Host Cameroon and record champions Egypt face each other on Thursday, February 3, 2022 for a place in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations grand finale at the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé at exactly 19:00 GMT.
There is no team that has won the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations titles more than Cameroon and Egypt. Between them, they have lifted the trophy twelve times, seven for the Pharaohs and five for the Indomitable Lions.
Today’s encounter means one of the two teams will have the chance to contest Senegal who beat Burkina Faso 3-1 in the other semifinal match in the finals of the 33rd edition of the AFCON in a bid to add to the tally.
The host’s intensions were clear from Day 1; it just wants the title at home. Four wins and a draw in the road to the semifinal give the Indomitable Lions a vast amount of confidence before facing rivals Egypt for a ticket in the February 6 final. The host is fully aware that it will have the support of thousands as it dreams of a sixth AFCON trophy.
Cameroon will once again rely on the lethal attacking duo of Vincent Abubakar and Karl Toko Ekambi, who have scored all of Cameroon’s 11 goals to the moment, six for Abubakar and one less for Ekambi.
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon have progressed from seven of their nine semi-final matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, only today’s opponent, Egypt (8), has made it through this round more often in AFCON history.
Antonio Conceiçao, Coach of Cameroon, emphasized at the pre-match conference that despite coming against one of the best teams on the continent, his team has a clear objective which is to win the title.
“Our goal is clear; to play a good game and go to the final. We will play against a very good team, Egypt, the most successful team in Africa. They have very good players, including one of the best in the world, namely Mohamed Salah. My players are motivated to win. We have positive pressure, but our objective is clear, to win the title for the Cameroonian people”.
Antonio Conceiçao
Egypt – Extending record
The Pharaohs on the other hand, seem to own almost all of AFCON historic records, but there’s one that they are desperate to extend, winning their eighth title.
After a sluggish group stage campaign, the Pharaohs of Egypt rose to the expectations to oust Cote d’Ivoire and Morocco and reach the semifinals in style. Now, they have to face another tough hurdle in the form of their hosts.
The Pharaohs will look up again to their star captain Mohamed Salah, who scored twice so far in the tournament and rose to the occasion by assisting the final goal in the quarterfinals against Morocco.
Carlos Queiroz, Coach of Egypt, believes his team is ready for this kind of games and that the world should expect a fascinating match between the two most successful teams in the AFCON history.
“To reach the semifinals is a reward for us. Facing hosts Cameroon is tough as they play very good football. We want to offer the world a pleasant match between two great African teams. We are ready for this semifinal. It is true that we have played two consecutive matches with extra-time, but we remain ready to play a very good match. We have the right team for this kind of games”.
Carlos Queiroz
Mohamed El Shennawy, Goalkeeper of Egypt, disclosed the objective of the team is to win the title because “We have one of the best players in the world, Mohamed Salah, and I hope he will be in his day to give what we expect from him”.
Head-to-head record
This will be the 11th Africa Cup of Nations encounter between Egypt and Cameroon; no two teams have met on more occasions in the competition’s history.
The Pharaohs of Egypt have won three of their last four Africa Cup of Nations games against Cameroon (L1), scoring nine goals. The last encounter between them was in the final of the 2017 tournament in which Cameroon won 2-1.
The Africa Cup of Nations hosts have been eliminated in three of the last five semi-final matches in the competition. Egypt was the last such team to progress from this round after beating Senegal 2-1 in 2006.
Since the beginning of 2017, no player has been directly involved in more goals (9) at the Africa Cup of Nations than Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (six goals, three assists) or Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar (seven goals, two assists). This makes today’s encounter very tricky for both sides.
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