Egypt will host Mauritania in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday evening.
The hosts are seeking to maintain their perfect start to the AFCON qualifiers, while the visitors are aiming for a second victory.
Match preview
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Egypt have made a flying start to the 2025 AFCON qualifiers, recording a 3-0 victory over Cape Verde in their opening match, followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Botswana in their second.
Trezeguet set things rolling with a brace within the opening 29 minutes of the game, before Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored his first goal of the qualifying campaign to make it three, and Mostafa Fathi added a fourth in stoppage time.
Currently top of Group C with six points, Hossam Hassan's side will be hoping to extend their winning run in the AFCON qualifiers to eight matches when they take on Mauritania twice – at home and away – within the space of five days.
The Pharaohs are unbeaten in three previous meetings with Friday's visitors, picking up two wins and a draw – with two of those matches being in the AFCON qualifying series.
Egypt, who are unbeaten in their last four matches across all competitions, are aiming to secure two wins in two competitive home matches against the Lions of Chinguetti, having picked up a 3-0 victory the last time they hosted this fixture in 2007.
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Mauritania secured a 1-0 victory over Botswana in their opening AFCON qualifying match, but they failed to maintain the momentum as they lost 2-0 to Cape Verde in their second match a couple of days later.
The win against Botswana ended a run of five matches without a win for the Lions of Chinguetti, and Amir Abdou would be hoping his side avoids such a run as they look to make it to consecutive AFCON tournaments.
Currently third in the group with three points, and only behind second-placed Cape Verde as a result of an inferior head-to-head, Mauritania will be hoping to cause an upset by taking points off Egypt to increase their chances.
However, the last time the visitors won on the road was against Central African Republic in June 2023, and since then, they have lost to Congo DR and Cape Verde, while they drew with South Sudan away from home.
Team News
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Pyramids FC midfielder Mahmoud Saber was called up to replace the injured Nabil Emad, who sustained a hamstring strain and is expected to miss Friday's clash.
Salah, Ahmed Sayed, Mostafa Mohamed and Omar Marmoush are expected to form the attacking quartet for this game.
The biggest names in the Mauritanian squad are AEK Athens' winger Aboubakary Koita and former Fulham striker Aboubakar Kamara.
Mamadou Sy led the line in the previous match, and the 23-year-old is expected to start up front once again.
Egypt possible starting lineup:
El Shenawy; Hany, Rabia, Fathi, Hamdy; Trezeguet, Attia; Marmoush, Sayed, Salah; Mohamed
Mauritania possible starting lineup:
Niasse; Diaw, L. Ba, Houeibib, Keita; Ngom; Amar, Ngom, Fofana, Moushine, Koita; Sy
We say: Egypt 3-0 Mauritania
Egypt have a wealth of talent in their ranks, which is likely to prove too much for Mauritania to handle, and the hosts have demonstrated their ruthlessness in the AFCON qualifying campaign over the years, which is why we are predicting a home victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
