Egypt continue their bid for a record eighth TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations title when they face Benin in the Round of 16 at the Grande Stade d’Agadir on 5 January.
Benin, meanwhile, are targeting only their second-ever appearance in the Quarterfinals. Kick-off is at 17h00 local time (16h00 GMT).
The two sides last met at the finals in their final Group C game at the 2010 edition, with Egypt already qualified as group winners. The Pharaohs recorded a 2-0 victory, with Ahmed El Mohamady scoring in the 7th minute and Emad Moteab adding a second in the 81st minute.
Overall, Egypt and Benin have met four times previously. Egypt have won three of those matches, with one draw, while Benin are yet to register a victory. Egypt have scored in all four meetings, while Benin have found the net in three of them. There has been just one clean sheet in this fixture, Egypt’s 2-0 win at the 2010 finals.
Egypt’s 2-0 success in 2010 is the lowest-scoring game between the teams. Their first meeting, in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying in Cotonou, produced six goals in a 3-3 draw, while the return fixture saw Egypt win 4-1 at home. A friendly international played in November 2008 also produced six goals, with Egypt winning 5-1.
Egypt are currently winless in their last four matches against West African opposition. They drew 0-0 with Côte d’Ivoire in the 2021 Round of 16, advancing on penalties, before another 0-0 draw with Senegal in the final, which they lost on spot kicks. They also drew 2-2 with Ghana and Cabo Verde in the group stages in 2023.
Their last win against a West African team was a 2-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau in the 2021 group stages. That remains Egypt’s only win in their last seven matches against West African opposition (D5 L1). They are unbeaten in five matches against West African teams in open play (W1 D4), with their last such defeat a 1-0 loss to Nigeria in their opening group game in 2021.
PAST MEETINGS
OVERALL
Egypt: P4 W3 D1 L0 GF14 GA5 GD+9
Benin: P4 W0 D1 L3 GF5 GA14 GD-9
AFCON ONLY
Egypt: P1 W1 D0 L0 GF2 GA0 GD+2
Benin: P1 W0 D0 L1 GF0 GA2 GD-2
PAST AFCON MEETINGS
2010 – Group C – 16 January 2010
Egypt 2 (El Mohamady 7’, Moteab 81’) Benin 0
Egypt – Key Statistics
· Winners of Group B after victories over Zimbabwe and South Africa, and a draw with Angola.
· Made 11 changes for their final group match against Angola.
· Have used 26 players at the current edition, compared to 22 at the previous tournament.
· Participating in the Round of 16 for a fourth time.
· Have been eliminated at this stage twice before, in 2019 and 2023.
· Lost 1-0 to South Africa in the 2019 Round of 16.
· In 2021, drew 0-0 with Côte d’Ivoire and advanced 5-4 on penalties after extra time.
· Their most recent Round of 16 match ended 1-1 against DR Congo in 2023; Meshack Elia scored for DR Congo, Mostafa Mohamed equalised from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time, and DR Congo won 7-4 on penalties after extra time.
· Victory would take Egypt to the Quarterfinals for an 11th time (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2017 and 2021).
· In tournaments featuring a Quarterfinal stage, Egypt have missed out on the last eight four times: group-stage exits in 1992 and 2004, and Round of 16 eliminations in 2019 and 2023.
· Have been involved in 10 penalty shoot-outs at AFCON, winning six and losing four.
· Have lost their last two shoot-outs, against Senegal in the 2021 final and DR Congo in the 2023 Round of 16.
· Prior to those defeats, had won six successive AFCON shoot-outs.
· Have won two AFCON finals on penalties, in 1986 and 2006.
· Are unbeaten in 13 matches in open play (W5 D8).
· Their last open-play defeat came in their opening group match in 2021.
· Have conceded 98 goals at AFCON finals.
· Victories over Zimbabwe and South Africa took Egypt to 62 AFCON wins, more than any other nation.
· Failed to register a shot on target in the first half against Angola, only the third time this has happened since 2010 (previously vs Uganda in 2017 and Cameroon in 2021).
· Both shots on target against Angola came in the second half.
· Ibrahim Adel recorded four touches in the opposition box, completed four dribbles, won nine duels, created three chances and made 16 passes into the final third — the most in all categories in that match.
· Goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir kept a clean sheet on his AFCON debut against Angola. His father, Ahmed Shobeir, was part of Egypt’s 1986 AFCON-winning squad and featured at the 1988, 1992 and 1994 AFCONs, as well as the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
· Mohamed Salah has scored nine AFCON goals for Egypt, including two at the current finals.
· Salah has never previously scored three goals in a single AFCON edition.
· He has scored in successive matches at the current tournament, but has never scored in three consecutive games at the same AFCON.
· Two of Salah’s AFCON goals have come in knockout matches: against Burkina Faso in the 2017 semi-finals and Morocco in the 2021 quarterfinals, both games going to extra time.
· Egypt have not won their last three AFCON matches in which Salah did not feature, drawing with Cabo Verde and losing on penalties to DR Congo in 2023, and drawing with Angola at the current edition.
· A goal would see Salah become the third Egyptian to score 10 goals at AFCON.
· Salah has created seven chances so far, the most by an Egyptian player at the tournament.
· Marwan Attia has completed 125 passes, more than any other Egyptian player.
Benin – Key Statistics
· Ended a 16-match winless run at AFCON finals with their first-ever open-play victory, defeating Botswana on matchday two.
· Competing in the knockout stages for the second time, after 2019.
· Making successive knockout-stage appearances, having failed to do so in their first three AFCON participations.
· Their only previous Round of 16 match in 2019 ended 1-1 against Morocco; they took a 53rd-minute lead through Moïse Adilehou, conceded an equaliser in the 76th minute, but won 4-1 on penalties after extra time.
· Lost 1-0 to Senegal in the 2019 Quarterfinals.
· Have failed to score in two matches at the current finals and in three of their last four AFCON games.
· Their 3-0 defeat to Senegal in their final group match was the third time they have lost by three or more goals at AFCON finals, after defeats to Morocco (4-0) in 2004 and Côte d’Ivoire (4-1) in 2008.
· This is their fourth match against North African opposition at AFCON: previously lost to Egypt in 2010, lost 4-0 to Morocco in 2004, and defeated Morocco on penalties in the 2019 Round of 16.
· Are yet to win an AFCON match in open play against North African opposition (D1 L2).
· Have scored just one goal at the current tournament, the joint-lowest tally among the remaining teams along with Sudan.
· Have a shot-conversion rate of just 4%, the second lowest among all 24 teams at the finals.
· Conceded three goals from six shots on target faced against Senegal.
· Attempted 399 passes in their defeat to Senegal, with Olivier Verdon completing 57, the most by a Benin player in that match.
