Egypt qualify for Africa Cup of nations finals

Egypt qualify for africa cup of nations finals0

Egypt overcame a one-goal deficit to defeat Guinea 2-1 on Wednesday, ensuring that they would make a record-extending 26th appearance in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.

This victory also ensured that Egypt would finish in first place in their qualifying group with one match remaining in the preliminary round.

Egypt is the eighth nation to qualify for the finals, which will be held in Ivory Coast the following year and feature a total of 24 teams.

Mahmoud Trezeguet and Mostafa Mohamed scored to assure Egypt would finish on top of Group D and return for another attempt at the African championship, which they have won a record seven times. Egypt’s captain, Mohamed Salah, squandered two golden opportunities, but Egypt has won the African crown a record seven times.

After 27 minutes, Guinea grabbed the lead thanks to Serhou Guirassy. However, Salah subsequently missed two shots from in close range before Trezeguet equalized the score. Guinea just needed one point to advance for the next round.

Mohamed scored the game-winning goal with 11 minutes remaining in the match in Marrakech, Morocco. Guinea had to play the match there because the Confederation of African Football inspectors deemed their home stadium unsuitable for the tournament. Mohamed scored the game-winning goal by firing it in.

If Guinea loses, one of the other two teams in the group, Ethiopia or Malawi, who both have three points and play on Tuesday, will have the opportunity to advance to the next round. Guinea now sits on nine points. The victor of that match will then have a chance to catch up, but if the game ends in a tie, Guinea will have already qualified.

Gambia, who were the surprise package at the last Cup of Nations finals as they reached the quarter-finals in their inaugural participation, improved their prospects of returning after a thrilling last-gasp goal gained them a 3-2 victory against South Sudan. Gambia’s previous performance at the Cup of Nations finals earned them the title of “surprise package.”

Hamza Barry, who came in as a substitute, scored the game-winning goal seven minutes into stoppage time, propelling Gambia to nine points overall in Group G. They are tied for first place with Mali, who will play Congo on the road in Brazzaville this coming Sunday.

Ismailia, Egypt hosted the match since South Sudan does not have a venue that meets international standards. Gambia took the lead after just four minutes thanks to an own goal by South Sudan.

After that, South Sudan made two more comebacks, but both times they were unsuccessful, and their aspirations of making it to the finals were dashed when they were defeated.

The Lusophone derby that took place earlier on Wednesday saw Guinea Bissau defeat Sao Tome and Principe by a score of 1-0. This victory improved Guinea Bissau’s hopes of qualifying from Group A, as they now have 10 points after five games and have a one-point lead over Nigeria.

If Sierra Leone are unable to defeat Nigeria in the second group game on Sunday, then the game-winning goal scored by former Belgium youth international Zinho Gano in the 55th minute would be enough for Guinea Bissau to qualify for a fourth consecutive trip in the finals.

Due to the fact that their own stadium was considered unsuitable for use in international play, Sao Tome was forced to hand up the home-field advantage to Guinea Bissau. The sparsely populated island country has now let up 20 goals in total for the group after playing five matches.

On Saturday, the second-to-last round of qualifying matches will consist of seven further matches to be played.

At the championships in January, the top two teams from each group will compete against one another.

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