The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament comes to a close with a mouth-watering grand final between two of the continent’s footballing heavyweights – Senegal and Egypt.
A cracking showpiece at the Stade d’Olembe, Yaounde, will either see Senegal become the first maiden winners since Zambia in 2012 or Egypt wrap up a record-extending eighth AFCON title.
Coming into this tournament, Les Lions de la Teranga have been considered the leading candidates to claim the prize despite never conquering the competition before.
Having the likes of Liverpool marquee forward Sadio Mane and Chelsea star goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has its virtues, as witnessed by Senegal’s performances in Cameroon.
Aliou Cisse’s men have not lost a single game en route to the grand final (W4, D2), overcoming Burkina Faso 3-1 in the semi-finals to reach their second AFCON final in a row.
In the meantime, Egypt beat host nation Cameroon in their semi-final tie following a dominant penalty shoot-out to advance to the grand final for the first time since 2017.
Each of their knockout ties went to at least extra time, with two of them being decided only after a penalty shoot-out, showing Carlos Queiroz’s men are ready to go the distance to reach their goal.
Egypt headline performer Mohamed Salah, who has tallied two goals at the tournament, will encounter his Liverpool comrade Mane in the battle for the crown.
The AFCON final will kick off at 19:00 GMT and, apart from your local TV channels, live football streams of the event will be available as well.
Senegal vs Egypt Head-to-Head
Senegal and Egypt have previously locked horns at the Africa Cup of Nations four times, with both sides registering two victories apiece, three of which yielded an identical 1-0 scoreline.
But this will be their first encounter at the continent’s most significant tournament since 2006 when Egypt ran away 2-1 victors in their semi-final tie en route to lifting the crown.
However, Senegal have won both H2H encounters in the past 12 years, keeping a clean sheet on each occasion, including a narrow 1-0 triumph in their most recent duel back in November 2014.
Senegal Preview
Senegal have taken part in more AFCON tournaments without ever lifting the trophy (16) than any other nation.
They suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat at the hands of Algeria in the 2019 grand final, making it two losses from two AFCON showpiece appearances.
Cisse’s men will have to break that psychological barrier to make their nation proud, and their recent AFCON tournament record reads encouragingly.
Since the start of the 2017 tournament, Senegal have won more matches (11) than any other nation, underlining their status as the continent’s elite squad.
Egypt Preview
Egypt have picked themselves up from a narrow 1-0 defeat to Nigeria in their AFCON tournament curtain-raiser, going unbeaten in their last five games (W2, D3 – 90 mins only).
Queiroz’s strategy has been simple – keep your opposition at bay and try to harm them on the counter, which has proved more than successful thus far.
The Pharaohs have only conceded once in their last five outings in the competition, courtesy of Morocco’s penalty in their quarter-finals tie, Egypt went on to win via penalties.
But goals have been in short supply for the Egyptians, as they have failed to net more than once within 90 minutes in any of their six AFCON matches.
Senegal vs Egypt Predicted Line-ups
Senegal (4-2-3-1): Edouard Mendy; Bouna Sarr, Kalidou Koulibaly, Abdou Diallo, Saliou Ciss; Cheikhou Kouyate, Nempalys Mendy; Bamba Dieng, Idrissa Gueye, Sadio Mane; Famara Diedhiou.
Egypt (4-3-3): Mohamed Sobhi; Omar Kamal, Ahmed Hegazy, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Ahmed Fatouh; Ayman Ashraf, Mohamed Elneny, Amr El Solia; Mohamed Salah, Mostafa Mohamed, Trezeguet.
