Egypt’s 2018 World Cup qualifying match against Congo tonight was the only topic of real interest being discussed on the airwaves on Saturday evening.

Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi was squarely focused on the game, taking on the unlikely role of sports analyst to explain the possible outcomes and how each scenario would impact our bid to qualify for the World Cup (watch, runtime 2:42).

On Kol Youm, Amr Adib asked Egyptians to remain calm before the game to avoid further pressuring the team. Adib told off people who have reportedly been celebrating an early victory (watch, runtime 4:01). He also aired a televised message from Alexandria’s head of security, Mostafa El Nemr, who confirmed that the Borg El Arab stadium will be heavily guarded today (watch, runtime 2:39).
Adib also spoke to veteran football coach Helmy Toulan for a take on our national team’s performance, which Toulan said has been cause for concern due to weak defense (watch, runtime 2:15).

The host stepped away from all the football mania to praise the government’s work on road network upgrades (watch, runtime 6:06).

Back on Hona Al Asema, Lamees discussed Egypt’s changed stance towards Hamas with political science professor Moataz Abdel Fattah, who explained that the shift was a tactical one that would ultimately serve to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Hamas also underwent significant ideological changes to help bridge the gap with Fatah and unite the Palestinian front, he said (watch, runtime 21:12).

Over on Mehwar TV’s 90 Minutes, Tourism Ministry Advisor Walid El Batouty said that tourism inflows from the Ukraine saw a 120% y-o-y jump in 8M2017, noting that the Ukrainian market is particularly significant as a gateway for Russian tourists. El Batouty also said that, while German tourist arrivals are steadily increasing, visitors from the UK and Italy remain relatively low (watch, runtime 7:44).

And as if we didn’t get enough talk of social housing during the slow summer days, Housing Ministry spokesperson Hany Younes phoned into 90 Minutes to drone on some more about the ministry’s planned projects (watch, runtime 3:52).

Away from all the football pandemonium, Masaa’ DMC’s Eman El Hosary also spoke to MP Solaf Darwish about the Miss Egypt competition, which has apparently drawn the ire of some for not respecting “our values and traditions.” Darwish said the correct solution would have been to hold the competition (which she described as illegal) under the auspices of the government (watch, runtime 6:20). The only thing worse than our holding a Miss Anything contest would be to hold said contest under state auspices.