NOS Football••Amended
Egypt has reached the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations. Captain Mohamed Salah’s team was too strong for courageous Benin after extra time in Agadir with a 3-1 score.
The Pharaohs will now play on Saturday against the winner of the eighth final between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.
Later in the evening, Nigeria was much too strong for Mozambique, which had reached the knockout phase of the African Cup of Nations for the first time: 4-0. The Nigerians will know on Tuesday whether Algeria or the Democratic Republic of Congo will be their opponent in the quarter-finals.
Two quarter-finals have already been announced at the Africa Cup: Morocco-Cameroon and Mali-Senegal.
After rest to life
Egypt-Benin only came to life after a break in Agadir, Morocco. Rami Rabia seemed to open the scoring for Egypt from a corner from close range, but the quickly emerging goalkeeper Marcel Souke Dandjinou made a nice save for Benin.
Even better was the Egyptian opening goal by Marwan Attia, who shot the ball into the top corner from about eighteen meters after 69 minutes.
However, World Cup participant Egypt was not yet finished with Benin, number 92 in the FIFA rankings. Jodel Dossou first encountered the Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy during an attempt, but in the 83rd minute the attacker from the French Pays du Valois (fifth level) scored.
Keeper El Shenawy was unlucky when a cross was deflected when the goal was scored, so he had to make a great effort to save the ball. Doussou was then able to simply tap into an empty goal.
Egypt stronger in extra time
Egypt had the initiative in extra time, but the seven-time African Cup winner had to remain careful of an outbreak by Benin.
A well-placed header from Yasser Ibrahim, after a measured cross from Attia, gave Egypt the lead again in the first half of extra time.
Benin could no longer manage to stage a new comeback. Salah even made it 3-1 for Egypt from a counter just before the final whistle.
Nigeria has little trouble
Nigeria went into halftime with a 2-0 lead against Mozambique in Fez thanks to goals from Ademola Lookman (tight shot) and Victor Osimhen (kicker).
Osimhen also made it 3-0 in the 47th minute on a pass from Lookman, immediately depriving the match of all tension.
The two Nigeria stars then got into a heated argument, although it was not entirely clear what the discussion was about.
The striking scene did not affect the Nigerian top evening, as Akor Adams also scored the 4-0 in the final quarter for the losing finalist of 2023.
African Cup of 16 finals
| Mali – Tunisia | 1-1 (Mali wns) |
| Senegal – Sudan | 3-1 |
| Egypte – Benin | 3-1 (nv) |
| Ivory Coast – Burkina Faso | Tuesday |
| Cameroon – South Africa | 2-1 |
| Markko – Tanzania | 1-0 |
| Algeria – DR Congo | Tuesday |
| Nigeria – Mozambique | 4-0 |
