Egypt was eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday following a defeat in a penalty shootout against DR Congo, with goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi sealing the win with the decisive spot-kick. The seven-time champions’ journey in the competition ended in San-Pedro.
In a tense last-16 encounter that ended 1-1 after extra time, Meschack Elia scored for DR Congo in the 37th minute, while Mostafa Mohamed equalized for Egypt just before halftime from a penalty.
Egypt played without their star player Mohamed Salah, who sustained an injury during a group stage match against Ghana and returned to Liverpool for treatment.
DR Congo will now face Guinea in Abidjan next Friday for a chance to advance to the semi-finals, after Guinea secured a last-minute 1-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea earlier on Sunday.
Despite Egypt and DR Congo’s impressive history in the Cup of Nations, winning a combined nine titles in previous tournaments, neither team managed to secure a victory in the group stage in Ivory Coast this month. They both finished as runners-up in their respective groups, with identical records of three draws and three points. The key difference was in the number of goals scored, with Egypt finding the net six times, including three goals from France-based Mohamed, while DR Congo managed to score only twice.
