African Cup of Nations
Egypt 3 – 2 Ivory Coast FT
Mohamed Salah’s fourth goal in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final became Egypt’s winner after Ivory Coast threatened a comeback [Reuters]
Mohamed Salah scored again as Egypt beat defending champions Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
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Omar Marmouche put the Pharaohs ahead after just four minutes and the North Africans never trailed in the game.
But Emersey Fae’s Elephants were renowned for their resilience and despite Rami Rabia’s header putting Egypt 2-0 ahead after the half-hour mark, they refused to let their opponents break them.
Ahmed Fatouh’s own goal gave the Ivorians hope before half-time, but Salah soon restored a two-goal cushion for the seven-time champions.
Guela Doue’s back-heeled strike set the stage for a goal in the stands after 73 minutes, but this time there was no fairytale comeback for the Ivory Coast.
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The result means Salah’s bid for a first continental title with his country remains on track.
He will now lead the team to Tangier to face Senegal, who beat Egypt in the 2021 final on Wednesday (17:00 GMT).
Salah surpasses Amad
Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush gave Egypt an early lead but there was plenty of drama in Agadir [Getty Images]
In addition to losing to Senegal on penalties in the 2021 final, Salah also finished runner-up in the 2017 African Cup of Nations against Cameroon.
The 33-year-old must start a tough road from here if he is to finally lift the trophy, with either Nigeria or Morocco awaiting in any potential final on Sunday, January 18.
But he has now scored four goals at this tournament, his best total at the Africa Cup of Nations, with 11 goals in total, level with his coach Hossam Hassan and one behind Pharaohs’ record holder Hassan El-Shazly.
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In this game, the weight of history undoubtedly belongs to Egypt, who dominated the game against their opponents.
After this victory, the North African team has played against the Ivory Coast 12 times in the African Cup of Nations and lost only once.
Marmouche was sharp from the start, stealing the ball from the slow Odilon Kosunu just outside the box before racing through and confidently past Yahya Fofana in the fourth minute to set up the opener.
Hossam Abdelmajid then gave the West Africans a warning, heading over an empty net after Fofana had taken a free-kick but failed to get close to it.
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Ivory Coast failed to learn their lesson, however, and Rabia doubled their advantage moments later when he headed in at the far post from Salah’s corner, the ball lightly touching Ibrahim Sangare before rounding the desperate Fofana.
While the Elephants were prowling at the back, they were a danger going forward, with the physical presence of Aston Villa striker Evan Gerson causing problems.
However, Manchester United’s Amad Diallo remained silent throughout and was unable to have much impact on the game.
Fatu scored an own goal five minutes before the break when Kosunu met Jan Diomande’s free kick at the near post, but the defender was unable to adjust his body position and the ball almost hit his goal line.
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Salah’s goal became one of many seven minutes after the restart, with Rabia’s shot allowing Emam Ashour to run in front of goal and pass the ball to the Liverpool forward, who nearly toed the defender into the goal.
Fofana then managed to save from Mohamed Hani’s goal, while Ivory Coast midfielder Cristé Inao Oule was perhaps lucky that the video assistant referee didn’t take a second look when he appeared to flick a kick towards Malmouche, who collapsed.
Guerra Douai gives Ivorians belated hope of comeback [Reuters]
After Mohamed El Shenawy latched on to Jean-Philippe Krasso’s header from a baseline corner, Douai cleverly wrapped his legs around his defender and backheeled the ball home from close range, sparking the Ivorian’s hopes.
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However, while most fans in Agadir are calling for the title to be defended, there is no turning back this time for the team that lifted the trophy two years ago despite losing two group games and falling behind in three of their four knockout games.
This means that Egypt remains the last team to defend the continental title. In 2010, the North African team completed a hat-trick of championships.
All of the Pharaohs’ previous five AFC Champions League knockout games have gone into overtime, but this time they held on to save their fans the pain in stoppage time.
Salah will now reunite with Sadio Mane for the semi-final against Senegal in Tangier on the Mediterranean coast, offering a chance to exact revenge against his former Liverpool teammate and move him a step closer to his dream of lifting trophies.
