Egypt are aiming to win the AFCON again

Egypt begin their campaign at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, hosted by Morocco, on Monday when they face Zimbabwe in Group B, which also includes Angola and South Africa.

This group is widely regarded as one of the toughest in the tournament, as it is the only one featuring two teams that have already secured qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup — Egypt and South Africa.

Egypt have not lifted the continental title for 15 years, despite reaching the latter stages on several occasions. In the 2017 final, the Pharaohs took the lead before falling 2–1 to Cameroon. In the 2019 edition, which they hosted, Egypt suffered an early exit after a 1–0 defeat to South Africa in the round of 16.

Egypt returned to the final in the 2022 edition but lost to Senegal on penalties after a goalless draw that lasted 120 minutes.

At the 2024 tournament in Ivory Coast, Egypt were eliminated again in the round of 16 following a draw with DR Congo and a penalty shootout defeat, in a campaign overshadowed by Mohamed Salah’s injury and his absence from the remainder of the matches.

As a result, Egypt enter the current edition with renewed ambitions of reclaiming the title, relying on a strong attacking core and hoping to translate the brilliance of their European-based stars into a long-awaited continental triumph.

Here are the key numbers that may help you predict the correct score and win valuable prizes with “Betway”:

• This will be the third Africa Cup of Nations encounter between Egypt and Zimbabwe. The previous two encounters both ended in victories for Egypt: the 2004 edition (2–1) and the 2019 edition (1–0).
• This is Egypt’s 27th appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations — a record in the tournament’s history. They have won the title seven times, more than any other nation, and have reached the final in five of their last seven participations.
• Egypt have lost just one of their last 22 group-stage matches at the tournament (14 wins and 7 draws). That defeat came against Nigeria in the 2021 edition (0–1). Notably, the last time Egypt lost a group-stage match by more than one goal was 35 years ago, in the 1990 edition against hosts Algeria (0–2).
• Despite being unbeaten in their last 10 matches at the tournament, Egypt are currently on their longest-ever run of draws in Africa Cup of Nations history (6 matches).
• This is Zimbabwe’s sixth appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations, and they have never progressed beyond the group stage, recording just 3 wins from 15 matches (2 draws and 10 defeats).
• Zimbabwe have won only 1 of their last 9 matches at the tournament (2 draws and 6 defeats), with that sole victory coming against Guinea (2–1) in their most recent appearance in 2022.
• Zimbabwe have never kept a clean sheet at the Africa Cup of Nations, conceding at least one goal in all 15 of their matches — a joint tournament record alongside Mozambique.
• Zimbabwe recorded just 2 wins in 6 matches during the qualifiers, the joint-lowest tally alongside Benin, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, and Sudan.
• Since his first appearance at the tournament in 2017, Mohamed Salah has been involved in more than half of Egypt’s goals at the Africa Cup of Nations (7 goals and 4 assists out of a total of 21). He also shares the record for the most shots on target during that period with Sadio Mané (20 shots).

As Egypt begins their quest for Africa Cup of Nations glory, fans can make every moment of the action even more exciting with Betway, the leading online betting site in Saudi Arabia. Offering a seamless, secure, and world-class experience, Betway allows football enthusiasts to predict scores, back their favorite teams, and win valuable prizes.