Ivory Coast will lock horns against Egypt in their Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 fixture at Stade Omnisport de Douala on Wednesday.
The Elephants reached the knockout stage of the 33rd edition in Cameroon as Group E winners after amassing seven points while Equatorial Guinea came second with six points.
Ivory Coast kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 victory against Nzalang Nacional, drew 2-2 against Sierra Leone before they put up one of their best performances in the competition thus far to hammer defending champions Algeria 3-1 win in their final group phase fixture.
Meanwhile, Egypt qualified for the Round of 16 after finishing second with six points, in a group that was led by Nigeria, who garnered nine points.
The Pharaohs suffered an opening 1-0 defeat against the Super Eagles, recovered to edge out Guinea-Bissau 1-0 before defeating Sudan 1-0.
| Game | Ivory Coast vs Egypt |
| Date | Wednesday, January 26 |
| Time | 18:00 SA Time - (16:00 GMT) |
TV Channel, Live Score & How To Watch
| Online Streaming | TV Channel |
|---|---|
| DStv.com/DStv Now App https://www.showmax.com/eng/welcome/za | SuperSport TV's PSL channel 202/SuperSport TV's Variety 3 channel 208 |
Squads & Team News
Ivory Coast have not reported any injury or Covid-19 related issues ahead of the fixture.
Getty ImagesThe Elephants head coach Patrice Beaumelle will hope his charges replicate the same form and spirit that saw them dispatch the defending champions.
Goalkeeper Badra Ali Sangare is a sure bet to start between the sticks while defenders Serge Aurier, Simon Deli, Eric Bailly will give him cover with Wilfried Zaha, Nicolas Pepe, Sebastien Haller leading the attack.
Meanwhile, Egypt have two injuries concerns - Ahmed Fatouh and Akram Tawfik – who suffered blows during their group opener against the Super Eagles, with Tawfik being ruled out of the competition.
Getty ImagesHowever, coach Carlos Queiroz will still have a good squad to pick the starting XI from, with Al Ahly's Mohamed El-Shennawy likely to keep his goalkeeping role, Ahmed Hegazy, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Omar Kamal giving him cover while Mohamed Salah, who has managed one goal so far, will hunt for more goals.
The Liverpool forward is, however, predicting a tough game against the Elephants.
“Against Ivory Coast, it won't be easy, but our team is gaining momentum,” Salah told reporters ahead of the game as quoted by CafOnline. “It will be a very tight match.”
Match Preview
Ivory Coast and Egypt have met on 10 previous occasions at the Afcon finals, while this meeting will see it become the most played fixture in the history of the competition (11).
Egypt have progressed on each of the previous four occasions when facing the Elephants in the knockout stage – two of those have come via penalty shootouts, with the second of those coming in 2006 final (4-2 on penalties).
Ivory Coast are unbeaten in their three games at this year’s edition (W2 D1), while the last time they avoided defeat in their opening four games in a single edition of the tournament was in 2015 when they went on to win it, beating Ghana on penalties in the final.
Egypt have been eliminated in their last two knockout stage games at Afcon (1-2 v Cameroon in the 2017 final and 0-1 v South Africa in the 2019 Round of 16). Prior to this, they had progressed from 11 consecutive games in the knockout stages, between 2006 and 2017.
This is Egypt’s 25th appearance at Afcon, a record in the history of the tournament and they have won it seven times, more than any other side. However, they have won none of their last five tournaments after winning each of the previous three (2006, 2008, 2010).
Meanwhile, this is Ivory Coast’s 24th participation at Afcon, a tally only bettered by Egypt (25). They’ve won the tournament twice (1992 and 2015) and progressed to the knockout stage in seven of their last eight appearances.