Mostafa Ziko

Early life

After losing his father at 14, Ziko had to work in the family clothing shop in Shibin El Kom, Monufia. On 3 January 2023, he scored a penalty in a 2–2 draw to Al Mokawloon. On 8 January, in his next match, Ziko scored a brace against Ismaily; the match ended 2–0. On 5 March, Ziko earned the man of the match award for his performance in a goalless draw to Cleopatra FC. After the club set his release clause at 40 million Egyptian pounds, Ziko said on 22 March 2023: "I was surprised by Haras El Hodoud's demand for 40 million pounds for my departure; I believe no player in Egypt is worth that amount." Overall, across the season, Zico won the man of the match award 7 times – more than any other player in the 2022–23 Egyptian Premier League. taking the squad number 10. Haras then signed his elder brother, Mohamed Abdel-Raouf, from Tanta. On 5 October, Ziko scored a brace in a 3–3 draw against Baladiyat. On 22 October, Ziko netted a penalty in a 3–3 draw to Al Mokawloon; the game set the record for the most penalties in the Egyptian Premier League, with 5. On 28 October, he scored in a 1–1 draw to Smouha, capitalising on a mistake by goalkeeper El Hany Soliman. On 3 November 2023, Ziko scored as part of a comeback 1–2 victory over Zamalek, ZED's first ever win against the club. Ziko therefore scored his fifth goal in four consecutive matches, Consequently, he rose to the top of the league scoring charts with six goals, tying with Mabululu, Hossam Ashraf of Baladiyat, and Ahmed Belhadji of Gouna.

On 27 April 2024, Ziko scored a penalty in a 0–3 win over Baladiyat; On 28 May, Ziko scored a 90+6th minute equaliser with a volley against El Dakhleya in the round of 32 of the Egypt Cup, helping ZED to a 2–1 win after extra time. On 27 June, he scored and assisted in a 4–1 rout of Talaea El Gaish; he repeated the feat in a 1–4 victory over ENPPI on 21 July. On 4 August, he scored "with a powerful header" in a 2–1 defeat to Pyramids. On 14 August, he scored the sole goal with another header in a 1–0 victory over Al Masry, securing ZED's first-ever win over the club and ending their three-match losing streak. On 30 August 2024, Ziko's ZED lost 1–0 to Pyramids in the Egypt Cup final. Journalists wrote that Ziko had, over the course of the season, established himself as one of the Egyptian Premier League's most effective wingers; Islam Ahmed of FilGoal reported that Ziko also won the joint-most penalties and made the joint-most appearances in the league.

2024–25: ZED top scorer On 12 October 2024, FilGoal reported that Al Ahly's sporting director, Mohamed Ramadan, was attempting to convince head coach Marcel Koller to agree to the signing of ZED duo Ziko and Abdelrahman El Banouby before the closing of the transfer window 25 October. In November, ZED's CEO, Ahmed Abdallah, noted external interest in Ziko, saying: "Pyramids FC was the most persistent in seeking Ziko, followed by Zamalek, and finally Al Ahly." On 30 November, Ziko scored in a 2–0 win over his former club Haras El Hodoud, helping ZED to its first league win that season. On 28 January 2025, Ziko netted in a 2–1 loss against Smouha. On 12 February, Ziko scored "arguably the league's best goal of the season – a spectacular bicycle kick – in the 69th minute" of a 1–1 draw against Cleopatra FC. Ziko had a second goal in the 95th minute ruled out for offside.

