Mahmoud Abdelrazek Hassan Fadlala (Arabic: محمود عبد الرازق حسن فضل الله IPA: [mæħˈmuːd ʕæbdelˈɾæːzeʔ, -eɾˈɾæː- fɑdˈlɑllɑ]; born 5 March 1986), nicknamed Shikabala (Arabic: شيكابالا IPA: [ʃikæˈbæːlæ]), is an Egyptian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is considered one of the best Egyptian football players of all time, having been named "Best Player in Egypt" in numerous polls on various football seasons. His playing style is characterized by dribbling, penetrating, playmaking, and shooting powerfully from long range with his left foot.
He began his football career with the Zamalek youth team before joining the first team. He then joined PAOK of Greece, and Sporting Lisbon of Portugal. He then moved on loan to Al-Wasl of the UAE, Ismaily of Egypt, Al-Raed of Saudi Arabia, and finally Apollon Smyrnis F.C. of Greece, before returning to Zamalek. At international level, he was part of the Egyptian squad that won the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and also represented his country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Shikabala won 18 titles with Zamalek through his illustrious career as a football player. He announced his retirement from professional football in July 2025. He is nicknamed the "Apache" by Egyptian fans, also his nickname "Shikabala" originates from Zambian striker Webster Chikabala.
Shikabala joined the youth academy of Zamalek SC at 8 and made his first team appearance in a cup match early in 2002, scoring the winning goal at the age of 16.
He remained with the first team squad since then but had very limited playing time and no professional contract, which is why he was able to leave Zamalek and join PAOK FC in January 2005 for no transfer fee. He enjoyed one relatively successful season with PAOK; however, despite the Greek club being adamant that he would remain at the club until the end of his contract in 2009, Shikabala subsequently returned to Egypt in 2006 for military service.
When Shikabala initially returned to Egypt from Greece in January 2007, it was amidst controversy as he signed for arch rivals Al Ahly. "I wanted to return to Zamalek," Shikabala later recalled, "but at this time they had many administrative problems and they refused to sign me." After the best transfer went viral, Zamalek chairman Mamdouh Abbas and teammate Gamal Hamza were able to convince Shikabala to return to Zamalek. Shikabala enjoyed a phenomenal start with Zamalek scoring once again on his second debut for the club the winner in a 1–0 match. Shika quickly carved a place for himself in Henri Michel's starting line-up gradually replacing club legend and fans' idol Hazem Emam. On 2 July 2007, Shikabala scored his first goal in the Cairo derby against Al Ahly in the cup final which ended 4–3 for Al Ahly. By the start of the 2007–08 season Shikabala had already become the ultimate fan favorite for the curva sud section which belongs to the Zamalek supporters. The fans sang his name before every game and had special chants solely for him. He enjoyed a mixed season where Zamalek struggled in the league, and he faced a lengthy ban after Al Ahly fans chanted profanities against him in the 100th Cairo derby leading to him responding by lifting his shoes to them. He finished the season on a brighter note though as Zamalek finished as cup winners which was the club's first trophy in 4 years.
Shikabala missed the start of the 2008–09 season due to a ban by FIFA for his illegal transfer to Zamalek. He returned in late November in fine form but once again Zamalek endured an uninspiring season and finished 6th in the league. The following season was no different until Zamalek appointed Hossam Hassan in December 2009 who gradually lifted the team from obscurity into consistently challenging for trophies once again. Under the guidance of Hassan, Shikabala finally matured as a player and started to live up to his potential. Before that he was very inconsistent and despite scoring fantastic goals and making fancy dribbles, used to drift in an out of games and was largely ineffective at times.
In 2010–11, Shikabala and Hassan led Zamalek to the top of the table for the first time in years. Zamalek would stay on the top until the closing stages of the season where they crumbled and Al Ahly ended up as the league winners for the 7th season in a row, despite that Shikabala finished the season as top scorer with 13 goals and had two magical assists against Al Ahly in the derby.
Shikabala has been a Zamalek fan favorite and the team's biggest star since returning to the team in 2007. The ultras adore him and the management refused numerous offers for him notably from Anderlecht and made him the highest paid player in the history of Egypt. Shikabala has been famous for his skills against alahly the fans adore him and the entire team is built around him. But his latest act of indiscipline was against former coach and club icon Hassan Shehata when he inexplicably had an altercation with him after being substituted. Shehata decided to freeze him out of the squad and asked to have him sold immediately, though the Zamalek board has been hesitant so far and are trying to find a solution to keep Shikabala with Zamalek. On 27 June 2012, Zamalek had agreed to a loan offer from Italian Serie A side Napoli for 1.8 million Euros (13.5 million Egyptian pounds). The loan deal would last one year, with the option to permanently sign Shikabala after the 2012–13 season. A few days later, Napoli failed to comment on the deal and this sparked controversy. Napoli stated that they only have interest in the player but they hadn't made a formal offer while the Napoli coach stated they know nothing about the deal. Reports in the Italian media revealed that this is just another rumour that even Italian mercato expert Gianluca Di Marzio has called it an "April fool that is two months late". Zamalek then stated that Napoli had failed to send agent to Cairo to officially sign Shikabala on the agreed upon deadline and the deal fell through. There was still speculation over whether Napoli would send an official offer for Shikabala throughout the 2012 summer transfer window. Several reports stated that Qatari Lekhwiya SC, Saudi Al Shabab and Ittihad Jeddah, Romanian Vaslui, German VfB Stuttgart, Spanish Espanyol, Napoli and their Italian counterparts Udinese were all battling for Shikabala's signature.
In late July, Emirate side Al Wasl offered 600,000 Euros for a one-year loan offer for Shikabala, however Zamalek refused the bid asking for $1.5 million US. After long negotiations between Zamalek and Al Wasl, Shikabala was officially loaned to Al Wasl for one year at a fee of $1.25 million US. Shikabala had chosen the number 10, the number he previously had at Zamalek. On his unofficial debut in a friendly match against Omani club side Al Shabab, he assisted both of Al Wasl's goals in a 2–2 draw. His official debut was against Ittihad Kalba in the Emirates Cup where he put in a man of the match performance in 4–2 win for Al Wasl. He scored from a free-kick in the second half and assisted for 2 other goals. On his league debut against Al-Wahda, he scored one and assisted one in Al Wasl's 4–1 win. He also netted against Ajman in a 2–0 win, scoring a very nice second goal. After former Al-Wasl coach Bruno Metsu stepped down from coaching Al Wasl due to stomach cancer, Shikabala scored the game right after his resignation against Al Dhafra and he immediately went to a picture of Metsu on the sides and kissed the picture of Metsu on the cheek, then patting the "get well soon" message on the board. Shikabala's tribute to Metsu earned the praise of Al Wasl fans, and Emirate people and media.
However, it wasn't long after that when Shikabala was involved in his first controversy with the club. After a crushing 5–0 loss to fellow league club Al Ain, Shikabala appeared a few days later with Egyptian super star singer Tamer Hosny, during one of his concerts in the UAE. This caused the outrage of many Al Wasl fans and the disappointment of the club's board, especially in light of his club suffering the worst defeat of the year.