The national team succeeded in avoiding the trap of the Benin national team and was able to exclude it from the African Nations Championship, which is currently being held in Morocco and will continue until January 18 of this year.
The national team won over Benin 3-1 in the match that was held between them yesterday evening at the Grand Stadium in Agadir in the round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Egypt was on its way to victory after taking the lead with Marwan Attia’s goal (69), but Godel Dosso equalized (83), before defender Yasser Ibrahim (97) and captain Mohamed Salah scored in the 124th minute.
The English Liverpool star raised his tally of goals to three in the current edition, and to 10 in his fifth participation in the continental tournament, and to 66 goals in second place on the list of historical scorers for the Pharaohs, and he is now two goals away from equaling the record of his coach Hossam Hassan (68).
This victory carried with it strong messages, entitled restoring confidence, and renewing the pledge with the historical ambition, which is to return home with the African crown, for the eighth time in the record of the “Pharaohs” team.
The CAF website stressed that the Egyptian team always refuses to hide its great ambitions when it comes to the continental competition, and the same thing is happening in this edition, as the team’s players set their sights on reaching the furthest possible point in the competition, and returning the continental cup to Cairo, which is the legitimate goal of a team that is the most crowned in the history of the tournament with seven titles, and possesses the experience and personality that qualifies it to go far in the next rounds.
The Egyptian national team’s journey in the African Cup of Nations finals has a special character for coach Hossam Hassan, who seeks to write a new page in the team’s history by leading him to the continental crown as a coach after winning the title 3 times as a player, in the 1986, 1998 and 2006 editions, as he leads the Egyptian national team with the passion of the leader and the experience of the former star, keeping in mind entering history through its wide door.
This qualification represents an important moral achievement for the Egyptian national team, which is looking forward to regaining the title that has been missing from its coffers since the 2010 edition in Angola, noting that this is the second time that the team has passed the round of 16, since this round was approved in the competition’s edition, which was held in Egypt in 2019.
The dream of the Egyptian fans, who are passionate about football, is getting bigger and bigger. The Egyptians see the religion that strongly supported their team as a real opportunity in this generation to add the eighth star to the golden record, and with every step the “Pharaohs” take, the belief increases that the continental title may once again return to the coffers of Egyptian football.
The Egyptian team is awaiting a difficult test in the quarter-finals of the tournament, as it must face the winner of the match between Côte d’Ivoire (the defending champion) and Burkina Faso, which failed to reach the World Cup, after finishing runner-up to Mohamed Salah’s comrades in the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
If the Egyptian team passes the quarter-final hurdle, it must face the winner of the semi-final match between Senegal and Mali, hoping to reach the final for the third time in the last five editions.
