History will not be on Egypt's side when the five-time African champions rise to the challenge of world heavyweights Brazil and Italy in next year's FIFA Confederations Cup. Following the draw on Saturday, the Pharaohs are considered outsiders in the tough Group B, given the results of past meetings with the competition's favorites, who share nine World Cup titles between them. Egypt also have another tricky test against USA, who will make their fourth Confederations Cup appearance in South Africa 2009. Egypt vs. Brazil Egypt's five meetings with Brazil came between 1960 and 1964, when the latter enjoyed a legendary spell with the likes of Pele, Mario Zagalo and Garrincha. The mighty Brazil outclassed Egypt over three friendly meetings in 1960, winning 5-0, 3-1 and 3-0, with Nabil Nosair scoring the Egyptians' only goal. All three matches were played in Cairo. Three years later, the Brazilians visited Egypt again, this time winning the game with the one goal margin, thanks to a strike from Quarentinha. Despite the Brazilian superiority, Egypt managed to get a positive result against the Selecao in their only competitive encounter, which was a 1-1 draw at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
...and Italy won the 2006 World Cup Egypt vs. Italy Egypt's head-to-head history against Italy is by no means better, as the four-time World Cup champions claimed nine victories from 13 games against the Egyptians. Moreover, Egypt's all-time biggest defeat came against Italy at the 1928 Olympic Games, when the Azzurri crushed their opposition 11-3, courtesy of a hat-trick from the 1934 World Cup top scorer Angelo Schiavio. Other wins for Italy came at the 1920 and 1984 Olympics, the Mediterranean Cup and the World Cup qualifiers. Egypt's two victories were in the 1951 and 1957 Mediterranean Cup, but the Italians usually entered the competition with the B team. Egypt vs. USA Finally, Egypt hold a balanced head-to-head record with USA, who clinched a single victory in a 1999 friendly, edging to a 4-3 win in Mexico. Egypt current skipper Ahmed Hassan was on the scoresheet. In 1987, Egypt won 3-1 in the friendly South Korean President Cup, while their inaugural meeting at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles ended in a 1-1 draw.
