Egypt secures first qualification with two consecutive wins
The Egyptian national football team secured the first qualification spot for the Round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations "Morocco 2025" by defeating South Africa 1-0 on Friday evening in the second round of Group B matches. This marks the first time since the 2019 edition that Egypt has achieved a perfect record in its first two matches in the tournament.
Captain Mohamed Salah scored the only goal in the 45th minute from a penalty kick awarded by Burundian referee Pacifique Ndabihawenimana.
Salah also scored the winning goal against Zimbabwe (2-1) in the first round, but from open play, not a set piece.
Egypt's right-back, Mohamed Hany, was sent off in the second minute of first-half stoppage time after receiving his second yellow card, having received his first in the 30th minute. The Pharaohs now lead the group with 6 points, while South Africa remains in second place with 3 points. Angola and Zimbabwe are tied for third place with one point each. Egypt secured qualification regardless of the result of their final group stage match against Angola next Monday, which coincides with the South Africa-Zimbabwe game.
Zimbabwe and Angola cannot mathematically catch Egypt even if they lose their final match. They will now have to compete with South Africa for the second qualifying spot or try to secure one of the four best third-place finishes.
The last time Egypt started the tournament with two consecutive wins was in 2019 when they hosted the competition and won all their group stage matches.
In the following edition in 2022, Egypt only managed three points from their first six matches, while in the 2023 tournament, held in 2024, they began with two draws.