Hosts Egypt are hoping to continue their winning streak when they lock horns with South Africa’s Bafana Bafana on Saturday (6 July 2019) at the Cairo International Stadium.


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The round of 16 fixture kicks off at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT), with the winner setting a date against either Nigeria or Cameroon in the quarterfinals.

Egypt topped group A with maximum points and without conceding after three victories over Zimbabwe (1-0), DR Congo (2-0) and Uganda (2-0). Meanwhile, South Africa had to wait till the last minute to guarantee their last eight spot as one of the four best ranked third placed teams. Bafana Bafana collected just three points in Group D with victory over Namibia (1-0) and two identical 1-0 defeats to Cote d’Ivoire and Morocco.

With skipper Ahmed Elmohamady and superstar Mohamed Salah producing their magic in the group stage and scoring twice each, Egypt will draw some relief from that fact besides the brilliance of winger Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet”, and the inform goalkeeper Mohamed ElShenawy.
Meanwhile, South Africa will pray their influential forward Percy Tau finds his feet to make the difference in front of an expected “full house” at the Cairo International Stadium.

This is the third AFCON meetings between Egypt and South Africa, with the Pharaohs winning both previous ones, in 1996 group stage and 1998 final.

Previous AFCON meetings
24.01.1996 Johannesburg South Africa 0-1 Egypt (Group Stage)

28.02.1998 Ouagadougou South Africa 0-2 Egypt (Final)

What they said
Javier Aguirre (Head Coach, Egypt)

I believe it’s going to be a complicated game. South Africa is a very good team especially defensively. I’m satisfied with my team. We will miss (Mahmoud) Gennish and (Ahmed Hassan) Koka due to injury. I hope we can achieve a good result. We don’t have a physical problem now and in our last game, the players played in full power till the last minute. Pressure is always here and that’s normal because we’re playing at home. Our players are matured and know well how to play under pressure, and that’s a positive point. The physical preparation is very important for us. We are preparing for every situation including penalty shootout if needed. We don’t have any offensive problem, just one team scored more than us. All the teams play against us with nothing to lose in mind.


Ahmed Elmohamady (Captain, Egypt)

The pressure is normal in football especially when we’re playing at home and are expected to win every game. I commend our supporters for coming in their numbers and I hope they will continue doing same tomorrow. Our fans don’t need a message. They supported us well in the first round and we know they will do the same. Also playing at Cairo stadium is a big advantage for us. Our target is the title and we’re doing all what we’ve got to achieve it. I dream of lifting the trophy.