Premier League stars Mohamed Salah and Lyle Foster proved decisive as Egypt and South Africa opened their Africa Cup of Nations Group B campaigns with hard-fought victories in Morocco on Monday.
In Agadir, unsettled Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah struck in the first minute of added time to seal a dramatic 2–1 win for record seven-time champions Egypt against a spirited Zimbabwe side.
Earlier in Marrakesh, second-half dominance by South Africa paid dividends when Burnley striker Lyle Foster scored in the 79th minute, earning Bafana Bafana a 2–1 victory over Angola.
The results set up a top-of-the-table clash between Egypt and South Africa in Agadir on Friday. The two sides have met three times at AFCON tournaments, with Egypt winning twice.
Salah saves Egypt
Salah, who has recently been in the spotlight following a public outburst over being benched at Liverpool under manager Arne Slot, worked tirelessly for an Egyptian side rattled by an early setback.
Zimbabwe stunned the favourites when Prince Dube scored in the 20th minute. Egypt had to wait until the 63rd minute for Manchester City winger Omar Marmoush to equalise.
Relentless pressure from the Pharaohs finally told in stoppage time, with Salah’s late strike earning all three points.
Foster ends South Africa’s opening-match drought
South Africa controlled the second half against Angola and were rewarded when Foster finished clinically in the 79th minute.
The goal came after Tshepang Moremi had a strike ruled offside and Mbekezeli Mbokazi rattled the crossbar.
Oswin Appollis had given South Africa the lead in the 21st minute, but Angola equalised through Show in the 35th minute as they briefly took control.
The victory ended South Africa’s six-match winless run in AFCON openers dating back to 2006 and extended their dominance over Angola to three wins and two draws in five AFCON meetings.
Belgian coach Hugo Broos, who guided Cameroon to the 2017 AFCON title, admitted dissatisfaction with his team’s first-half performance.
“We had to avoid losing tonight because next up for us are Egypt. We led in the opening half and then we fell asleep,” Broos said.
“We let Angola back into the game, so we put something right during half-time. In the second half, we applied more pressure, there was more movement and we had chances.”
He praised substitute Moremi for changing the game’s tempo:
“Tshepang was wonderful when he came on. Suddenly there was speed in our team. He was a threat and did very well in the second half.”
Mali frustrated in Group A
Meanwhile in Group A, Mali coach Tom Saintfiet described conceding a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Zambia in Casablanca as “very painful”.
After El Bilal Touré missed a first-half penalty, Mali took the lead through Lassina Sinayoko on 61 minutes. However, Zambia struck back two minutes into stoppage time when Patson Daka headed home after defensive hesitation.
“We were aiming to score three goals. Our difficulties began after the missed penalty. We let our emotions take over,” Saintfiet said.
Hosts Morocco, who beat Comoros 2–0 on Sunday, top Group A with three points, while Mali and Zambia have one each.
Tuesday fixtures
Four matches are scheduled for Tuesday, including 2024 runners-up Nigeria vs Tanzania in Fes and 2022 champions Senegal vs Botswana in Tangier.
