Read Jonathan Wilson's match report from Douala
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RESULT: Ivory Coast 0-0 Egypt (Egypt win 5-4 on penalties)
Salah races off and embraces his keeper Gabaski! Egypt’s two heroes cavort, soon to be joined by the rest of the squad. As they celebrate, Ivory Coast crumble to the floor as one, Eric Bailly’s casual penalty having cost them dear after a tense game with plenty of ebb and flow. Commiserations to them, and congratulations to Egypt, who face Morocco on Sunday afternoon for a place in the semi-finals. Thanks for reading this MBM.
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PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 4-5 Egypt. Salah thrashes the penalty into the bottom right, sending Sangare the wrong way, and Egypt will face Morocco in the quarters!
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PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 4-4 Egypt. Zaha fires into the top left to keep Ivory Coast alive ... for one more kick at least. Here comes Salah!
PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 3-4 Egypt. Abdelmonem lashes into the left-hand side of the goal, and Egypt are one successful kick away from the quarter-finals!
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PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 3-3 Egypt. Cornet stutters but sends a forensic penalty into the bottom left. Gabaski guessed correctly but can’t reach.
PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 2-3 Egypt. Kamal gives Sangare the eyes, sending the keeper one way, rolling the ball the other, into the bottom right.
PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 2-2 Egypt. Bailly skips, in the style of his club team-mate Bruno Fernandes, and chips casually towards the top left. Gabaski sticks up a strong hand and tips onto the post and away! Advantage Egypt.
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PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 2-2 Egypt. El Soleya takes a straight run-up before rolling powerfully into the bottom left. Badra Sangare, in goal, guesses incorrectly.
PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 2-1 Egypt. Ibrahim Sangare slots into the bottom right, Gabaski going the other way.
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PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 1-1 Egypt. Zizo batters into the top left and wanders off smiling.
PENALTIES: Ivory Coast 1-0 Egypt. Salah wins the toss, after more friendly laughs with Aurier, and asks Ivory Coast to take the first penalty. The keepers Gabaski and Badra Sangare embrace each other too. And then Pepe steps up. He hesitates, then whips into the right-hand side of the net, sending Gabaski the wrong way.
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EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Ivory Coast 0-0 Egypt
Penalties will decide who faces Morocco at the weekend.
ET 30 min: Salah strides down the inside-left channel and reaches the byline. He cuts back for Trezeguet, who whips weakly, straight at Sangare in goal.
ET 29 min: Zizo tries to release Sherif down the middle. Deli, the last man, gets in the road and mops up just in time.
ET 27 min: The corner’s hit long. Too long. Ivory Coast break up the other end, Zaha threatening to slip clear down the left. He’s forced to check by Trezeguet, then tugs him over, before going nose to nose with Hegazy. It briefly threatens to kick off. Zaha his eventually booked for losing the rag.
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ET 26 min: Salah latches onto a loose ball and sends Trezeguet off on another romp down the left. Trezeguet enters the box and his low cross-cum-shot is blocked out for a corner. Zizo to take. Up goes the volume.
ET 24 min: Kamal is stripped by Zaha down the Ivorian left. Zaha tries to combine with Cornet, who over-elaborates when a simple return pass would have sent his team-mate free. The nerves are really jangling at both ends now.
ET 23 min: Salah plays a cute pass round the corner, sending Trezeguet free into the box down the left. Trezeguet shoots hard, but without any accuracy. Salah leaps up and down in frustration.
ET 22 min: Deli is booked for clattering Salah as the pair contest a high ball. Salah thinks it’s a second yellow for Deli - there was some confusion when Bailly got booked early in the game - but it isn’t, and it’s still 11 versus 11.
ET 20 min: Sangare nearly dribbles his way free down the right, but after beating two men, can’t pass a third, El Fotouh, on the edge of the Egypt box. For a spilt second, it looked as though the referee might point to the spot, but it’s a fair collision and no penalty.
ET 18 min: The pace drops, understandably so given the temperature and humidity.
ET 16 min: El Soleya launches long for Salah, who would be through on goal were it not for a towering clearing header by Bailly.
Ivory Coast get the second period of extra time underway. Penalties loom!
EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Ivory Coast 0-0 Egypt
There’s just enough time for Cornet of Burnley to come on for Haller of Ajax, and that’s the end of the first period of extra time.
