The Ivory Coast’s quest to defend their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title came to an end with a 3–2 defeat against Egypt at Stade Adrar on Saturday.
Omar Marmoush kicked off the scoring for Egypt early in the match, netting his second goal of the tournament just four minutes in after receiving a pass from Emam Ashour and finishing into the far corner.
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Egypt increased their lead shortly after the half-hour mark when captain Mohamed Salah delivered a corner that Rami Rabia headed into the bottom-right corner.
As the first half approached its conclusion, an unfortunate own goal by Ahmed Fatouh allowed Ivory Coast to reduce the deficit just before halftime.
After the break, Salah extended Egypt’s lead again with a well-executed team play, as Ashour assisted the Liverpool forward, who finished confidently.
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With this goal, Salah became the all-time leading scorer in AFCON history against 11 different teams, the most by any player in the tournament’s history.
Egypt almost increased their lead further when Salah found Mohamed Hany, but goalkeeper Yahia Fofana managed to deny him.
Guela Doue gave defending champions Ivory Coast a glimmer of hope with a close-range right-footed strike in the 73rd minute, intensifying the match’s drama.
Substitute Vakoun Bayo nearly leveled the game with a header, but goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy was alert and made the save.
Egypt will now advance to face Senegal in the semi-finals next Wednesday at the Tangier Grand Stadium, after Senegal secured their spot by defeating Mali 1-0.