Cape Verde – already assured of qualification to the round of 16 as Group B winners – face off against a Mohamed Salah-less Egypt who could book their place in the next round with a win here.
AFCON 2023
Match 28 – Cape Verde v Egypt
Monday 22 January | 22:00
With Cape Verde being one of the least fancied teams at AFCON, they’ve boxed above their weight and are guaranteed to go through top of Group B. Now the Blue Sharks set their sights on Egypt. Desh Parthab previews.
To Win Match
Cape Verde 56/10 | Draw 5/2 | Egypt 5/10
Cape Verde were the first nation to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament – yes, read that again. According to the FIFA rankings, the 14th-strongest nation on the contienent secured their spot in the knockout round by winning their first two matches against Ghana and Mozambique respectively.
They have blown the race for second place and the final automatic qualification position in Group B wide open. With that being said, they will set up shop against second-placed Egypt (who registered back to back draws at the tournament) and look to go undefeated across their three group-stage games.
The Blue Sharks are currently riding a wave of positivity and it’s showing on the pitch! In their most recent display against Mozambique, you could see quick one-two exchanges, free-flowing movement and audacious attempts. In that one, Bebe opened the scoring with a stunning long-range piledriver that will no doubt go down as the goal of the tournament.
The most successful nation at the tournament, with seven titles to their name, could face an early exit. A stalemate on opening day against Mozambique (in which they required a 97th-minute spot kick to secure) was followed up by another draw against Ghana – a game in which the fell behind twice.
The calculator doesn’t lie. If Mozambique or Ghana secures a victory in the remaining Group B clash, Egypt will need a draw at the very minimum, to avoid dropping to third place. Of course, they will still have a chance to advance if two third-placed teams in other groups do not match their total points at the end of the matchday. To complicate matters, they are without their talisman ahead of this crunch game.
The Egyptian Football Association confirmed their talisman Mohamed Salah faces a spell on the sidelines due to a muscle injury. Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp, has revealed Salah will return to Anfield to begin his recovery. The German tactician didn’t rule out an AFCON return, should The Pharaohs still be in contention for silverware.
Verdict: Egypt 5/10
Cape Verde will finish top of their group irrespective of theirs or any other results. They’d be forgiven for playing within themselves. Egypt have it all to play for and should grab the win here.
