Egypt will play their 100th Africa Cup of Nations finals game when they take on South Africa in Saturday’s last 16 clash in Cairo, setting a new benchmark for the tournament.
It is one of the indicators of the dominance that the Egyptians have enjoyed since winning the first Cup of Nations 62 years ago and will fuel their hopes for another title as they host the latest edition of Africa’s sporting showpiece
Egypt, who are participating in a record 24th finals, have won 57 of their previous 99 games at the tournament, drawing 17 and losing 25.
#BafanaBafana have gotten the better of #ThePharaohs in their recent matches which will give them confidence going into tonight’s clash.#AFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/t6sZ4LXyDr— SuperSport ???? (@SuperSportTV) July 6, 2019
Their tally of 164 goals in those 99 games is also a tournament record. They have conceded 87 – the last coming in the 2017 final in Libreville when Vincent Aboubakar won the Cup of Nations for Cameroon.
Egypt lead the field in a wide variety of Cup of Nations records:
*Most tournament appearances — 24 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2019)
*Most titles on – 7 (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010
*Most appearances in a final – 9 (1957, 1959, 1962, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2017
*Most games played at the final tournament — 99
*Most wins at the final tournament — 57
*Most goals at the finals tournament – 164
*Most tournaments hosted – 5 (1959, 1974, 1986, 2006, 2019)
Egypt also share a number of records. They made 14 successive appearances at the finals between 1984, when they were semifinalists in the Ivory Coast, and 2010, when they won a third title in a row in Angola.
Former #BafanaBafana legends @TheAndreArendse and @markfish74 also gave their thoughts on @MoSalah and how important he is for #ThePharaohs but they believe that if #BafanaBafana have a game plan to deal with Egypt, they can get a positive result. pic.twitter.com/9bKumkFegX— SuperSport ???? (@SuperSportTV) July 6, 2019
That has now been matched by Tunisia, whose appearance at the 2019 finals makes it 14 in a row for them since 1994 when they hosted the event.
Midfielder Ahmed Hassan shares the record for the most tournament appearances with Rigobert Song of Cameroon as both participated at eight different events.
Playing in four final matches, however, is Hassan’s own unique record.
Hassan Shehata’s three titles as coach between 2006 and 2010 matched the previous record set by Ghana’s legendary Charles Gyamfi – who led the Black Stars to their successes in 1983, 1965 and 1982.
Egypt can even boast the oldest competitor – Hossam Hassan, who was 39 years, five months and 24 days when he came on as a last minute substitute in the semifinal win over Senegal in Cairo in 2006.
Mahmoud Al Gohari took the title in 1957 as a player and then again 31 years later as coach of Egypt – a feat later matched by Stephen Keshi of Nigeria.
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