AFCON 2021 Final: Senegal v Egypt Match Facts
Senegal faces Egypt this Sunday at Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, as the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 reaches its Grand Final.
Following are the Match Facts from Opta:
●This will be the fifth encounter between Egypt and Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations and the first such meeting since 2006, with Egypt winning 2-1 in the semi-final on their way to lifting the trophy that year.
●In their four previous meetings at the Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt and Senegal have won two games each, with three of the four matches finishing 1-0 (Egypt’s win in 2000 and Senegal’s in 1986 and 2002).
●Egypt will play in their ninth final (excluding final groups) at the Africa Cup of Nations, losing their most recent one in 2017 (2-1 against Cameroon) – including the 2021 final, no team have played in the tournament showpiece on more occasions than the Pharaohs (Ghana level on nine).
●Senegal are playing in their third Africa Cup of Nations final (runners-up in 2002 and 2019), while the Lions of Teranga are the first side to play in consecutive finals in the competition since opponents Egypt in 2010.
●Senegal are looking to win their first Africa Cup of Nations title, in their 16th appearance in the competition – no team have played in more AFCON tournaments without ever lifting the trophy.
●Egypt have progressed via extra time (and/or penalties) in their last three matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, only one team have played in four consecutive knock-out matches, with all going to extra time in the competition’s history – Tunisia between 2006 and 2015 (lost all four in quarter-finals, three in extra time and one on penalties).
●Senegal have won 11 Africa Cup of Nations matches across the last three tournaments (since 2017), more victories than any other team, while they’ve also kept the most clean sheets (12) in this time.
●Senegal have scored nine goals from 81 attempts at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations – only Cameroon (12.1%, 11/91) have a better shot conversion rate than the Lions of Teranga at this year’s tournament. Meanwhile, Egypt’s rate of just 5.3% (4/76) is the lowest among teams to progress to the knock-out rounds.
●Since Mohamed Salah’s debut at the Africa Cup of Nations in January 2017 he’s been directly involved in 68 shots at goal for Egypt (41 shots, 27 chances created), only Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri (70 – 40 shots, 30 chances created) has been involved in more in this time.
●Sadio Mané has been directly involved in nine (six goals, three assists) of Senegal’s last 14 goals at the Africa Cup of Nations (64%), having either scored (2) or assisted (2) in each of his last three matches. The forward could register goal involvements in four consecutive games in the competition for the first time.