Yara El-Shaboury
2026-01-14 17:28:00
Key events
37 min: Senegal pass it around the back. Meanwhile, Peter gets in touch over email.
An overriding visual memory of the 2022 final between these two teams is the incessant dance of laser pointer lights flittering across the goalkeepers’ faces during the penalty shootout.
I hope today’s proceedings produce more of a figurative blinder in normal (and extra) time.
Yes, lasers and African football. A complicated relationship. Started by Egyptian fans at club level but there has been a massive crackdown by stadium security since 2022. Haven’t seen any at this Afcon but they usually come out during the high pressure moments.
36 min: Senegal get a free-kick in the middle of the pitch which angers the Egyptian players and they crowd the referee. The replay shows Fathy did win the ball but his spikes were up, which is what the official saw, I guess.
34 min: A ball over the top comes to Mané and he tries to find Jackson but the Abdelmaguid deflection allows El Shenawy to gather … Are we sensing a pattern here?
32 min: A better chance for Senegal as Pape Gueye hits one in the box and aims for the near post but his low-strike is also saved.
31 min: A shot on target! Diarra goes for goal from a long way out in a bit of an ambitious shot. Fathy’s deflection sucks all the power out of it and it’s an easy gather for El Shenawy.
30 min: Egypt get forward, with boos from the majority Senegal crowd, and try to switch sides quickly but Hany is flagged for offside.
30 min: Thirty minutes gone and Senegal have registered two shots. Egypt with 0. Slim pickings for the aficionados of attacking football.
27 min: Senegal are in Egypt’s final third again, this time on the right. Ndiaye and Pape Gueye combine but Rabia deals with the danger and Egypt win a goal-kick.
26 min: Senegal lose the ball briefly before winning it back and surging forward. Mané looks for a cross but Ibrahim heads it away.
22 min: Play continues briefly but Koulibaly goes down again. Looks like the Senegal captain’s Afcon is over as the stretcher comes out on the pitch. Big blow. Mamadou Sarr comes on in his place.
20 min: Koulibaly is down clutching his groin. The replay shows he felt it after brief contact with Marmoush. Quite a few concerned faces here …
19 min: CLOSE! Jackson cuts inside and tries to generate a lot of power with a shot but he loses his balance and the shot sails over the bar.
16 min: Koulibaly in the book after clipping Marmoush, who was onrushing on to goal. An easy yellow, especially after the first booking. The captain will miss the next match, which could be the final.
Egypt now with a free-kick in a dangerous area about 30 yards outside the box … Marmoush takes it but his pass over the top isn’t as direct and Senegal deal with the danger.
14 min: Jackson turns after releasing the ball but then clatters into Abdelmaguid. Both players go down and are receiving treatment. A very stop-start semi-final so far.
9 min: Egypt finally get a bit of the ball with Ashour and Attia combining before the ball gets to Salah. The Egyptian captain’s through ball just evades an onrushing Marmoush.
Up the come again, this time on the flank, and Hany wins a throw-in high up the pitch. Diouf is getting treatment after blocking the cross with his groin area.
6 min: Abdelmaguid is in the book for tugging Jackson back. Egypt crowd the referee in protest before dealing with heading away Senegal’s free-kick.
Senegal win a corner and it takes a while for it to be taken due to the referee having a word with a few players in the box due to some shoving. Ashour eventually heads away the inswinging corner before Diarra’s shot is well over the bar.
4 min: Ashour goes down after I Gueye’s arm comes across when they both go up for a header. He is holding his head but he seems to be OK to continue.
4 min: Mané receives the ball over the top but the flag goes up for an offside.
1 min: Mané speeds ahead early on in the flank but Abdelmaguid manages to deal with the danger. Egypt very quick to retreat into their defensive shape whenever the ball is in their half.
Kick-off: Senegal 0-0 Egypt
Here we go! Senegal in all green and Egypt in red and white.
Koulibaly and Salah shake hands as captains and are all smiles before Salah goes over to Mané before kick-off and the two share an embrace.
The teams are out and the national anthems are being sung. First Senegal and then Egypt. Lots of support for both sides at the Tangier Grand Stadium.
Senegal like to have possession and will expect to have most of the ball during today’s semi-final, after keeping 65% of the ball in their win against Mali. Against Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt only had 29% possession, with Hossam Hassan’s side happy to sit back and hit their opponents on the transition.
Egypt have been a threat from set-pieces as well but alternatively struggle to defend them, with Mohamed El Shenawy having shaky moments in between the sticks.
Salah’s international career has always been defined but what he could accomplish compared to Egypt’s golden generation in the 2000s.