On 11 May 2025, Ziko scored and assisted in a 2–2 draw to Modern Sport. He scored in his next match, netting in a 1–1 draw to ENPPI on 25 May. Ziko again finished as the club's top scorer in the 2024–25 season, scoring 6 times. At the end of the season, ZED reportedly received offers for Ziko from three Egyptian clubs, including Zamalek and Pyramids, and a Gulf-based side. Although reports from 3 August said that Pyramids and ZED had agreed a transfer for Ziko, He therefore became Pyramids' second signing of the summer, following Ewerton. The deal was reportedly worth 35 million Egyptian pounds and included the loan of Mahmoud Saber and the sale of Youssef Osama to ZED. Ziko scored his first goal in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, and first Pyramids goal, on 14 September in a 3–0 victory over Auckland City, with "a composed finish in the 85th minute". Ziko scored his first Pyramids league goal on 18 September, heading in the winner in a 1–0 victory over his former club ZED. On 23 September, Ziko was an unused substitute as Pyramids won the African–Asian–Pacific Cup 1–3 against Al-Ahli, the club's first international title. In his post-match interview, Ziko said: "The scoreline might make it look like an easy match, but on the contrary, APR FC has good players, and the game was difficult." On 30 October, Ziko scored in Pyramids' 2–0 CAF Champions League win over Ethiopian Insurance. Ziko scored in Pyramids' 2–1 loss to Cleopatra FC in the third-place play-off of the 2025 Egyptian Super Cup on 9 November. Ziko scored his first brace in a 2–2 draw against Petrojet on 6 December. On 11 December, before the upcoming Challenger Cup match against Flamengo, Ziko said that it was "a great honour" to face the side where his namesake Zico played. On 13 December, Ziko played 74 minutes of the match; Pyramids lost 2–0. On 22 December, Ziko scored in a 2–0 win over Masar in the round of 32 in the 2025–26 Egypt Cup.

On 20 January 2026, Ziko scored in a 3–0 win over Gouna in the round of 16 in the Egypt Cup. He scored in his second consecutive league match in a 1–1 draw to Gouna on 28 January. On 14 February, Ziko scored his final CAF Champions League goal of the season in a 3–1 win over Power Dynamos, helping Pyramids progress from Group A. On 1 March, Pyramids exited the CAF Champions League after a 1–2 loss to AS FAR. On 3 April, Ziko scored and assisted in a 4–0 rout of ENPPI in the semi-final of the Egypt Cup. Hence, Pyramids progressed to the final against ZED, a repeat of the 2024 final in which Ziko was on the losing side.

On 10 May, Pyramids beat ZED 2–1 in the Egypt Cup final; Ziko received a late red card in the 81st minute after a challenge on Pyramids loanee Tarek Alaa. Speaking to ON Sport in his post-match interview, Ziko said: "This season has been exceptional for me, as I have won three trophies, and God willing, we will win even more." However, whilst Pyramids won their final league match against Smouha 2–1 on 20 May, Zamalek also won theirs against Cleopatra 1–0 to clinch the title. After his successful season, Ziko was rewarded with his first international appearances and a place in Egypt's 2026 FIFA World Cup squad.

International career Ziko was first called up to the Egypt national team in late 2022 under coach Rui Vitória. Ziko himself said: "I am overjoyed to have joined the Egyptian national team; it is a feeling I cannot describe. I thank all the coaches and teammates who supported me; every coach I worked with told me I would reach great heights." He then scored his second goal in a 2–1 friendly defeat to Brazil on 6 June 2026, capitalising on a mistake by Marquinhos. This earned him praise from his namesake, Zico. On 21 June, he netted his first World Cup goal and provided an assist in a 3–1 victory over New Zealand. Hence, he became the first Egyptian to both score and provide an assist in the same World Cup match. After the game, he revealed that he had not expected to play at the World Cup, saying: "I was getting ready to spend my summer holidays on the north coast when I was surprised by a call from Hossam Hassan to join the national team". though the decision was technically grounded in the IFAB rules governing the VAR protocol. The decision, and accompanying decisions in favour of Argentina, caused significant controversy. Ziko then scored a second goal which was not disallowed, helping his team take a 2–0 lead, however they eventually lost 3–2. In his post-match interview, Ziko said that "We were hard done by [the referee] today, and everyone saw that, After the 2–0 result, everything went against us and worked against us. I don't even know why the second goal was disallowed, I don't see any reason for it. He wanted to disallow the third one too, but thank God, God didn't grant him success." He also called the World Cup "rigged" in favour of Argentina and labelled the referee François Letexier "unfair".

Player profile In 2022, Ziko's former coach at Gomhoriat Shebin, Samir Kamouna, told FilGoal: "Ziko's playing style resembles that of Zamalek's Mostafa Shalaby; he excels at playing on the wing and making attacking runs into the box."

International

Scores and results list Egypt's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ziko goal.

Honours ZED Egypt Cup runner-up: 2023–24 Pyramids Egypt Cup: 2025–26 CAF Super Cup: 2025 FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup: 2025 FIFA Challenger Cup runner-up: 2025