He began his career in his native Egypt in the youth academy at Al Ahly but joined Portuguese side Rio Ave in 2012 without appearing for the first team.

[7] He trained regularly with the first team but struggled to break into the side as manager Manuel José de Jesus later commented that "the only reason he didn't play for us was that I had the best strikers in Egypt.

"[8] His lack of playing time led Kouka to leave Egypt and rescind his contract with the club before, in December 2011, joining the youth academy at Portuguese side Rio Ave.[9] Kouka played for Rio Ave's youth team for one season and was promoted to the first team at the start of the 2012–13 season, making his professional debut on 9 September 2012 against Paços de Ferreira.

[14] However, he initially struggled to reproduce his form from his debut season, enduring a goal drought that lasted nearly three months, coming to an end in November 2013.

[18] Rio Ave's appearance in the Taça de Portugal final the previous season saw the club qualify for European competition for the first time in its history.

[24] Sporting CP maintained an interest in signing Kouka but refused to move from their €1 million offer, falling short of Rio Ave's valuation.

[25] During the summer transfer window, fellow Portuguese side Benfica made an approach for Kouka, along with teammates Ederson Moraes and Diego Lopes,[24] meeting Rio Ave's valuation of €1.5 million.

He underwent a second medical examination and Rio Ave denied any heart problems but the move was eventually cancelled after Benfica decided to rescind their offer.

[8] On 26 August 2015, days after scoring a winning goal against the club for Rio Ave,[29] Kouka signed a five-year contract with Braga,[30][31] later commenting on the move "It's very good for me.

[37] In his first season with Braga, Kouka scored fourteen goals in all competitions, including braces against Académica and former club Rio Ave,[38][39] helping the side reach the quarterfinals of the Europa League.

[40][41] His second season with the club was disrupted largely by injury, being forced to undergo abdominal wall reconstruction surgery,[42] and being named in Egypt's squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

[49] On 9 February 2020, he came off the bench to score a match-winning goal for Olympiacos against Atromitos in a 1–0 away win which saw the visitors reduced to 10 players due to captain Omar Elabdellaoui's red card with 17 minutes left.

[51] On 1 July 2020, he gave Pedro Martins' side another Super League play-offs 2–1 home win against OFI Crete by scoring a brace.

[61] As an Egyptian under-20 international player, Kouka was part of the side that finished third at the 2011 African Youth Championship and qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

[7] During the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup two years later, he scored twice against Iraq[62] and England,[63] while assisting his country's only goal against Chile as Egypt were eliminated in the group stage.