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At home in Cairo, the Egyptian national team easily won the final of the African Nations Championship (CAN) against Cape Verde. Dominating, the Egyptians won 37-25 on Monday 18 July. A year after their fourth place at the Olympic Games, they have won a second consecutive title at continental level.
The final of the 25th CAN men’s handball was in the nine this year. This is the first time that there was neither Tunisia nor Algeria, while at least one of these two selections was systematically present in the final until this 2022 edition*. And for the first time since 1983 and the presence of Congo, a team from sub-Saharan Africa qualified for the final: Cape Verde.
The Cabo Verdeans faced a very big chunk with Egypt, who had the advantage besides playing at home. Seven times African champions, winners of the previous edition in 2020, the Egyptians were widely favored in the forecasts. And indeed, there was not really a match in the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall, the scene of the final. The fourth in the last Olympics did not shake.
The most prolific and unbalanced final in history
Cape Verde, which was only playing its second CAN after its first participation in 2020, was only in the game for a few moments. The time to lead 2-1 briefly at the start of the match before seeing the Egyptian ogre settle comfortably and flaunt his domination. Returning to 2-2, the Egyptian selection chained behind to bring the score to 6-2. From then on, the other finalist was never able to claim victory again, only managing to close the gap to two goals at best.
Hyper solid in defense, very effective in attack and carried by the public, Egypt already had a hand on the trophy at the break with a score of 24-12 in their favor. The second half was one-sided, with Cape Verde never managing to catch up. At the finish, Egypt won 37-25. This is the highest total of goals ever scored in the final by the winner (the previous record was Egypt’s 31-28 win over Tunisia in 2004) and also the biggest gap ever seen in the final (+ 12, then the previous biggest gap was +6 in the 1985, 1987, 2002 and 2020 finals).
The podium of this CAN 2022 handball is completed by Morocco, which beat Tunisia a little earlier (28-24) in the match for third place. The competition was tough for the Tunisians, who finished off the podium for the first time in their history. Algeria, which beat Guinea in the fifth place classification match (27-26), is smiling. Thanks to this ranking, it will compete in the 2023 World Cup in Poland and Sweden, as will Tunisia (fourth), Morocco (third), Cape Verde (vice-champion of Africa) and Egypt (champion of Africa).
* the 1974, 1976, 1991 and 2000 editions were played in the form of a championship where the best ranked team was crowned.
