Egypt vs Nigeria – Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Prediction | AFCON 2022

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African giants Egypt and Nigeria will face off this Tuesday in their first game of the 2022 AFCON, African Cup of Nations

Venue: Stade Omnisport Roumdé Adjia (Garoua) 

Key Statistics

Nigeria have kept three clean sheets in their last six games.

The Super Eagles are making their 19th appearance in AFCON.

No other side has reached the semifinals more than Nigeria and Egypt (both 15 times).

Nigeria have won the trophy three times and have finished runners-up four times.

Egypt have won the trophy seven times (the most in the continent) and have finished runners-up on two occasions.

The Pharaohs have failed to keep clean sheets in their last four games.

Head to head

Nigeria and Egypt have met 18 times across all competitions so far. 

The West African side have enjoyed a better record against the Pharaohs, with eight wins against Egypt’s five (D5).

In AFCON they have met ten times and the Super Eagles have been the better side with four wins against Egypt’s three wins and three draws.

Latest Performances in all competitions

Nigeria: D-W-W-L-W

Egypt: L-L-W-D-W

Nigeria

After breezing through the AFCON qualifiers round unbeaten (W4, D2), Nigeria will now look to make their mark in the main tournament, beginning with a match against Egypt on Tuesday.

The Super Eagles are one of the most successful teams in the tournament’s history and last won the trophy in 2013. They have a total of 15 AFCON trophies combined ( gold, silver and bronze trophies) and come into this year’s campaign as one of the teams to beat.

They are making their 19th AFCON appearance and will be looking to go one step further than they did last year when they finished in third after losing the semifinals to eventual winners Algeria.

Led by former Nigerian defender Augustine Eguavoen, the West African side boasts an array of talent in their squad. They have proven to be difficult to play in recent years and will fancy their chances of getting just their second win over Egypt in the last seven meetings.

Possible Nigeria starting line-ups

Maduka Okoye; Zaidu Sanusi, Tyrone Ebuehi, Olaoluwa Aina, Chidozie Awaziem; Wilfred Ndidi, Chidera Ejuke; Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi, Ahmed Musa; Kelechi Iheanacho.

Injured: Abdullahi Shehu

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Unavailable: Victor Osimhen, Odion Ighalo

Egypt 

AFCON most successful team, Egypt, will begin their quest for their first title since 2010 with a clash against rivals Nigeria.

The Pharaohs are led by Portuguese tactician Carlos Queiroz and with support from the in-form Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah.

They will look to make their mark in this tournament, but must begin by picking up maximum points against Nigeria.

They enter this tournament having navigated both their AFCON qualification group (W3, D3) and their World Cup Qualification group (W4, D2) undefeated while securing first position on both occasions. 

However, their last outing was in the FIFA Arab Cup final, a match which they eventually lost to Algeria. But they will be desperate to pick up a win here and end a winless run that has extended to two games.

Possible Egypt starting line-ups

Mohamed El-Shennawy; Ahmed Hegazi, Ahmed Fatouh, Mahmoud Alaa, Marwan Daoud; Omar Marmoush, Mohamed Elneny, Ramadan Sobhi; Mohamed Salah, Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet, Mostafa Mohamed.

Injured: Mohamed Hamdy

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Unavailable: Mohamed Abo Gabal, Ibrahim Adel

Prediction

Nigeria 1-2 Egypt