Our prediction for this Africa Cup of Nations 2024 match:
Ivory Coast
Match Time & Date:
26/01/2022
11:00 AM
Prediction: 1-1
Egypt
There will be fireworks when Ivory Coast and Egypt, the two old rivals, face each other at Japoma Stadium in the AFCON 2021 last 16. The Elephants clinched top position in Group E thanks to a 3-1 win over Algeria, but they face a difficult task in Wednesday’s showdown. Ajax attacker Sebastien Haller should continue to lead the line for the nominal hosts, while both Eric Bailly and Badra Sangare should miss out with injuries. Crystal Palace ace Wilfried Zaha is pushing for a start.
The Pharaohs, on the other hand, set up a meeting with Ivory Coast by beating Sudan 1-0 in the decider. Mohamed Salah will, as always, be the man to watch in the away team, but Carlos Queiroz’s troops should rely on their rock-solid defence this time out. A low-scoring affair is on the cards in Douala, and we believe that punters can find value in betting on under 2.5 goals. Egypt defender Akram Tawfik has been ruled out with injury.
Highlighted Player (Mohamed Salah):
Mohamed Salah is considered one of the best African players. Salah began his senior career at El Mokawloon, scoring 11 goals in 41 league appearances for the club and in 2012 he moved to Europe, signing a four-year deal with Swiss side Basel.
The pacey winger, who is capable of playing as a striker as well was producing outstanding displays for the RotBlau from 2012 to 2014 and, as a result, Chelsea chiefs decided to sign him on 26 January, 2015 for a fee of £11 million. Mohamed Salah, though, failed to impress in the Premier league and one year later he was sent on loan to Fiorentina.
After making 16 league appearances for the Viola in the Serie A, the left-footed winger signed a loan deal with Roma on 6 August, 2015. The Romans made the contract permanent on 3 August, 2016. Speaking of his international career, Salah made his Egypt debut on 3 September, 2011 in a 2-1 loss to Sierra Leone. It has to be noted that he was named Roma’s player of the season (2015/2016).
Highlighted Team (Egypt):
Egypt are an African football team that plays their home games at Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria. Over the years Egypt have established themselves as the most successful national team in Africa and you should bear in mind that they won their seventh African Cup of Nations trophy in 2010.
The Pharaohs participated at the World Cup finals on two occasions (1934 and 1990) and they failed to make it to the knockout stages of the showpiece tournament. Egypt suffered a 4-2 loss to Hungary on their World Cup debut and it has to be noted that the African team scored no more than one goal at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
Ahmed Hassan is the player with the most caps for the Egyptian national team (184), while Hossam Hassan is the team’s top scorer (68). The colour of Egypt’s home kit is red and white and the Pharaohs play their away games in white shits and black shorts.
