A new name has entered the spotlight in Egyptian football after Egypt’s 2009-born youth national team called up Seif Costa, a young striker from Portuguese giants Porto, for the upcoming national team camp ahead of a friendly tournament in Switzerland.

Costa’s call-up is another step in the Egyptian Football Association’s effort to bring talented Egyptian players based abroad into the national-team system.

The young forward has an unusual football background. He grew up outside Egypt, developed in European academies, and has already represented the United Arab Emirates at youth level.

Egypt’s youth team, coached by Hussein Abdel Latif, is preparing for the friendly tournament in Switzerland as part of its build-up to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.

Costa will now have the chance to prove himself and compete for a place in Egypt’s squad before the World Cup.

Early European Journey

Seif Costa was born in 2009 to a Portuguese father and an Egyptian mother and grew up in the UAE.

As a result, he holds Egyptian, Portuguese and Emirati nationality, giving him several options at international level during his youth career.

Costa started playing football at an early age with the IFA Academy in Dubai before moving into Portuguese football.

At the age of seven, he spent time with Benfica’s academy, beginning a football journey in one of Europe’s best environments for developing young players.

He later continued his progress in Portugal before joining Porto’s youth system, another club well known for producing talented players.

In the summer of 2025, Costa joined Porto’s U-17 team and continued to develop with the Portuguese club.

He was part of the Porto side that won the Portuguese U-17 league title last season, adding an important achievement to the early stages of his career.

Costa mainly plays as a striker and is known for his movement across the attacking line and his ability to find space.

His progress attracted attention at international level, and he previously represented the UAE in youth football.

The Emirati federation selected him for its U-18 team while he was still only 16, showing how highly he was rated.

However, Costa later missed the Asian youth championship because of injury, while the UAE eventually failed to qualify for the U-17 World Cup.

As his development continued at Porto, the Egyptian Football Association increased its efforts to bring him into Egypt’s youth national-team setup.

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First Step with Egypt

Egypt’s interest in Costa did not begin with the latest call-up.

The Egyptian Football Association had previously contacted Porto to release the young striker for an earlier national-team camp.

That move was delayed because of an administrative problem inside the Portuguese club.

Reports said the official email sent by the Egyptian federation was mistakenly overlooked by Porto officials.

The delay was therefore not caused by Porto refusing to release the player, and the Portuguese club was reported to have no objection to Costa joining Egypt.

With the situation now resolved, the young striker is set to take an important step toward making his first actual appearance with Egypt’s 2009-born youth team.

The upcoming camp and Switzerland tournament are part of Egypt’s preparation for the U-17 World Cup, which will be held in Qatar in November.

The coaching staff wants to test different players and give the squad stronger international experience before the tournament begins.

Egypt qualified for the World Cup following its run in the African championship, where the young Pharaohs finished with the bronze medal.

The coaching staff is now trying to build the strongest possible squad by combining promising players from Egyptian clubs with young professionals based abroad.

Costa could give Hussein Abdel Latif another option in attack, especially because of the football education and experience he has gained in Portugal from a very young age.

The Porto striker has also looked up to Egyptian stars who have succeeded in European football, including Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush.

He has previously expressed pride in his Egyptian roots while continuing to focus on developing his career.

After growing up in the UAE, developing in Portugal and having the chance to represent more than one country, Seif Costa is now beginning a new chapter with Egypt.

His biggest challenge will be turning the growing attention around his name into performances on the pitch and earning a regular place with the Pharaohs ahead of the World Cup.

If he succeeds, the Switzerland camp could become the starting point of a long international journey in an Egypt shirt.