Egypt rest Salah as Angola on brink of Afcon exit

Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush are rested as group winners Egypt draw with Angola in Group B at Afcon 2025, leaving the Palancas Negras on the bring of an exit.

CAF Africa Cup of Nations

Angola 0 - 0 Egypt FT

Footballer Fredy, in a red shirt with yellow detail and his name and number 16 number on the back in yellow, shoots a ball in from a free-kick for Angola against Egypt at the Afcon 2025. Five Egypt players, wearing a white kit with black trim and numbers in black on the front, jump in the air to try to intercept the ball while Fredy's teammate, Maestro, looks on with his back to the shot
Fredy curled a delightful free-kick against the woodwork as Angola and Egypt shared a stalemate [Getty Images]

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah and Manchester City counterpart Omar Marmoush remained unused substitutes as Group B winners Egypt drew with Angola at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

The seven-time champions fielded an entirely changed starting XI, having had already secured top spot heading into their final game, and lacked a cutting edge in Agadir.

Angola had needed to win to have a chance to progress themselves, and will face a nervous wait to see if their two points is enough to qualify for the last 16 as one of the four best-placed teams from the six groups.

Benin, Sudan and Mozambique are already guaranteed at least third place in their respective groups, and all have three points.

Winger Fredy struck the outside of a post for Angola early in the second half, with Zizo - one of three players introduced by the Pharaohs at the break - stinging Hugo Marques' fingertips with a shot from inside the box shortly afterwards.

Salah and Marmoush scored in their country's 2-1 comeback win over Zimbabwe in their opening game, followed up by a 1-0 victory against South Africa courtesy of the four-time Premier League golden boot winner's penalty.

Egypt will remain in Agadir to meet a third-placed team from Group A, C or D in Agadir next Monday (16:00 GMT) and will discover their opponents after the group stage concludes on Wednesday.

South Africa's 3-2 win over Zimbabwe in the simultaneous Group B closer sent Bafana through automatically with a four-point cushion over Angola.

Category: General Sports