Ghana’s Group A opponents and hosts Egypt have announced their final 21-man squad for the 2019 CAF U23 Cup of Nations.

The list, which is made up of predominantly home-based players, will be captained by former Stoke City player Ramadan Sobhi who is now at Al Ahly SC),

Head coach Shawky Gharib excluded Ismaily’s highly rated midfielder Mohamed Sadek and teammate Ahmed Ayman from his roster.

Al Ahly midfielder Mohamed Mahmoud missed out on selection due to another ACL injury.

Egypt will face Mali in the tournament opener on 8 November at the Cairo International Stadium.

They will face the Black Meteors three days later before clashing with Cameroon.

Group B contains Nigeria, Zambia, Ivory Coast and South Africa.

The three best teams will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games.

Full squad:

Goalkeepers: Omar Radwan (El Gouna), Omar Salah (Smouha), Mohamed Sobhi (Zamalek).

Defenders: Osama Galal (ENPPI), Mahmoud Marei (Wadi Degla), Ahmed Ramadan (Wadi Degla), Mahmoud El-Gazzar (El-Gouna), Mohamed Abdelsalam (Zamalek), Ahmed AboulFetouh (Smouha), Karim El-Eraki (Al Masry).

Midfielders: Akram Tawfik (El Gouna), Ammar Hamdi (Al Ahly), Nasser Maher (Smouha), Ghanam Mohamed (Entag El-Harby), Ramadan Sobhi (Al Ahly SC), Emam Ashour (Zamalek).

Forwards: Mostafa Mohamed (Zamalek), Salah Mohsen (Al Ahly), Ahmed Yasser Rayan (El-Gouna), Taher Mohamed Taher (Arab Contractors).