Egypt arrived at the tournament aiming to lift a record-extending eighth AFCON title, and while performances were inconsistent at times, Hossam Hassan's side showed good progress in the knockout rounds. That progress was halted by Senegal in the semi-finals. A tight contest appeared destined for extra time before Sadio Mane struck in the 78th minute, leaving the Pharaohs unable to find a response.
"I scored a goal and provided an assist, but we shouldn't focus on my personal performance; we should focus on the team effort of the national team," he said. "We won against a good Algerian team that has talented players."
The group stages of Afcon 2025 come to a close tonight, with top spot in Group F still up for grabs. Cote d'Ivoire are looking to hold off Cameroon to join the other big names finishing first in their group: Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and Algeria. In order to do that, the Elephants need to match or better Cameroon's result against Mozambique in tonight's game.
Bordering nations meet in Marrakech in the final round of Group B fixtures at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. South Africa are clear favourites, a status that has so far been a defining characteristic of the competition. Bafana Bafana's objective is to hold on to second place in the group against the direct threat of Zimbabwe and the indirect possibility of Angola grabbing three points against Egypt.
Sunday's late game in the AFCON 2025 group stage is arguably the competition's first great clash of the titans. This mouth-watering encounter between two of the true giants of the CAF confederation is too close to call and the first group fixtures played by Ivory Coast and Cameroon offered precious little indication of what to expect in Marrakech. Ivory Coast defeated Mozambique by a single Amad Diallo goal and never looked quite at their best.
