AFCON: It is not surprising that Egypt beat Sudan to reach round of 16 this time

Egypt qualified for the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday and temporarily halted the surprise results that have shaken the tournament over the past few days.

Egypt secured their place in the round of 16 after beating Sudan 1-0 in their final Group D match in Yaoundé, finishing behind Nigeria in qualifying.

Defender Mohamed Abdulmonem headed home in the 35th minute after continuing pressure from Egypt.

Nigeria have advanced to the round of 16 as the top group with a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau in the other group match.

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Nigeria, with second-half goals from Omar Sadiq and William Trost-Ekon, were the only team to advance to the group stage with three wins.

Egypt will undoubtedly be nervous after witnessing the fate of some of Cameroon’s former champions.

Defending champions Algeria were beaten 1-0 by Equatorial Guinea on Sunday in a result that seemed certain to shock the game until four-time champions Ghana were stunned at the hands of tournament rookies and tiny island nation Comoros on Tuesday. .

Egypt got off to an underwhelming start in Cameroon, losing to Nigeria before narrowly beating Guinea-Bissau in their second group game thanks to a Mohamed Salah goal and Guinea-Bissau’s fine-tuned equaliser Controversially invalidated.

Egypt is still not at its best, but there are better signs for Sudan.

Mustafa Mohammed and Abdullah Saeed were both shut out by Sudan goalkeeper Mohammad Mustafa in the first half.

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Salah showed some of his best skills this time around as he bypassed defenders and a low shot was saved by Ali Abu Eshlein, who came on in place of Mustafa.

Salah also set up Amr el-Salia in front of goal. El-Salia hits his shot.

This game is a bit like a derby because the two countries are neighbors. But they don’t know much about recent achievements. Egypt is a record seven African Cup winners, while Sudan won the title in 1970 but only made it through the group stage once in the 52 years since.

Two results on Tuesday also mean Cape Verde and Malawi qualify as the top two of the four best third-placed teams. This is the first time Malawi has reached the knockout stage in the African Cup of Nations.