Egypt vs South Africa: AFCON 2025 – Key Preview
Record champions Egypt face South Africa in one of AFCON 2025’s early heavyweight clashes, with both sides aiming to secure early qualification from Group B. Egypt arrive as perennial favourites, led by Mohamed Salah, whose club future at Liverpool has generated headlines but has not distracted him on the pitch. Salah scored a dramatic injury-time winner in Egypt’s 2–1 opening victory over Zimbabwe, after Omar Marmoush cancelled out Prince Dube’s shock opener.
Despite speculation linking the 33-year-old to a potential Saudi move, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan insists Salah is fully focused on finally winning his first AFCON title, having finished runner-up in 2017 and 2021. Egypt are chasing a record-extending eighth crown, their last triumph coming in 2010.
South Africa, meanwhile, have shown signs of resurgence. Their 2–1 win over Angola marked their first opening-game victory at AFCON in 21 years. Oswin Appollis opened the scoring, Angola equalised before halftime, and Lyle Foster struck a decisive long-range winner. In a group widely labelled the “group of death,” that result could prove pivotal for Bafana Bafana.
Both Egypt and South Africa sit on three points with identical goal differences. A win in this encounter would guarantee progression to the round of 16, where the top two teams from each group advance, alongside the four best third-placed sides.
Historically, Egypt hold the upper hand in honours, with seven AFCON titles, but South Africa have won five of the nine previous meetings between the sides. Their most famous clash was the 1998 AFCON final, which Egypt won 2–0, while South Africa triumphed 1–0 in their last meeting in 2019.
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