As Maram Hammadi snipped and buzzed hair at Jazz Barbershop in Shoreline, Washington, conversation quickly turned to the World Cup game between Egypt and Iran in Seattle.
“They are in a very good place right now, Egypt,” said the customer, Davud Jusic, who flew in to support Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hammadi, the shop's owner, agreed.
Hammadi has a special relationship with the Egyptian team: He cuts their hair.
Soccer players are known for being fit on and off the pitch. There is a longstanding tradition of paying careful attention to their hair.
Egypt’s soccer team, known as the Pharaohs, tapped Jazz Barbershop to help the players look fresh during their stay in Washington state. (Full disclosure: I also get my hair cut here.)
The team had a hard time getting into Seattle ahead of the match against Iran. FIFA denied the team’s request to spend extra time training in the city, although the team was able to arrive a couple days ahead of the game. But the Pharaohs have received a warm welcome from this group of barbers.
In Hammadi’s shop, his love for the sport is obvious. A soccer-themed garland and a partially filled tournament bracket hang from the wall. All the TVs are tuned to World Cup games.
Hammadi said the Egyptian players promised that if they do well, they will return with tickets and jerseys for his crew.
No joke
One of Hammadi’s clients who has a connection to the Egyptian team called to see if Hammadi would be up for cutting the soccer players’ hair: “‘My man, maybe you'd be cutting Mo Salah’s hair.’”
Mo Salah is the nickname of Mohamed Salah, Egypt’s star player whom fans call the “Egyptian King.” Hammadi thought it was a prank.
But it was no joke. That same day, Hammadi and four of his barbers canceled the rest of their clients and met the team at a hotel in downtown Seattle. He was nervous as he packed his bag, making sure he had adequate supplies.
“Two gloves, two brushes, two everything,” Hammadi said. “A bunch of aprons we didn't need, just extra towels.”
Becoming a barber
Cutting hair for Egypt’s soccer team is a big deal for Hammadi.
He grew up playing soccer in Iraq. In 2007, four years after the U.S. invasion began, the Iraqi national team won the Asian Cup. Hammadi said it felt like the mood in his country shifted.
“Everybody started to celebrate together and brought the love back to people,” he said.
But the war continued. Hammadi’s father worked with the U.S. military in Iraq, making it dangerous for him and his family to remain in the country. His family eventually left, ending up in Belgium. Hammadi fled separately and spent three years at a refugee camp in Jordan before moving to Spokane in 2012, when he was 18.
“I was very scared in the beginning. I went to ESL school,” Hammadi said, referring to schools that teach English as a second language. “It took me three years to finish my GED. During that time I worked as a dishwasher for Panda Express.”
As Hammadi searched for different work, he enrolled in beauty school and fell in love with cutting hair. After spending time at a shop in Spokane and working in an oil field in North Dakota, he came to Seattle, opening Jazz Barbershop in 2023.
Even after 10 years of cutting hair, he said, “I have the same passion, same love for what I do. Even on my days off I come here.”
The World Cup
On the day before Seattle's first World Cup match — between Belgium and Egypt — Hammadi and his colleagues arrived at the team's hotel. They passed through strict security — even Hammadi's glasses were checked for cameras.
In many ways, it felt like Hammadi's passions for haircutting and soccer converged. It felt like he became part of the team.
“I was talking to one of the players, called [Omar] Marmoush, and I said, ‘My dream is to see you, and now we're just talking,’” Hammadi said. “And he just tapped me, and he goes, ‘Maybe you deserve it, you know?’”
Over the course of eight hours, Hammadi and his barbers cut the hair of 24 players. Salah, the man known as the “Egyptian King,” was last in line. He had checked other players’ haircuts before choosing Hammadi.
Hammadi was so nervous that at one point his vision got blurry: “I turned around to look at my clipper in front of me. I couldn't see it, you know?” But he took his time, and when he finished the haircut, Salah approved.
After the haircuts, the Egyptian team tied with Belgium. Then Egypt got its first-ever World Cup victory, finishing with a 3-1 score after playing New Zealand in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hammadi was watching the match from his shop.
“Every single game we watch and we pray our haircuts will be good luck on them,” he said.
Hammadi cut the team’s hair again before Egypt’s match against Iran on Friday. He’s planning to take a different set of barbers this time, so that more people get the opportunity to meet the players. The team promised him tickets to the match.
Hammadi said he will be in the stands, hoping that his haircuts can bring Egypt another win during this World Cup.
