AFCON 2025 Match Preview, Group B: Egypt Vs South Africa

The Stade Adrar in Agadir will be the venue of a tough game at the ongoing AFCON tournament in Morocco, between seven-times champions and one of the favorite teams to lift the trophy, Egypt, facing odd against one of the dark horses, South Africa.

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This will be their second game in group B, after they both secured a 2-1 win in their opening encounter. South Africa defeated Angola on Tuesday before Egypt did the same later on in the same day to start off to a positive start but now, the two teams will face each other and the result could determine who tops the group.

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Egypt:

Although, their first game was far from perfect, needing to come from behind for the win with goals from their English Premier league contingents, Omar Marmoush and Mo Salah and heading into this encounter, they will be at their absolute best against an opponent that they’ve a poor record against.

Their manager, Hossam Hassan has promised an improvement in performance for this top of the table clash. Just like their first game, Egypt will be banking on the duo of Marmoush and Salah for goals but will also need input from their midfield, especially from former Arsenal star, Mohamed Elneny.

They’ve a very poor record against this particular opponent whom they haven’t defeated since November 2006. In fact, they also suffered 1-0 defeat the last time these teams played competitively — at AFCON 2019 in Cairo, hence the Pharaohs know they cannot approach this encounter casually, especially since the opponent are much improved since then.

South Africa

As for the Bafana Bafana, they had a better outing in their first game but also still needed a late goal to grab all three points and heading into this encounter, they’re viewed as the underdogs but they can also spring a surprise if they can continue with their current performance.

This is mainly because they’ve become a formidable team since Hugo Broos took over as they’ve not lost a competitive fixture on the field of play under this coach in almost two years, since a defeat to Mali in their 2023 AFCON opener and they will be looking to extend that record.

Furthermore, the coach stated that they won’t be focusing solely on Salah for this encounter while for the match winner in their last game, Lyle Foster, he’s confident that they can go all the way in the tournament even if they’re facing one of the favorites for the trophy today.

“The morale in camp is good. As the coach (Hugo Broos) said, the first game was very important for us to get maximum points and it helped a lot,” the Burnley striker told reporters. “Going into the rest of the tournament, the morale in the camp is high, spirits are good, and we’re confident and ready for the next game.“It’s an important match for both teams.”

“We both have three points, and it will tell us a lot about where we are. We’re focused on our preparation and hoping for a good result.” He further added. They will be looking to their goalkeeper and captain, Ronwen Williams to keep out the goals while Lyle Foster and Oswin Appollis will be tasked with scoring the goals at the other end.

Head To Head

South Africa are unbeaten against Egypt since 2010 after the teams played twice in qualifying for the African Nations Championship (in which only homegrown players are eligible) earlier this year.

Each match saw both teams score, although six of the last seven produced under 2.5 goals and five of Egypt’s last six games saw both teams score while three of South Africa’s last 13 AFCON finals games saw both teams score.

Predicted Lineups

Egypt: El Shenawy; Hany, Ibrahim, Abdelmaguid, Fatouh; Attia, Fathy; Salah, Marmoush, Trezeguet; Mohamed

South Africa: Williams; Mudau, Ngezana, Mbokazi, Modiba; Mokoena, Sithole; Nkota, Mbule, Appollis; Foster

Read Also: Two EPL Stars Could Move To Italy To Help Strengthen Gian Piero Gasperini’s Team This January

Verdict

Although, it is probably going to be a cagey affair as the two teams size up each other in the opening minutes, we might be in for some goals, while a draw seems to be the most likely outcome in the end (1-1).

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