The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is building, as two of the biggest football teams in the world, Ghana and Egypt, are ready to play each other on Thursday at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan. After struggling in their first games, both teams are motivated to win their next ones.
Egypt avoided defeat in their first meeting with Mozambique, securing a 2-2 draw with a late penalty. Ghana’s recent problems in the competition continued as they lost 2-1 to Cape Verde.
Egypt, who have won seven African championships, is keen to win back the trophy that they just missed out on against Senegal in the 2021 final. With four African titles under their belt, Ghana is hoping to make amends for their humiliating group-stage loss in the last competition.
AFCON 2023 preview: Ghana vs Egypt
Egypt coach Rui Vitoria has cautioned his players against complacency, emphasizing the need to learn from mistakes made in the Mozambique game. He stressed the importance of commitment to the game plan and strength in tackles.
“The players should commit to our plans and be strong in tackles. We had tough moments in the last match, and we must learn from those mistakes to win against Ghana.”
Ghana coach Chris Hughton acknowledged the team’s need for improvement and emphasized the importance of getting a positive result against Egypt. The Irish trainer highlighted the disappointment felt by everyone associated with the team and expressed the necessity of a favourable outcome in the upcoming clash.
“It’s up to us now to recover on [Thursday]. And we know now that going into the Egypt game, it’s a game that we have to get a good result from. I think that has to be the mentality,” the Irish trainer said during the post-match presser.
“The players have to be aware of what this means and how disappointed everybody associated with the country and with the team. And we have no choice. We have no choice but to make sure that it’s a favourable result in our next game against Egypt.”
Football fans are anticipating a fierce battle between these two giants of African football, each eager to make their mark in the 2023 campaign at 8 pm local time.
FORM GUIDE (LAST FIVE MATCHES)
EGYPT’S OVERALL FORM
14 January 2024 Egypt 2–2 Mozambique AFCON 2023
7 January 2024 Egypt 2–0 Tanzania Friendly
19 November 2023 Sierra Leone 0–2 Egypt 2026 World Cup Qualification
16 November 2023 Egypt 6–0 Djibouti 2026 World Cup Qualification
16 October 2023 Friendly Egypt 1–1 Algeria Friendly
AFCON FORM
14 January 2024: Egypt 2–2 Mozambique AFCON 2023
6 February 2022: Senegal 0–0 (a.e.t.) Egypt AFCON 2021
3 February 2022: Cameroon 0–0 (a.e.t.) Egypt AFCON 2021
30 January 2022: Egypt 2–1 (a.e.t.) Morocco AFCON 2021
26 January 2022: Ivory Coast 0–0 (a.e.t.) Egypt AFCON 2021
GHANA’S OVERALL FORM
14 January 2024: Ghana 1-2 Cape Verde AFCON 2023
8 January 2024: Ghana 0–0 Namibia Friendly
21 November 2023: Comoros 1–0 Ghana 2026 World Cup qualification
17 November 2023: Ghana 1–0 Madagascar 2026 World Cup qualification
17 October 2023: United States 4–0 Ghana Friendly
AFCON FORM
14 January 2024: Ghana 1-2 Cape Verde AFCON 2023
18 January 2022: Ghana 2–3 Comoros AFCON 2021
14 January 2022: Gabon 1–1 Ghana AFCON 2021
10 January 2022: Morocco 1–0 Ghana AFCON 2021
8 July 2019: Ghana 1–1 (a.e.t.) Tunisia AFCON 2021
AFCON HEAD-TO-HEAD
09 Feb 1970 Ghana 1-1 Egypt AFCON
17 Jan 1992 Egypt 0-1Ghana AFCON
31 Jan 2010 Ghana 0-1 Egypt AFCON
25 Jan 2017 Egypt 1-0 Ghana AFCON
PREDICTED LINEUP
EGYPT
(4-3-3): El-Shenawy; Hany, Hegazy, Abdelmonem, Hamdi; Zizo, Elneny, Fathi; Salah, Mohamed, Trezeguet
GHANA
According to Ghana coach Chris Hughton, Mohammed Kudus is the only player whose availability is uncertain, and he will undergo an assessment before the game on Thursday.
PREDICTED LINEUP
(3-4-3-): Ofori; Seidu, Djiku, Amartey, Salisu, Mensah; Salis, Ashimeru; J. Ayew, Paintsil, Semenyo