The Pharaohs won three back-to-back Afcon titles between 2006 and 2010 but failed to make the World Cup. Salah has helped Egypt to two World Cups (including the upcoming one in North America) but has come second-best in two Afcon finals.
After the defeat of Côte d’Ivoire, Salah said: “Nobody, even in Egypt, wants to win this trophy more than me. I have won almost every prize. This is the title I am waiting for.”
Pape Thiaw said Egypt’s seven Afcon trophies make them “mentally seasoned by years of playing at this level” at his pre-match press conference.
We are preparing for this match with the utmost rigour, leaving no room for distractions that could derail our focus. We know we are facing a very strong Egyptian side, arguably the most star-studded team in Africa, one that is tactically disciplined.
We approach this challenge with great respect, but also with real ambition. We are determined to win and reach the final. Above all, we remain faithful to our playing philosophy, because we believe it is the key that can make the difference.
Hossam Hassan was asked whether Senegal were Egypt’s bogey team, having lost to them in crucial moments in recent history. Here is what he had to say:
Senegal is not a bogey team for the Egyptian national team. We are seven-time African champions, and there is no such thing as a bogey team in football. Anyone who faces the Egyptian national team plays with fear in their heart.
We approach this semi-final with great respect for our opponent, but also with great preparation. We are mentally ready. We know the team we are facing and we also know our strengths. Each team has its own way of playing, its own strategy, and we have prepared accordingly.
Egypt’s path to the semi-final: Like their opponents today, Hossam Hassan’s side topped their group before a 3-1 win over Benin in extra-time. Their most impressive performance came in the quarter-finals against the defending champions, Côte d’Ivoire with goals from Omar Marmoush, Ramy Rabia and Mohamed Salah.
Senegal’s path to the semi-final: Pape Thiaw’s side topped their group before coming from behind in a 3-1 win against Sudan. In the quarter-finals, they were forced to dig deep against 10-man Mali but managed a 1-0 victory.
Senegal’s attacking depth is arguably the best on the continent with Iliman Ndiaye, Nicolas Jackson and Sadio Mané all having their moments of glory in Morocco.
Team news
Senegal XI (4-3-3): Mendy; Diatta, Koulibaly, Niakhaté, Diouf; I Gueye, P Gueye, Diarra; Ndiaye, Jackson, Mane.
Only one change for Senegal as Jackson replaces Diallo.
Egypt XI (3-4-2-1): El Shenawy; Ibrahim, Abdelmaguid, Rabia; Hany, Attia, Fathy, Fotouh; Ashour; Salah, Marmoush.
Egypt name an unchanged XI from their quarter-final win.
Referee: Pierre Ghislain Atcho (Gabon)
Mané v Salah: During their five seasons together at Liverpool, the pair formed a formidable partnership, both devastating on each side of the pitch. On the international stage, they have met five times but Salah is still waiting for meaningful victory.
In 2022, Senegal and Egypt met three times. The Afcon final in Cameroon and the two-legged World Cup qualifier tie. The Lions of Teranga beat Egypt on penalties to lift their maiden Afcon trophy. Less than two months later, they booked their spot in Qatar, also defeating Egypt on penalties.
Mané and Salah are both 33, born 66 days apart on opposite sides of the continent. Mané, the elder, is the son of an imam from Bambali, on the north bank of the Casamance. His family didn’t want him to be a footballer so he ran away from home aged 15, taking the bus to Dakar. Salah was born in Nagrig, just east of the Nile. His family were less wary of football, but having made a bus journey of three-to-four hours to training with the Cairo club Al Mokawloon and back every day, he too ended up, aged 15, leaving home to live in his country’s capital.
Their careers have run along not dissimilar lines. Both, for instance, have funded significant infrastructure projects in their home countries. But the sense at Liverpool was that their relationship was always a little spiky.
Read more from Jonathan Wilson below on the two fading giants.
Preamble
Here we are – the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations final four. Our first semi-final: Senegal, the 2022 winners, take on the seven-time champions, Egypt.
Ranked second in Africa behind the hosts Morocco, Senegal will be hoping to reach their third Afcon final in the last four editions. Egypt are desperate for an eighth continental title, and are hoping to go one better thus year after final losses in 2017 and 2022 (the latter against Senegal).
While not a historically rich African rivalry, this fixture has seen an uptick in interest and stakes in recent years, with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, former club teammates at Liverpool, becoming their respective country’s leading talisman.
As always, feel free to get in touch via email if you have any thoughts, predictions, questions or musings. Kick-off is at 5pm GMT in Tangier. Team news to come shortly …
Keep reading