Water scarcity is one of the most significant constraints to wheat production in Egypt and around the world. Therefore, twenty genotypes and four cultivars of bread wheat were tested under normal irrigation (six irrigations including planting irrigation) and water deficit stress (two irrigations at 21 and 45 days after the planting irrigation) during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 growing seasons at Shandaweel Agricultural Research Station, Sohag, Egypt. Each irrigation treatment was considered a separate experiment in the randomized complete block design. The two seasons and two water treatments showed sufficient genetic variability among the studied genotypes. The number of days to heading and maturity, plant height, yield and its components traits significantly decreased under water deficit stress. The genotypes G13 and G17 significantly outperformed all studied genotypes and checked cultivars for grain yield under normal irrigation and water stress conditions. The genotypes G16, G2, G12, G9, G17, G20, G18, G8, G10 and G5 as well as cultivars Sids 14, Sokoll and Kasuko showed stress susceptibility index (SSI) <1 and they can be used as a source of water deficit tolerance in a breeding program. Genotypic main effect plus genotype by environment interaction (GGE) Biplot analysis revealed that the genotypes G13 and G17 had high yielding ability but genotype G17 showed more stability and tolerance under water stress conditions. Therefore this study concluded that the genotypes G13 and G17 were suitable genotypes to be cultivated under water shortage conditions and could be used to enhance the wheat breeding program for water deficit stress tolerance.