African giants Egypt will be looking to claim their first continental title since 2010 at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. The Pharaohs have been AFCON champions a record seven times- more than any other country, but their last title came back in 2010, and they failed to win even a single game at the previous edition of the tournament two years ago.
Qualification
Egypt qualified for AFCON 2025 as winners of Group C in qualifying. They topped a group that also included Botswana, Mauritania and Cape Verde and picked up 14 points from a possible 18. The Pharaohs had the joint best defensive record in qualifying- they conceded just two goals, and both of them came after Hossam Hassan’s side had already been assured of progress to the main tournament.
The Mo Salah factor
For a player who’s had such a chequered career, it feels a bit weird that Salah has never won an AFCON with Egypt. As mentioned earlier, the Pharaohs picked up their last crown back in 2010, and the forward made his national debut in 2011. He’s come close- Egypt were runners-up in both 2017 and 2021, but the title eluded them on both occasions, and at 33, time is ticking away for the Liverpool forward.
Salah enters this tournament keen to make a statement. He’s had a mini falling out at Liverpool with manager Arne Slot and went on to publicly criticise his manager for dropping him from the LFC starting XI. The Dutch gaffer, pretty frank and never one to mince words, hit back.
At one stage, it got so bad that some LFC fans probably wished Slot was the name of a game they were playing at social casinos like RP rather than the manager of their club. The Merseyside outfit have looked like a pale shadow of the team that won the league title last year.
Slot introduced Salah off the bench following Joe Gomez’s injury in Liverpool’s last game against Brighton. It was also Mo’s last outing for the Reds before heading off to AFCON, and he managed an assist that took him past Wayne Rooney in the record books for most goal involvements with a single club.
As mentioned before, If Salah brings continental glory to Egypt and stars in the tournament, it’ll be a sign that he isn’t done yet at the highest level. A poor tournament though, and the knives will be out for him, and it’s quite possible that we don’t see him at Anfield next summer.
Having netted 63 times for Egypt so far, Salah is only six goals behind coach Hassan (who is also the country’s all-time leading goal scorer). A good AFCON could see the Liverpool star take that record too for his nation.
Salah will be wearing special edition F50 boots for this tournament made by Adidas.
Egypt’s opponents
The Pharaohs are in Group B for the tournament alongside South Africa (the 2023 bronze medallists), Angola and Zimbabwe.
Interestingly, all three group games for the North African giants are at the same venue- the Adrar Stadium in the city of Agadir. They start their campaign against Zimbabwe- the weakest in the group on paper, and also a team who will be without their star player in Marshall Munetsi.
An exciting Boxing Day clash against South Africa awaits the Pharaohs after the Zimbabwe fixture. Bafana have been on the rise in recent years, but their preparation hasn’t exactly been ideal, with a row in the camp ahead of the tournament.
Angola were a team that qualified for this AFCON ahead of Ghana, and Egypt will underestimate the Black Antelopes at their own peril.
The previous edition
As mentioned before, Egypt at AFCON 2023 were disappointing. They produced three successive 2-2 draws in the group stage, and had to come from behind in all three of their group fixtures. They limped into the knockout stages as group runners-up with just 3 points and were eliminated in the Round of 16 by DR Congo on penalties.
Morocco factor
This is the second time that Morocco are hosting the tournament. The last time they did so was back in 1988, and it was a forgettable tournament for Egypt- they were defending champions going into it, but crashed out at the group stage after a loss to Cameroon and a goalless stalemate against Nigeria.
The squad
Hassan’s squad is largely domestic based, with the vast majority plying their trade for the likes of Al-Ahly, Zamalek and Pyramids. Salah is the biggest overseas name in the squad, closely followed by Man City’s Omar Marmoush.
Unlike Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria and other African powerhouses, there aren’t as many foreign-based players in this Egyptian team. But this is a squad that has also qualified for the next World Cup, and Hassan will be quietly confident of his charges bringing the title back to Cairo.