ET 15 min: From the resulting corner, Deli heads over with Gabaski flapping. Ivory Coast so close to opening the scoring.
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ET 14 min: Pepe, probing down the right, cuts back for Ibrahim Sangare, who sends a sumptuous curler towards the top right from 25 yards. It’s heading in, an almost perfectly placed shot. Gabaski extends to full length and tips over. What a shot, and a save to match!
ET 12 min: Zaha understandably takes a while to get back up, but thankfully once the pain of impact subsides he’s good to continue, no real harm done. VAR took a look at the replay, but there was no foul play. All accidental. We play on.
ET 11 min: Kamal gets ahead of Zaha to a loose ball. Only by a split second, though, and Zaha hurdles over Kamal before landing awkwardly on his head, then his shoulder. That will hurt.
ET 10 min: Die tries to release Haller with a long pass down the right, but Haller climbs all over El Fotouh and the whistle goes for a free kick.
ET 8 min: Ivory Coast win a free kick out on the right, and load the Egyptian box. Aurier’s delivery is no good at all, and sails out of play on the opposite flank. Egypt break, Zizo cutting in from the left and having a speculative pop from distance. The ball swerves all over the place and Sangare does well to react and parry. Trezeguet is lurking but the ball doesn’t rebound to him.
ET 7 min: Sherif returns.
ET 6 min: Sherif is bundled onto a stretcher and carried off the pitch. Not sure if he’s dazed, or if they simply need to patch him up some more. The game restarts without him.
ET 4 min: Sherif accidentally connected with Haller on the follow through to that header, and he’s taken a painful one in the mouth. Blood pouring. On come the doctors.
ET 3 min: Egypt pin Ivory Coast back. El Soleya crosses deep from the right. Hegazy rises at the far stick and heads back to Sherif, who heads over from close range. Close again!
ET 1 min: Almost an explosive start to extra time, as Trezeguet is slipped into the box down the left. Upon reaching the corner of the six-yard box, he shanks a shot across the face of goal. Salah can’t bundle home, and Ivory Coast escape.
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Aurier and Salah share a joke at the coin toss, all very convivial, and then Egypt get the first period of extra time underway. They’ve made a change, replacing Mohamed with Sherif up front.
FULL TIME: Ivory Coast 0-0 Egypt
... and that’s that. Egypt started the second half stronger, Ivory Coast finished it on top. But neither team could find a winner. Morocco still don’t know who they’ll face in the quarters. On we go to extra time, with penalties a possibility afterwards!
90 min +3: Pepe and Boga briefly threaten to open Egypt up down the right, but Elneny nips in to intercept, just in time.
90 min +2: Pepe swings the ball towards Gabaski, who claims under his bar, despite the physical arrival of Deli. Egypt launch a counter, but Zizo clatters Pepe on the halfway line and goes into the book.
90 min +1: In the first of four added minutes, Pepe takes on El Fotouh down the right and wins a corner. Pepe will take it himself. One corner leads to another. Here comes take two.
90 min: Aurier and Pepe combine down the right and earn a corner off Trezeguet ... but it’s not awarded. Ivory Coast are livid, the chance to immediately test the new keeper denied them.
88 min: El Shenawy limps off and is replaced by Gabaski. A slight element of farce to that substitution, which took an age, despite the keeper immediately knowing he couldn’t continue. Very strange.
87 min: For the second time in less than ten minutes, Egypt seem to be in some sort of denial over a substitution. El Shenawy stays down, and it takes an age for the penny to drop with Carlos Queiroz. Finally, he prepares to make the change.
85 min: ... but as Trezeguet blooters the rebound clear, El Shenawy goes down, having twisted something while planting his leg. The keeper looks over to the bench, and shakes his head sadly. He makes the mime for Kaput. He won’t be able to continue.
84 min: Zaha drives purposefully down the inside-left channel, reaching the box and pearling a shot towards the bottom left. El Shenawy parries bravely, and the ball’s hacked clear. So close!
83 min: Egypt finally replace Fathi, sending on Zizo.
82 min: El Shenawy hesitates in claiming Boga’s overhit through ball. He eventually gathers, but only after nearly letting Pepe in. Nerves clearly jangling now.
80 min: Looks like Fathi’s pulled something. The doctor performs the international mime for substitution. Fathi departs, but nobody comes on in his place.
79 min: Fathi is down, his right leg giving him some bother.
