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AFCON 2022: Dazzling Past and Shaky Present of Egypt’s Favourite Tournament

January 11, 2022
Egyptian national team players during an earlier match in the African Cup of Nations.

After a series of underwhelming early matches in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Egypt kicks off its first match of the tournament against Nigeria on 11 January. Historically, AFCON has been Egypt’s favourite tournament. Out of all of Africa’s national football teams, Egypt is the record-holder with seven titles, starting with the very first edition of the tournament in 1957, where Egypt was only competing against Sudan and Ethiopia, and ending so far with three consecutive and memorable wins in 2006, 2008, and 2010. To many Egyptian millennials, football fans or not, the first title of that final streak is a collective memory of unmatched value. Egypt hosted AFCON five times: 1959, 1974, 1986, 2006, and 2019. When the championship took place in Egypt in 2006, the country witnessed one of the greatest moments of its football history. The Cairo International Stadium had been renovated and expanded, the current squad was spangled with stars such as Mohamed Aboutreika, Mohamed Barakat, Emad Mote’eb, Ahmed Hassan, Ahmed Hossam (Mido), Wael Gomaa, Mohamed Zidan, Amr Zaki, and many more, whose teamwork and performance on the pitch inspired millions. During that year,…


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