Barcelona's stance on allowing Hamza Abdelkarim to participate in the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations

Hamza Abdelkarim, FC Barcelona's forward, has seen his chances of participating with the Egypt U20 national team in the FIFA World Cup, scheduled to take place in Ghana in February 2027, diminish after the national team's coach indicated the difficulty of calling him up due to the situation with the Catalan club.

Egypt U-20 coach Ahmed Raouf has stated in remarks to the "Hena Cairo" program on ON Sport channel: "Hamza Abdelkarim's participation in the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 is unlikely, but we aspire to involve him in the FIFA World Cup."

Egypt's national team qualified for the tournament after winning the North Africa U-20 Championship, following a 2-0 victory over Algeria. They finished the competition at the top of the standings with 9 points, two points ahead of Morocco.

Hamza Abdelkarim's potential absence would be a blow for the Egyptian national team, especially after his improvement since joining FC Barcelona and getting opportunities with the first team under Hans Flick. He also scored his first goal with the senior Egypt national team in the 5-0 victory over Sudan on September 29.

Ahmad Raouf is still hoping to enlist Hamza Abdelkarim during the FIFA World Cup, while FC Barcelona has not issued an official confirmation regarding his participation in the continental tournament.