Mohamed Salah scored, and Egypt eliminated the defending champions, Ivory Coast, to move into the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semifinals with a 3-2 victory.
Liverpool forward Salah nabbed his fourth goal of the tournament – Egypt’s third of the game – in the 52nd minute of Saturday’s encounter, and the Pharaohs needed it, as Ivory Coast threatened to twice come back from two goals down.
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Egypt, however, held on in Agadir despite relentless Ivorian pressure, and booked a semifinal date with 2021 champions Senegal in Tangier on Wednesday.
Ivory Coast had a woeful start, as Franck Kessie lost the ball in the midfield after a poor touch and Odilon Kossounou fell over instead of cutting out Emam Ashour’s ball for Omar Marmoush, who scored in the fourth minute.
Ramy Rabia produced a brilliant block to preserve the lead, and then scored himself with a header from a corner in the 32nd.
Ivory Coast finally pulled one back five minutes before the break, when Ahmed Abou El Fotouh bundled in a dangerous Yan Diomande free kick, which Kossounou headed on.
Salah restored Egypt’s two-goal cushion early in the second half, when Rabia caught the Ivorian defence out with a long ball for Ashour, who set up Salah with the outside of his boot.
Guela Doue pulled another one back with his heel in a goalmouth scramble, after goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy clawed the ball away in the 73rd, but the equaliser never came.
Egypt are bidding for a record-extending eighth AFCON title.
Earlier, three-time champions Nigeria, who lost the final to Ivory Coast in the last edition, beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a semifinal meeting with Morocco.
The Super Eagles are bidding to win the title for the first time since 2013.
Source: Aljazeera
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