78 min: Boga dribbles in from the left and considers a shot, but instead leaves it to Pepe, who sends a weak curler towards the bottom left. Easy for the keeper.
76 min: Salah spins gloriously past two orange shirts down the right, then passes to Mohamed and makes off, hoping for a return that would send him clear on goal. Mohamed’s pass is no good. A huge chance slips by.
75 min: Pepe cuts in from the right and aims for the bottom left. He sends a bobbling ball towards the corner, but El Shenawy is behind it all the way.
74 min: A slight drop in pace. Nobody wants to make a mistake as we reach the business end of proceedings.
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73 min: Trezeguet is immediately up to speed, sent into space down the left. He’s got Mohamed and Salah in the middle, but attempts to curl around the keeper and into the bottom right instead. Just wide. To be fair, he was within his rights to take that on.
72 min: Some changes! Ivory Coast replace Seri and Gradel with Boga and Zaha, while Egypt swap out Marmoush for Trezeguet.
70 min: Pepe hits the corner long. Sangare, at the far post, heads back across goal to Haller, who tries to eyebrow an effort past El Shenawy from six yards. The keeper tips spectacularly over the bar. The next corner isn’t so eventful.
69 min: Corner for Ivory Coast down the left. Egypt clear easily. But then Ivory Coast come again, Bailly jinking his way in from the right before clipping the cutest little pass down the channel, nearly teeing up Haller, 12 yards out. Egypt bundle the ball out for a corner, just in time.
67 min: Haller hesitates when Aurier tries to slip him free down the right. Then up the other end, Marmoush and Mohamed make a mess of a fairly simple one-two. This is tense and it’s getting rather scrappy.
65 min: Egypt are dominating the midfield, but they’re not exactly creating a huge bunch of chances.
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63 min: Marmoush busies in from the left and nearly slips Salah clear down the channel. The ball pinballs instead to Mohamed, who takes a touch, opens his body, and aims a curler towards the top right. It’s always sailing high and wide.
61 min: Salah tears off down the right and is cynically clipped on the heel by Die. The referee continues with his laissez-faire approach to punishment. You’d expect a player to see yellow for that, but no.
60 min: Mohamed goes down and requires a little treatment, but he’s back up again soon enough.
58 min: This is being played at a fair old lick now. Fathi attempts to release Salah clear through on goal with a long pass down the middle. Deli, positioned perfectly, makes a crucial header to intercept and clear. Had he not done so, Salah was away.
56 min: Fathi meets a half-cleared ball and creams a shot towards the Ivorian goal from 25 yards. Bailly blocks bravely.
55 min: Marmoush is fortunate not to go into the book for a cynical lunge at Die.
54 min: Konan makes his way down the left and earns a corner off Hegazy. Haller competes for a header, but Egypt clear with ease.
53 min: Elneny drives down the right and hits a fierce cross that deflects off Deli, sending the ball flying towards the top right. Sangare does extremely well to react quickly and tip around the post, then claim the resulting corner. Egypt knocking on the door here.
52 min: Salah romps down the right, draws most of the Ivorian defence towards him, then rolls across the face of the box to El Soleya, who is in acres. El Soleya lifts a poor effort miles over the bar. Again, he should have done better.
50 min: Hegazy crosses deep from the right. On the other flank, Marmoush cushions a header down for El Soleya, who can’t find Salah or Mohamed on the penalty spot with his dinked cross. A big opportunity for Egypt goes begging.
49 min: Salah turns on the jets to advance down the right. He glides infield and nearly slips Marmoush free down the channel and into the box. Not quite, but that’s Salah’s first major dribble this afternoon. Egypt could do with more of them.
47 min: Pepe wins a free kick out on the right. Aurier swings it in. Abdelmonem heads clear. Not a particularly distinguished start to the half.
Egypt get the second half underway. There have been no changes at the break.
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HALF TIME: Ivory Coast 0-0 Egypt
Just enough time for Haller to take a whack at goal from the edge of the box, straight at El Shenawy, and that’s the end of the first half. It’s not been all that, tell the truth, and yet both teams could easily have notched a spectacular goal, Marmoush with a vicious curler that hit the bar, Ibrahim Sangare with a bicycle kick that nearly flew into the top right. Here’s to an exciting second half!
45 min: Egypt pin Ivory Coast back. They pass and probe. Suddenly Marmoush has a dig from a position just to the right of the D. His low drive is deflected out for a corner. Marmoush takes it himself, and it’s no good. There will be one added minute.
