Full time: Egypt 1-1 Gabon
Scorers: Mostafa Mohamed 90/ Jim Allevinah 73


The referee blows his final whistle, Egypt secure a share of spoils with an invaluable late goal. Thanks for following our live updates! 

90' Mostafa Mohamed scores a precious equaliser at the death! Fellow substitute Salah Mohsen flicks a long ball into the unmarked marksman, with the keeper sticking out his hand to palm his chip. However, the Galatasaray striker makes the follow-up and heads into an empty net after stealing ahead of a Gabon defender.  

90' GOOOOOOAL FOR EGYPT!!!!

88' Aubameyang cuts inside but fires high over. 

88' Gabon move the ball around smoothly, leaving Egypt defenders chasing shadows. 

84' A looping header by Salah Mohsen goes over the bar after a long ball was floated into the Gabon area. 

83' Egypt make another substitution. Ahly forward Salah Mohsen replaces left-back Ayman Ashraf. 

81' Gabon make a substitution. Serge-Junior Ngouali replaces Boupendza. 

80' Mostafa Mohamed tries his luck from the edge of the area but his shot is collected by keeper Anthony Mfa Meuzi.

78' Coach El-Badry will hope his attacking substitutions pay off in the dying minutes. 

77' Egypt make a double substitution. Playmaker Magdi Afsha makes way for striker Mostafa Mohamed and defensive midfielder Hamdi Fathi makes way for veteran schemer Abdallah El-Said. 

73' Substitute Allevinah gives Gabon a deserved lead after slotting into the bottom corner from inside the area following a superb exchange of passes with a teammate.  

73' GOAL FOR GABON!

71' A red card for Egypt!! Omar Gaber is sent off for a second bookable offence. This leaves Egypt with a difficult task in the remaining 19 minutes. 

69' Egypt right-back Tawfik is stretchered off after picking up an injury. 

66' Gabon make their first substitution. Jim Allevinah replaces Guelor Kanga.

66' An angled Gabon free-kick strikes the defensive wall. 

64' Both sides ease off in a drab second half. 

59' Egypt slightly improve, but they still need to create more chances in the final third! 

55' Salah releases Ahmed Tawfik with a superb back-heel pass but the right-back's poor cross is cleared. 

54' Afsha cuts inside from the left and misses the target with a low shot. 

50' Gabon are denied a certain goal!! Boupendza is found unmarked on the right hand side of the area to break clear but keeper Mohamed El-Shennawi rushes out to smother his effort with a fine stop. 

49' Will Egypt abandon their cautious approach and try to snatch a win in the second half? 

The second half is underway 

The referee blows his halftime whistle 

45+1' A golden chance for Gabon! A neat one-two is poorly headed by Hegazy and the ball falls to Boupendza, who mis-hits his volley with the goal at his mercy.  

45' The referee adds two minutes of stoppage time. 

40' A counter attack sees Mohamed Sherif cut inside his challenger in the area but his poor shot goes high over. 

39' An attempted chipped pass from Salah goes straight into the keeper's hands. 

37' Another angled, powerful shot from Boupendza goes over the crossbar as Gabon intensify their pressure. 

35' A long-range low shot from Guelor Kanga goes just wide after a fine team move.  

31' Gabon are better in the first half an hour, although clear-cut chances are scarce. 

27' Egypt midfielder Omar Gaber is booked for a rash challenge on Denis Bouanga.

25' Aubayemang is found by an inviting cross from the left and his volley forces a superb save from Mohamed El-Shennawi but he is flagged for offside anyway! 

22' A goal from Gabon's Denis Bouanga is disallowed for offside!

21' Another angled volley from Aubameyang misses the target as Gabon make some tame attempts. 

19' A low shot from Gabon's Aubameyang goes wide. 

15' Left-back Ayman Ashraf is released down the left by a fine back-heel from the lively Afsha but he mis-controls the ball and it goes out for a goal kick. 

10' A deflected shot from Gabon's Aaron Boupendza goes out for a corner in the hosts' first attempt. 

8' Egypt create their first chance after a flowing move! Mohamed Salah makes a jinking run down the right, cuts inside his marker and feeds Mohamed Sherif, who lays off the ball to Magdi Afsha with a fine back-heel but the Ahly playmaker's volley goes over the bar. 

6' No threats in the first few minutes as both sides probe backlines for openings. 

3' Gabon are awarded a free kick on the right following a foul committed by Egypt full-back Ayman Ashraf. 

2' A wayward long ball from Egypt defender El-Wensh goes straight into the hands of the keeper. 


The match is underway 

 

Lineups:

Gabon: Mfa Mezui - Ecuele Manga, Obiang, Oyono, Lemina - Ndong, Kanga, Poko - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Boupendza, Denis Bouanga

Egypt: Mohamed El Shennawi - Ahmed Tawfik, Ahmed Hegazi, Mahmoud “El-Wensh” Hamdi, Ayman Ashraf - Hamdi Fathi, Amr El Sulaya, Omar Gaber - Mohamed “Afsha” Magdi, Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Sherif.

20:00 Egypt players have started warming up on the pitch.

19:00 Egypt's team bus has arrived to the stadium, two hours before the game.

18:00 Gabon will be looking to make up for an opening 2-1 loss away to Libya, in which they threw away their lead. 

17:00 Reports suggest that coach Hossam El-Badry will field Pyramids' versatile midfielder Omar Gaber as part of a three-man midfield, even though he has struggled for form lately. 

16:00 Egypt will miss right-back Akram Tawfik, who sustained a facial injury, and Pyramids winger Ramadan Sobhi, who broke his finger against Angola. 

15:00 Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny was ruled out of the Gabon clash after picking up an injury during a training session with his English Premier League club.

14:40 Egypt v Gabon: Head-to-head record:  Here is the head-to-head record of Egypt v Gabon ahead of Sunday's game..

Matches: 3, won: 3, drew: 0, defeats: 0, goals for: 10, goals against: 0

28/3/1994: Egypt 4-0 Gabon (African Cup of Nations)

6/1/2000: Egypt 4-0 Gabon (friendly)

29/5/2004: Egypt 2-0 Gabon (friendly)
 

14:00 The 29-year-old Salah is second in Egypt's list of all-time top scorers with 45 goals, 31 goals behind iconic striker Hossam Hassan.

13:30 Salah will now regain his place on the right flank, which was occupied by Zamalek's Ahmed Zizo against Angola, with coach Hossam El-Badry unlikely to make further changes to the side that played on Wednesday.

12:45 Egypt struggled to create clear-cut chances against Angola, with lone striker Mohamed Sherif often isolated and three attacking midfielders lacking imagination.

12:00 The Pharaohs still got the job done with a 1-0 victory, thanks to an early penalty from Ahly playmaker Magdi Afsha, but they sorely missed the spark and efficiency of Salah.

11:15 COVID-19 quarantine restrictions in the UK, which places Egypt on its red list, meant Salah was not able to join up with the national team as they hosted Angola in Cairo on Wednesday.

10:30 Egypt will be able to unleash their most lethal weapon against Gabon as Mohamed Salah flew directly to Franceville to take part in Sunday's World Cup qualifier after missing the opening Group F clash against Angola.

Stay tuned as match is due to start at 21:00 Cairo time (GMT+2)

 

Venue: Stade de Franceville

Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

 

Check the match preview HERE

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