It will be a battle between former teammates in the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) when Egypt meet Senegal after the Pharaohs eliminated defending Champions, Ivory Coast on Saturday night, Softfootball reports.
Senegal defeated 10-man Mali to reach the semi-final courtesy a goal from Iliman Ndiaye in the first-half. The Terenga Lions are rated as one of the favourites for the tournament and they face a formidable opponent in Egypt.
Liverpool manager, Arne Slot claimed that Salah was focused on the AFCON tournament and he showed that as he got his fourth goal in the competition against the Elephants in an evening of thrilling goals.
It took Egypt just four minutes to open scoring as Manchester City’s forward.Omar Marmoush as he latched onto a pass by Emam Ashour. It went from good to better for the 7-time AFCON Champions as Salah produced a sublime pass for Rami Rabia to make it 2-0.
The defending Champions pushed out to get back in the game and they eventually did just before half-time as Ahmed Abou El Fotouh scored an own goal to make it 2-1 after 45 minutes.
Ivory Coast came out strongly in the second half but that gave the Pharaohs space to exploit the backline. Man-of-the-Match, Mohamed Salah got his goal after he got on the end of a pass from Emam Ashour to make it 3-1. However, Ivory Coast got a goal in the 73 rd minute when Strasbourg star poked the ball into the net from a goal mouth melee to make it 3-2.
It will be Saido Mane representing Senegal while Mohamed Salah will be fighting for Egypt. They both represented premier league side, Liverpool and were unplayable, now they have to fight for the pride of their countries and it promises to be a great semi-final.
CAF official X handle celebrated Egypt’s qualification into the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Watch the video below.
The Pharaohs are at it again. It's their thing. 🇪🇬❤️#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 | #WeCelebrateDifferent pic.twitter.com/2U0r8f2tzh
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) January 10, 2026The Elephants pushed hard for the equaliser to take the match into extra-time but Egypt held on to win the match which sets up a semi-final clash against Senegal. The game will be played at the Moroccan city of Tangier on Wednesday.
