyptian Third Division, to Pyramids FC (then known as Al-Assiouty Sport) for 40,000 Egyptian pounds. He signed a 5-year contract. On 3 February 2026, Nabil Emad joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Najma.
International career He made his debut for the Egypt national football team on 23 March 2019 in an Africa Cup qualifier against Niger, as a starter.
Personal life On 29 May 2026, just hours before Egypt's head coach Hossam Hassan announced the final World Cup roster featuring Nabil Emad 'Donga', an Italian woman stated via Instagram that she was taking legal action against the player for an alleged physical assault.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) · text adapted from the article.
See all the tournament stats on the World Cup data hub.
Photo: Bryan Berlin · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)