November 16, (THEWILL) – Egypt qualified for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup play-off stage following a hard-fought 2-1 win over Gabon in Alexandria on Tuesday evening, completing their group round undefeated.
The Pharaohs finished on 14 points after four victories and two draws. Despite the tie, Gabon finished second, beating off Libya, which surrendered late to draw 1-1 against Angola at home.
Egypt were under no pressure with coach Carlos Queiroz rotating his squad because they had already secured their playoff berth before the last match.
After Ahmed Yasser Rayyan was taken down inside the box, Mohamed Magdy Afsha scored from the penalty spot to give them the lead after four minutes.
In the 14th minute, Denis Bouanga came close to restoring parity for the Gabonese, but keeper Mohamed Elshenawy made a fine stop from a tight angle.
After his initial attempt to connect with a Bouanga cross saw him go to the ground, the visitors finally pulled level nine minutes into the second half when Jim Allevinah poked the ball into the net with the back of his heel on the ground.
However, Bouanga was sent off for a second yellow card with three minutes remaining, and Gabon had to finish the match with ten men but it did nothing to the score line as Egypt retained their 100 per cent record in the qualifiers.
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.
