The Africa Cup of Nations will come to an end on Sunday, February 6, 2022, after Egypt and Senegal had battled it out in the AFCON final. The match which is scheduled to kick off at 20:00 on Sunday has the potential to produce a new AFCON champion or increase Egypt’s AFCON title from a record seven to eight titles.
Egypt got into the final through a very tedious path. Though the Pharaohs have been one of the favorites to win the trophy even before the start of the tournament, such ranking dropped drastically after they lost their opening game in the tournament 1-0 to Nigeria.
Though that discouraged a lot of people who believed in the Egyptian team led by Liverpool’s talisman Mohamed Salah, the Pharaohs were not discouraged. They went on to beat Guinea-Bissau 1-0, and Sudan 1-0 to make it out of the group stage.
Afterward, they were condemned to meet some of the biggest teams in the continent in the knock-out stages of the tournament. They successfully knock out African heavyweights like Ivory Coast and Morocco to book a date with the host, Cameroon in the semi-final stage.
Many thought Egypt would be an easy ride for Cameroon due to the unbeaten run the host enjoyed in the tournament. To the dismay of many, Egypt beat the host 1-3 on penalties to book a date with Senegal in the AFCON final.
As for Senegal, it has been a pretty easy ride for the best-ranked team in the continent even though they had to battle with multiple coronavirus infections at the start of the tournament.
While trying to manage the spread of the virus in their camp, Senegal went on to beat Zimbabwe 1-0, draw 0-0 with Guinea, and draw 0-0 with Malawi to qualify for the knock-out stage of the tournament.
In the knock-out stage, Senegal beat Cape Verde 2-0, beat Equatorial Guinea 3-1 to meet Burkina Faso in the semi-final stage.
As expected, Senegal had it very easy over Burkina Faso. They landed in the AFCON final for the second time in three years with a convincing 3-1 victory over the Burkina babe.
AFCON Final 2022: Egypt vs Senegal head to head
Senegal is known as the only football heavyweight in Africa that are yet to win the prestigious AFCON. They have been in the final of the tournament twice before now.
Recall that Senegal’s current coach Aliou Cissé missed a spot-kick in an AFCON final in 2002 that stopped the country from winning it.
In 2019, the coach led Senegal to the final of the tournament against Algeria and lost it by a lone goal. Hence, both the team and coach Cissé would want to change the history when they face Egypt on Sunday.
As for Egypt, they have played in the final of the tournament a record 9 times and they have won seven of the 9 appearances. The Sunday clash with Senegal will make it a record 10 times that Egypt have made it to an AFCON final.
In the last three meetings between Egypt and Senegal, Senegal won two while Egypt won just once. They met in the 2015 AFCON qualifiers on September 5, 2014, in which Senegal won 2-0. Senegal also won the return leg in November 2014.
Before then, they met in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations which ended in a 2-1 win in favor of Egypt on February 7, 2006.
AFCON Final Date, time, and venue
As mentioned earlier, the 2021 AFCON final which is between Egypt and Senegal will take place on Sunday, February 6, 2022.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 20:00. That is 7 PM UK time and 02:00 in Washington, DC, United States.
The AFCON 2021 final will take place at the Paul Biya Stadium, Olembé, Yaoundé, Cameroon capital city. It has a 60,000 seating capacity and comes with a grass surface.
AFCON Final TV USA
Soccer lovers in the United States of America can follow the 2021 AFCON final between Egypt and Senegal on TV. The broadcast of the match is available in the USA exclusively to FuboTV.
AFCON Final TV
Football fans across the world can watch the AFCON 2021 final between Egypt and Senegal for free on BBC Three from 7 pm UK time. You can also watch the match on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football from 6:30 pm UK time.
Senegal potential starting 11: Mendy; Sarr, Koulibaly, Diallo, Ciss; Kouyaté, Mendy; Dieng, Gueye, Mané; Diédhiou
Egypt potential starting 11: Sobhy; Kamal, Trezeguet, Hamdi, Fatouh; Ashraf, El-Sulya, Elneny; Mohamed, Marmoush, Salah
 will come to an end on Sunday after Egypt and Senegal have confronted themselves in the final.){kind=link}