November 13, (THEWILL) – Egypt came back from a two-goal deficit to force a 2-2 draw against hosts Angola to secure a place in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 playoff round.
The host team had built a comfortable 2-0 lead, but the Pharaohs fought back to tie and advance to 11 points, four ahead of second-placed Gabon, who had won 1-0 against Libya two hours earlier, through a Pierre Emerick Aubameyang goal.
Angola, who were looking for a second straight win, got off to a flying start, breaking the deadlock in the 25th minute with Helder Costa’s low shot from outside the area.
M’Bala Nzola scored from the penalty spot to put the home team up 2-0 after ten minutes. After Akram Tawfik had clipped Mateus inside the area to concede the spot-kick, the Spezia forward calmly converted from 12 yards.
However, the hard-working Egyptians gave themselves a chance when Mohamed El-neny halved the score on the stroke of halftime. They completed their comeback in the 58th minute, when Tawfik scored the equaliser after giving away a penalty earlier.
Angola came close to regaining the lead, but Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy was alert to keep Assa Miranda’s rasping shot out.
Sherif, Egypt’s centre forward, came close to winning it for his team ten minutes from time when he sprinted behind the defence to take up the ball, but his curling effort was turned behind for a corner.
With one match remaining, Egypt has established an insurmountable lead and will enter the final match day with a playoff ticket already secured, playing solely for pride and to maintain their unbeaten group phase record.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