43 min: Salah loops it long for Hegazy at the far post. Hegazy tries to set a team-mate up with a downward header, but Ibrahim Sangare blooters clear, which ensures his namesake Badra in goal has no work to do.
42 min: Salah works his way down the right and is pointlessly clipped by Gradel near the corner flag. Free kick, which Salah will take himself.
40 min: There’s a case to be made that Sangare had time to trap and shoot in a more methodical style, but the effort was well executed so you can’t really knock it.
39 min: Ivory Coast finally put something together, the ball being shuttled left to right across the front of the Egypt box, then hooked back into the centre by Pepe. Ibrahim Sangare, free on the penalty spot, goes for the acrobatic spectacular, and scissors a fine effort down and back up towards the top right. El Shenawy, at full stretch, parries clear. What a shot, what a save!
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37 min: Egypt take it up a notch, Salah playing a cute pass down the inside-right channel to release Mohamed, who sends a first-time shot towards the bottom right. He doesn’t quite catch it, allowing Sangare to tip around the post. The resulting corner’s hit long. Salah retrieves it on the left wing and nearly flukes a looping cross into the top right. Sangare tips this one over the bar, and nothing comes of the next corner.
35 min: Salah probes down the right, to little effect. A reminder that this game will go to extra time and penalties if necessary.
33 min: Aurier runs down the right wing, a long tail of orange tape trailing from his sock. A carnival touch to match the party atmosphere in the stand. Plenty of noise, still, despite this game failing to reach the heights.
31 min: Gradel is given an absurd amount of space down the left by Elneny. Gradel crosses aimlessly, then Elneny compounds his earlier error by letting a loose ball clank off the top of his head while shepherding it out for a goal kick. Thankfully for the unfortunate Egyptian, nothing comes of the wholly avoidable corner.
30 min: Die comes on in Kessie’s place.
29 min: Kessie is down again, those ribs causing him some distress. He looks extremely upset, as the realisation that his race is run dawns on him.
28 min: Hegazi fouls Haller, 30 yards out. Gradel takes the resulting free kick, sending a strange bouncing dribbler through the box and straight at El Shenawy.
26 min: Pepe twists and shimmies down the right, reaching the byline and firing a low centre into El Shenawy’s arms. This game hasn’t quite taken off yet, but both teams are slowly beginning to find their range.
25 min: Aurier forces a corner down the right. Mohamed blooters clear and Egypt counter quickly. Salah considers going on a solo run, and in retrospect should probably have backed himself, because the move ends when Kamal takes up possession and dribbles an awful effort into Sangare’s hands from distance.
24 min: Kessie is down, having taken a whack to the hip. As cooling spray is applied by the doctor, everyone else takes the opportunity to knock back some delicious water. Kessie eventually gets back up and necks some too.
22 min: Salah takes the corner himself, from the right. His low scuffed effort is cleared at the near post by Bailly, making up for his earlier mistake.
21 min: Egypt are beginning to trouble Ivory Coast now. Salah forces Bailly into a poor clearing header, then takes a shot from the edge of the D. It’s always rising over the bar, but Sangare takes no chances and tips over for a corner.
19 min: ... so while it’s Ivory Coast who have been hogging the ball, it’s Egypt who nearly opened the scoring. The Elephants have created nothing of note.
17 min: ... but this is quite brilliant, as Marmoush nearly makes up for that dismal free kick in spectacular style. He’s the best part of 30 yards out, and sends a fierce dipper up and back down towards the top right. Badra Sangare is beaten all ends up in the Ivory Coast goal, but the ball twangs off the crossbar and away. What a goal that would have been!
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16 min: El Fotouh works his way down the left and draws a clumsy foul from Aurier. Free kick, and a chance for Egypt to line up on the edge of the Ivory Coast box. Marmoush hoicks a dreadful effort miles over everyone’s head and out for a goal kick. That is quite appalling.
15 min: Ivory Coast continue to dominate possession, though it’s all a bit slow, and Egypt don’t look particularly troubled by this state of affairs.
13 min: Mohamed goes up for a high ball and clanks Konan on the ear. Ivory Coast want a booking, but they’re not getting their wish. Konan is back up and running again quickly.
11 min: It’s a bit early for a lull, but here we are.
