[5] His African debut came on 28 May 2000, in a 2–1 win against Ethiopian Coffee, making the aggregate score 3–3, which led to the game being decided on penalties.

[3][10] Initially, he suffered from homesickness, and returned to Egypt shortly after arriving in Belgium, only staying at his father's vehement insistence.

Gent manager Patrick Remy was impressed by Mido's handling of the issue and promoted him to the first team in September 2000, placing him at first on the substitutes' bench.

As he attracted interest from major clubs both in Belgium and abroad, he ended the season with a powerful performance against Royal Antwerp, scoring one of Gent's goals in a 3–1 win and setting up the other two.

[18] He failed to be selected for the substitutes bench against Feyenoord in March 2002,[19] which was due to a minor clash with manager Ronald Koeman, and Mido left for a short vacation in Cairo.

[27] He scored for Ajax during their 6–0 defeat of Willem II in February 2003,[28] but Koeman again criticised Mido, commenting negatively on his performance against Roda in the KNVB Cup.

[31] Mido was relegated to the Ajax reserve team for disciplinary reasons,[32] surrounding a perceived lack of effort in training.

[34][35][36] Celta Vigo made a loan offer for Mido in March,[37][38] which was reported to have fallen through days later as it was not approved by FIFA.

[63][64] Turkish side Beşiktaş revealed they wanted to sign him, and Mido said he was to have talks with Bobby Robson about a possible move to Newcastle United.

[69][70] Reports suggested that Mido could be sold to Valencia in a swap deal with Bernardo Corradi and was also linked with a move to Premier League side Manchester City.

[73][74] It was even reported that he had been offered to Southampton on loan but his new agent, Mino Raiola, repeated the earlier claims that Roma wanted to keep Mido until, at least, the end of the season.

[80] Mido announced plans in July 2005 to launch his own football academy in Egypt, which had the aim of nurturing the country's young talent.

[97] Mido scored what looked to be his final goal for Tottenham on 31 January 2007 against Arsenal, but his potential move to Manchester City fell through half an hour before the close of the transfer window.

[102] Birmingham manager Steve Bruce said the move was close to collapsing, as the deal reportedly faltered over the wages and the length of contract Mido was demanding.

[104] In August 2007, Sunderland made a £6 million bid for him and held talks,[104] after which Birmingham confirmed they were trying to revive their deal to sign Mido.

[110] He suffered a stress fracture to the pubic bone which kept him out for more than three months from November 2007, until he returned to first-team action for Middlesbrough's 2–0 FA Cup victory over Mansfield Town on 26 January 2008.

[111][112] He was sent off in the 80th minute in a match against Arsenal on 15 March 2008, after kicking Gaël Clichy in the face with his boot,[113] which resulted in him receiving a three-match ban.

[118][119] Mido was again targeted by some Newcastle fans while warming up before Middlesbrough's 0–0 draw, with claims of racist chanting being investigated by the FA.

[122] Mido entered talks with Wigan Athletic over signing on a six-month loan deal,[123] and he completed the move on 23 January 2009.

[139] Mido made his league second debut on 16 October 2010, coming on as a substitute for Miralem Sulejmani in a 3–0 win against NAC Breda.

After Martin Jol resigned, Mido lost his place when new manager Frank de Boer was appointed on 6 December 2010.

[146] Mido made his league debut on 10 November 2012 as a substitute for Kelvin Etuhu in a 1–0 home defeat against Huddersfield Town.

However, Tardelli was sacked as Egypt coach and in January 2005 the Egyptian Football Association said they would consider bringing Mido back into the team if he were to apologise for his past behaviour.

[154][156] Mido withdrew from Egypt's 2006 World Cup qualifier against Cameroon, after sustaining a muscle tear while playing with Tottenham Hotspur.

[159] Mido was eventually recalled by the side following his suspension, ready for the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualification which Egypt won.

[160] Mido was included in the Egypt squad to play South Africa in London in November 2006, despite suffering from a knee injury at the time.

Under his leadership, The U-16 team won Al Wehda International Championship after defeating FC Steaua București U-16 by a result of 2–0 in the final.

After only one month as a manager, he was fired after a 2–0 loss to rivals Al Ahly in Cairo derby, leading to increase the gap between the two teams to seven points.

Later Mortada Mansour said that the board decided to remove Mido from his position after the loss to Ismaily, but announcing it was delayed until Cairo Derby is played, to avoid distraction of players.

Mido also stated that he accepted the job in order to be qualified for UEFA A License which requires the applicant to be currently managing a team.