Egypt Beats Ivory Coast to a Place in AFCON 2022 Quarter Finals

The Egyptian National Team has taken a major step forward in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after a surprisingly strong performance against African football powerhouse Ivory Coast in the round of 16. Though many chances were created throughout the game, a penalty shootout save from Egypt’s second goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal was ultimately key to the victory leading Egypt into the quarter final.

Though the match went on for an additional 30 minutes of extra time, playtime ended in a goal-free draw. A penalty shootout was initially not the ideal outcome for the Egyptian National Team as first goalkeeper Mohamed Elshennawy was substituted 88 minutes into match due to injury, making Abou Gabal’s decisive save particularly noteworthy.

Egypt’s performance in the tournament has been patchy so far; the team lost against Nigeria with zero goals to one, and scraped wins against Guinea-Bissau and Sudan, both again with a goal to zero. However, Egypt has now added another knockout defeat against Ivory Coast, whom they have a long tradition of eliminating from this particular tournament.

With this match’s more convincing performance, Egypt fans are holding out hope for wins in the remaining matches.