Cote d'Ivoire/Egypt: Egypt Dethrone Cote d'Ivoire to Reach Semis Af Africa Cup of Nations

Iwobi has been one of Nigeria’s standout players in Morocoo

By Paul Myers

Egypt skipper Mohamed Salah scored his fourth goal at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday night as his side eliminated the defending champions Cote d'Ivoire 3-2 in Agadir.

Egypt took the lead in the fourth minute at the Stade Adrar.

Cote d'Ivoire captain Franck Kessié lost the ball in midfield after a poor touch and Odilon Kossounou fell over instead of cutting out Emam Ashour's pass for Omar Marmoush who exploited the blunders to slot home past the Ivorian goalkeeper Yahia Fofana.

Ramy Rabia doubled the advantage just after the half hour mark and though an Ahmed Fotouh own-goal halved the deficit in the 40th minute, Salah restored the two-goal cushion just after the restart.

"We just fight for our country," said the 33-year-old. "And hopefully we will go through after the next game as well."

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Guéla Doué's goal in the 73rd minute set up a grandstand finish but the Egyptians - hunting for a record-extending eighth Africa Cup of Nations title - held on to advance to a semi-final appointment with Senegal who beat them in the 2021 Cup of Nations final in Cameroon.

"It's a tough opponent, of course," said Salah of the clash on 14 January in Tangier. "But we will give our best."

The other semi-final on 14 January in Rabat pits hosts Morocco with the 2023 beaten finalists Nigeria who crushed Algeria 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Victor Osimhen scored one goal and set up the other for Akor Adams against a lacklustre Algeria side who only shone in the final 15 minutes of the tie.

"There are a lot of young players who are featuring in their first Africa Cup of Nations," said Algeria skipper Riyad Mahrez after the defeat at the Grand Stade de Marrakech.

"They have to go through these type of games to improve. Nigeria have more players who have played in the tournament and they have played with their young generation a bit more than us.

"They deserved to go through," he added. "It's fine. We'll recover and look forward to the World Cup."

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