MATCH FACTS: Hosts Egypt take on South Africa at TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations
Hosts Egypt take on South Africa in their opening Group A game at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 21:00 local time / 19:00 GMT).
Egypt and South Africa will meet for a fourth time at the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 AFCON. The teams previous three meetings have seen Egypt victorious.
Previous meetings between the nations saw Egypt win 1-0 as the sides opened their tournament in 2001. Egypt would eventually progress along with hosts Ethiopia as Group A runners up.
They also met in their final group game in 2009. Despite a 2-1 win for Egypt it would be South Africa who would progress as group runners up along with Nigeria to the knockout stages.
Most recently the nations met once more in their final group game in 2011, both teams needed the victory to join Mali in the Semi-finals, Egypt defeated South Africa 1-0. To eliminate the then hosts.
All three of Egypt’s previous wins in this fixture have been by a single goal.
South Africa are meeting a tournament host for a sixth time. They are winless in their previous five meetings against host nations (D2 L3). South Africa will begin the finals against the tournament host for a third time.
South Africa have never lost when opening up against tournament host. They drew with Burkina Faso and Niger in 2003 and 2009.
Egypt are coached by Osama Nabih. He featured as a substitute for the senior Egyptian national team as they defeated South Africa 2-0 in the final of the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations.
EGYPT FACTS
· Egypt are hosting the tournament for the third time along with 1991 and 2023.
· Egypt have the second most wins at the tournament (4) along with Ghana, only Nigeria (7) have more titles.
· They won their first title in 1981, managed to win their second a decade later at home in 1991, they then waited 12 years for their next title lifting their third title in 2003, their last title came in 2015. Egypt were also runners up in 2005.
· They are aiming to become the first host nation to win the title since Zambia in 2017.
· Egypt were eliminated in the group stages as hosts in 2023. They drew their opening game 0-0 against Mozambique and then lost 1-0 to Nigeria and 4-0 to eventual champions Senegal.
· Egypt have failed to win their last seven games at the finals (D4 L3). They won the 2013 final against Ghana on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Their last win in open play was a 2-0 triumph over Nigeria in the 2013 Semi-finals.
· As hosts across two finals in 1991 and 2023 they are still searching for a group stage win. In 1991, drawn in a group with Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon, both games ended 1-1, while their Group games ended 1-1 before they progressed with Cote d’Ivoire by the drawing of lots. They then defeated Ghana 1-0 and Cote d’Ivoire 2-1 in the semi-final and final.
· The last three tournament hosts Niger in 2019, Mauritania in 2021 and Egypt in 2023 have been eliminated at the group stages.
· Egypt are undefeated in their opening game at the last four tournaments. They have drawn their last two opening games against Mali in 2017 and Mozambique in 2023. Prior to that they won their opening games against Lesotho 2-0 in 2011 and Ghana 2-1 in 2013. Egypt last lost their opening game in 2009 a 2-0 defeat against Nigeria.
· In their last 12 tournament appearances, Egypt have only lost their opening game once, which was against Nigeria in 2009 (W5 D6).
SOUTH AFRICA FACTS
· South Africa are featuring at the finals for a ninth time, having first qualified in 1997. They make their first appearance since 2019.
· South Africa’s best previous finishes has seen them end as runners up in 1997. They were third in their most recent appearance in 2019. They also finished fourth in 2009 and 2017.
· South Africa qualified by going undefeated through the qualifying tournament as they won the 2024 COSAFA U-20 Championship.
· In their five games in the 2024 COSAFA U-20 Championship, South Africa scored 16 goals and did not concede any goals.
· In 1997, South Africa reached the final despite losing their opening group game against Cote d’Ivoire. They lost to hosts Morocco 1-0 in the final.
· South Africa’s record in their opening game in the tournament reads P8 W2 D2 L4.
· South Africa failed to win their opening game in their first three tournament appearances, losing 1-0 to Egypt and Cote d’Ivoire in 1997 and 2001. They drew 0-0 with Burkina Faso in 2003.
· They won their opening game for the first time in 2009 while making their fourth finals appearance, defeating Cote d’Ivoire 1-0. Thereafter they lost 4-2 and 2-0 to Mali and Ghana in 2009 and 2011.
· South Africa have gone undefeated in their opening game in their last two appearances. In 2017 they won 3-1 against Cameroon and in 2019 they drew 1-1 with Niger.
· South Africa went through the group stage undefeated for the first time in 2019. They drew their opening two games 1-1 and 0-0 against Niger and Nigeria, before a 1-0 win over Burundi.