Two months after locking horns in the Africa Cup of Nations final, Egypt and Senegal face off once again as they square off in the first of their two-legged World Cup playoffs clash at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday.
Both sides, who enjoyed an unbeaten run in the group stages of the qualifiers, will be looking to pick up where they left off and strengthen their chances of securing a ticket to Qatar.
Match preview
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Egypt will feel gutted not to have come away with the ultimate prize at the Africa Cup of Nations as they suffered a gruesome penalty shootout defeat against Senegal in the final back in January.
In a cagey affair at the Paul Biya Stadium, both sides failed to truly test each other as they took a cautious approach to the game, and with the scores level after 120 minutes, the game progressed to penalties where Senegal came out victorious.
The Pharaohs will now look to quickly put that heartbreak behind them and return to winning ways as they turn their attention to the World Cup qualifiers where they will face the Lions of Teranga once again, but this time over two legs.
Carlos Queiroz's men enjoyed an unbeaten run in the qualifying group stage, claiming four wins and two draws from six games to collect 14 points and finish top of Group F with a healthy seven-point lead over runners-up Gabon.
Egypt head into Friday's game unbeaten in each of their last seven games on home turf, claiming six wins and one draw since a 1-0 loss against South Africa in the 2019 AFCON which they hosted.
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Like Friday's hosts, Senegal secured a World Cup qualification playoff spot after finishing at the summit of Group H with 16 points from six games, eight points above second-placed Togo.
Aliou Cisse's men's only dropped points came courtesy of a thrilling 1-1 draw with Togo on November 11, when Habib Diallo netted with the final significant touch of the game to cancel out Richard Nane's first-half opener.
The newly-crowned African champions head into Friday's game unbeaten in each of their last 13 games across all competitions, claiming 10 wins and three draws since losing to South Africa on penalties in the COSAFA Cup back in July 2021.
This impressive run of results has been owing to the solid job done at both ends of the pitch as they have scored 24 goals and kept seven clean sheets since their defeat against the Bafana Bafana.
Having won each of the last three meetings between the sides since a 2-1 defeat back in February 2006, Senegal will feel confident of coming away with the desired result on Friday and dashing the hearts of the Egyptians once again.
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Team News
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Queiroz has named an experienced 22-man squad for their double-header against the Lions of Teranga, including five foreign-based players like Omar Marmoush and Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet.
Mohamed Salah, who is currently the Premier League's top scorer with 20 goals, remains the key man for the Pharaohs, and with 47 goals for the national team under his belt, he will certainly be one to keep an eye out for.
The Liverpool forward should be supported up top by the Turkish Super Lig duo of Galatasaray's Mostafa Mohamed and Istanbul Basaksehir's Trezeguet, while Mohamed Elneny continues to anchor the midfield.
On the injury front, Egypt will be without the services of Ahmed Hegazi and Akram Tawfik, who have been been out of action since the Africa Cup of Nations, while Ramadan Sobhi and Mohamed Hany continue their journey to full fitness.
Meanwhile, Cisse has called up a similar side that stormed to the AFCON title back in January, including the Premier League duo of Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Liverpool winger Sadio Mane and Watford's Ismaila Sarr.
That being said, Mane will once again play a vital role for the Lions of Teranga at the attacking end of the pitch, teaming up with Sarr and Famara Kouyate.
In midfield, Nampalys Mendy and Cheikhou Kouyate were ever-present for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, making five starting appearances each, and they should receive the nod once again.
Having conceded just two goals en route to the continental crown, Senegal have their defence to thank for their stellar performance in Cameroon and we should see a similar back centre-back pairing of Kalidou Koulibaly and Abdou Diallo shielding Mendy in goal.
Egypt possible starting lineup:
El-Shennawy; El-Wensh, Abdelmomen, Ashraf, Fatouh; H Fathi, El-Sulya, Elneny; Salah, Marmoush, Trezeguet
Senegal possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Sarr, Koulibaly, Diallo, Ciss; Kouyate, Mendy, I Gueye; Mane, Keita Kouyate, Sarr
We say: Egypt 1-1 Senegal
Egypt will head into the game desperate to get one over Cisse's men, having lost each of the last three meetings between the sides, including the slender defeat in January's AFCON final. While they will have the home advantage, Senegal boast a plethora of world-class talents in their arsenal. We predict the game will end even, leaving all to play for in the return leg.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Senegal win with a probability of 40%. A win for Egypt had a probability of 33.46% and a draw had a probability of 26.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Senegal win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.41%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.53%) and 0-2 (7.03%). The likeliest Egypt win was 1-0 (9.34%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.61%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood.
