AFCON: Takeaways As Egypt Conquers Morocco To Beat Nigeria’s Semi-Final Record

Egypt and Morocco faced off in the third match of the quarterfinals at the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON 2021 as both teams battled four a place in the last four.

An all-North African clash was predicted to be a cracker with both teams having shown their quality all through the tournament. Morocco who were on an unbeaten run prior to the game, have displayed their class both in the group stage and in the Round of 16. Star player, Achraf Hakimi looked to be their threat for the game having scored two stunning free kicks in their last two matches.

Egypt on the other hand, qualified from the group stage with 6 points from three games and an important victory against Ivory Coast in the Round of 16 boosted hopes of achieving their goal to emerge champions of Africa.

The Atlas Giants started off brightly and a very early spot kick in 7th minute was awarded to them after a clumsy challenge in Egypt’s box. The highest goal scorer for Morocco, Sofiane Boufal stepped forward and was clinical putting his team ahead.

The Pharaohs had at that point not  yet seen the best of their talisman, Mohammed Salah. However, from that point, he upped his game to bring about an equalizer.

He further provided an assist for Trezeguet to put them 2-1 ahead in extra time to go through to the Semi final. A massive win for Egypt as next up for them are the hosts, Cameroon. Here are four key facts from Egypt’s win over Morocco:

1. Mo Salah equalled Mohamed Abotrika’s six goals in the Africa Cup of Nations as he climbs towards the top of his nation’s goal-scoring chat.

2.  Mohamed Salah has been involved on 62% of Egypt’s goals in the Africa Cup of Nations since his competition debut in 2017 (8/13), the highest ratio by a player for any nation to score at least five goals at the tournament in this time.

3. Egypt have reached the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations in five of the last six tournaments they have been involved in. They are looking to win it for a record 8th time.

4. The Pharaohs now hold the record for the most semi-final appearances ever made. Egypt surpasses Nigeria to the reach the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations for the 16th time in its illustrious history.

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