Group B
Results
*Angola 1-1 Zimbabwe
*Egypt 1-0 South Africa
Table
- Egypt – 6pts
- South Africa – 3
- Zimbabwe – 1
- Angola – 1
Egypt are through to the knockout phase of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after a hard fought 1-0 win over South Africa on Boxing day.
Mo Salah’s penalty before halftime was enough as Egypt, who played with 10 men for an entire second half, crawled to their second win in as many games.
They are top of Group B with six points having beaten Zimbabwe on matchday one, and will face Angola in their last encounter.
Salah, who scored late in the win over Zimbabwe, was elbowed in the box and it was VAR intervention that saw the penalty awarded.
The Liverpool forward then stepped up, scoring with a panenka penalty, softly chipping the ball down the centre as the South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams awkwardly went to his left.
A minute later, Egyptian defender Mohamed Hany was sent sent off after a second yellow card for a foul on Teboho Mokoena at the stroke of halftime.
It was a one-way avenue in the second half as South Africa attacked at every opportunity and dominated proceedings, but a goal proved elusive.
There was a call for penalty after handball by Egyptian defender late on in the game, but after VAR check, nothing come to fruition.
The ball had hit the player’s hand, but the player was falling and his arm was on ground for support – which by law, is not penalized.
South Africa remain second with three points having beaten Angola in the opener and will face Zimbabwe in their last group match.