Egypt vs Cape Verde. Photo courtesy of HBZ Stadium Facebook page.
Cape Verde took the lead six minutes in when Garry Rodrigues converted a penalty after Mohamed Hany fouled inside the box.
But they failed to score from the spot in the shootout, missing two kicks while Egypt substitute goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir saved another two.
Egypt defenders Hossam Abdel-Maguid and Mohamed Hamdi converted their penalties, while Omar Marmoush and Ossama Faysal both missed.
The Pharaohs, who had slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan on Friday, produced an improved but still shaky performance.
With Mohamed Salah absent, coach Hossam Hassan made six changes to his starting line-up.
Manchester City winger Marmoush, who sat out the Uzbekistan match, led the changes and impressed throughout the 90 minutes despite missing his penalty.
He equalised in the 57th minute and threatened repeatedly in the second half.
Faysal thought he had given Egypt the lead in the 66th minute after a solo run by Marmoush, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on the Cape Verde goalkeeper.
Cape Verde substitute winger Monteiro nearly won it nine minutes from time, but goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy produced a superb save.
El-Shenawy appeared angry moments later when Hassan replaced him with Shobeir specifically for the shootout.
The decision proved decisive as Cape Verde failed to convert any of their four penalties in a rare shootout collapse.
Egypt secured third place, while Uzbekistan and Iran will contest the final on Tuesday.
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