AFCON: Seven-time champion Egypt to face Benin for quarterfinal spot

Egypt will face Benin on Monday evening in Agadir for a spot in the quarterfinal of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Egyptian team came out on top of Group B and are favourites to defeat Benin, who are appearing at this stage of the competition for only the second time in their history after the 2019 edition.

But the seven-time AFCON champions are not resting on their laurels and are aware of missed opportunities and challenges to come.

“We know that in the next rounds we won’t have the luxury of squandering goals. We must try and take every chance we get,” said Egypt left winger Mahmoud Trezeguet in a press conference.

“I see it as a positive that we had all those chances in our previous games as this was never the case in the past,” he added.

The star trio of Mohamed Salah, Omar Marmoush and Mahmoud Trezeguet are all expected to return to the starting XI to spearhead the Pharaohs’ offensive efforts in the Round of 16 clash.

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan will be wary of another early exit after Egypt’s eliminations on home soil at AFCON 2019 and at the last tournament in Ivory Coast.

Meanwhile, Benin remain confident and are looking to build on their first-ever AFCON win against Botswana in the group stage.

“We’ve accomplished our first objective, which was to get out of the group. Now we’re ambitious, we want to win this match and move on to the next round,” said Benin defender Olivier Verdon.

The match between Egypt and Benin will begin in Agadir at 5 p.m. local time.