9 min: The first card of the afternoon is shown to Bailly, who hangs out a leg and brings Mohamed crashing down. It’s well deserved, a fairly crude swipe at the Egypt attacker’s ankle.
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8 min: Egypt are struggling to retain possession during these early exchanges. A couple of long balls in the vague direction of Salah, and that’s the sum total of their creativity so far. Plenty of time to hone their art.
6 min: Aurier bursts into the Egypt box from the right. Marmoush lightly nudges him on the shoulder, and he crashes dramatically to the floor. He wants a penalty, but come off it and come on. Goal kick.
5 min: Gradel drops a shoulder and makes his way past Elneny down the left. He aims for the top right but the shot is blocked. It’s a fast start by the Ivorians.
3 min: The first shot in anger is taken by Kessie, who spins into a bit of space, 25 yards from goal, and drags a low effort wide right of the Egypt goal. El Shenawy had it covered.
2 min: This is the 11th time these countries have met at the Afcon. It’s now the most-played fixture in tournament history.
Ivory Coast get the ball rolling. They ping it forward quickly, albeit to little effect. Egypt will most likely sit back and hope to hit their opponents on the break.
Before kick-off, there’s a moment to reflect the Olembe Stadium tragedy. The eight who lost their lives are remembered with a poignant minute of silence.
The teams are out! Ivory Coast in their orange shirts, Egypt in second-choice white. Anticipation crackles around the Japoma Stadium in Douala. The place isn’t full, but there’s plenty of noise nonetheless. It’s a balmy 32 degrees in Cameroon, with humidity levels at a fairly uncomfortable 66 percent. Once the anthems have been performed, pennants exchanged, coins tossed and hands shaken, we’ll be off.
Some grim pre-match reading. Sleep well the poor souls who went to the game but never got back home.
Fans of the Premier League will spot several recognisable names in the Ivorian ranks. Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal up front, Manchester United’s Eric Bailly at the back. On the bench, Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace and Burnley winger Maxwel Cornet. Plus some old friends in Serge Aurier, formerly of Spurs but now at Villarreal, erstwhile West Ham striker Sebastien Haller, now banging them in for Ajax, and one-time Bournemouth attacker Max Gradel, a Sivasspor man these days. Throw in Jean Michael Seri of Championship side Fulham, and that’s quite a contingent of familiar faces.
Egypt by contrast are heavily represented by home-based players. Some notable exceptions: Liverpool and Arsenal are represented by Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Elneny, who both start, while Aston Villa’s Trezeguet is on the bench.
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The teams
Ivory Coast: B Sangaré, Aurier, Bailly, Deli, Konan, I Sangaré, Seri, Kessié, Gradel, Haller, Pépé.
Subs: Tapé, Kanon, Kossounou, Zaha, Kouassi, Cornet, Maïga, Boga, Dié, Kouamé, Cissé, Boli.
Egypt: El Shenawy, El Soleya, El Fotouh, Marmoush, Hegazy, M Abdelmonem, Kamal, Fathi, Salah, Elneny, Mohamed.
Subs: Trézéguet, Abdelghany, Bakr, Sobhi, Ashraf, Ali, A Abdelmonem, Bekhit, Ibrahim, Sayed, Daader, Mehany.
Referee: Jean Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo).
Preamble
It’s a heavyweight last-16 clash at the Japoma Stadium in Douala this afternoon. Seven-time winners Egypt meet two-time champions Ivory Coast for the right to face Morocco in the quarter finals on Sunday in Yaoundé.
Both teams made comfortable progress through their respective groups. The Elephants topped Group E unbeaten, thanks to wins over Equatorial Guinea and Algeria, the latter a 3-1 win which sent the reigning champions Algeria packing. Meanwhile, the Pharaohs lost their opening fixture against Nigeria, but bounced back with solid if unspectacular wins over Guinea-Bissau and Sudan.
Egypt are equipped with arguably the tournament’s biggest star in Mohamed Salah. However, coach Carlos Quieroz’s defensive mindset can be a bit of a downer, and it’s not as though Ivory Coast are without top talent of their own, Sebastien Haller of Ajax and Arsenal’s Nicolas Pépé at the sharp end of their attack, Milan’s Franck Kessié the main attraction in midfield. It’s a tough one to call, and it could go to extra time and even penalty kicks. The match starts at 5pm in Douala, Cameroon, 4pm GMT. It’s on!
