Mohamed Salah scored late in extra time as Egypt advanced into the quarter-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Monday after defeating Benin 3-1 in their Round of 16 tie.
In the fierce contest that ensued between the Pharaohs and the Cheetahs, both national teams gave it their all in a bid to book a place in the last eight.
The first half saw Egypt dominating possession slightly, but tied on shot attempts with Benin (2). With just one shot on target for either side, neither side could find the back of the net.
The opening goal at Stade Adrar came in the 69th minute, when Mohamed Hany set up Marwan Attiat. Attia collected the pass and unleashed a thunderbolt strike from the edge of the Benin box that flew into the net.
In a match where Benin put up a resilient showing, the Pharaohs were hoping to ride on the back of Attia’s equaliser to secure victory.
Unfortunately, Benin had other ideas. The Cheetahs rallied from behind and restored parity to the game in the 83rd minute when Jodel Dossou scored from close range.
With the score level at the end of the 90 minutes, the game travelled into extra time, giving the two teams 30 more minutes to fight for victory.
Seven minutes into the first half of extra time, Yasser Ibrahim made it 2-1 for Egypt after jumping highest to meet a cross from Marwan Attia.
Then, in the final seconds of the match, Mohamed Salah put the icing on the cake, scoring with the last attack of the match to seal a deserved 3-1 triumph for Egypt.
The Pharaohs will now face the winner of the other Round of 16 tie between Nigeria and Mozambique.
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