Mohamed Salah scores late winner as Egypt beat Zimbabwe in Africa Cup of Nations

AGADIR – Mohamed Salah snatched a dramatic stoppage-time winner as Egypt came from behind to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in their first fixture at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco on Dec 22.

Egypt’s captain, starting his first match after four successive matches on the bench at Liverpool, fired home a left-footed effort in the 91st minute to earn the seven-time champions a late victory after Zimbabwe had stunned them by going ahead in the first half.

World No. 35 Egypt laid an early siege to Zimbabwe’s goal, but it was the 129th-ranked underdogs who drew first blood through Prince Dube in the 20th minute.

It was left to Egypt’s English Premier League contingent of Omar Marmoush, who equalised in the 64th minute, and talisman Salah to guide them to a last-gasp victory.

“We created many chances without being able to score early, but in the end everything went well,” Manchester City forward Marmoush said.

“We kept a good mindset and finished the match strongly. We will learn from everything that happened in tonight’s game.”

Salah had come into the tournament in Morocco under the spotlight following

a fiery outburst after being dropped by the reigning Premier League champions

, and struggled to find his rhythm for most of the match at the Grand Stade d’Agadir.

When it counted, however, he swept home the winner to see Egypt join South Africa, who beat Angola 2-1 earlier in Marrakech, at the top of Group B.

It was a deserved result for Egypt, who had drawn all three of their matches in the group stage before being knocked out on penalties by Democratic Republic of Congo in the last 16 at the previous edition in 2024.

Egypt fell behind when Emmanuel Jalai fed the ball inside for Dube, who turned and placed his effort into the bottom left corner.

Marmoush equalised just minutes after the hour mark, picking up a long pass on the left wing before cutting inside and firing home with his right foot from an acute angle for a superb solo goal.

Substitute Ahmed Zizo should have headed home at the back post from Mohamed Hamdy’s inviting cross but put his effort wide, and missed again four minutes from the end when Salah teed him up with a good chance.

The Egyptians had to lean on Salah to secure the three points, with the 33-year-old holding off his marker to bring the ball under control before steering it home for his first goal since early November.

“We wasted several scoring chances and we didn’t have luck on our side,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said. “That’s football. We were the better team throughout the match. Opening games are always difficult.”

In the other Group B match, second-half dominance by 1996 winners South Africa paid off when Burnley striker Lyle Foster netted on 79 minutes to deliver a 2-1 victory over Angola at the Grand Stade de Marrakech.

Oswin Appollis had put South Africa, who finished third at the last Afcon in 2024, ahead on 21 minutes before Angola took control and levelled through Show after 35 minutes.

“We had to avoid losing tonight because next up for us are Egypt. We led in the opening half and then we fell asleep,” said South Africa coach Hugo Broos.

“We let Angola back into the game so we put something right during half-time. In the second half we applied more pressure, there is more movement and we had chances.”

In Group A, Mali drew 1-1 with Zambia after Patson Daka’s stoppage-time equaliser cancelled Lassine Sinayoko’s 61st-minute opener for Mali.

In Group D on Dec 23, the Democratic Republic of Congo beat Benin 1-0 courtesy of Theo Bongonda’s first-half goal, while Nicolas Jackson’s brace and a late Cherif Ndiaye goal gave Senegal a 3-0 win over Botswana. REUTERS, AFP