AFCON 2023 round of 16 – Egypt v DR Congo

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire – The fifth CAF AFCON 2023 encounter between Egypt and DR Congo will take place in the Round of 16 clash at the Laurtent Pokou Stadium on Sunday.

Below are the match facts:

• This will be the fifth CAF Africa Cup of Nations encounter between Egypt and DR Congo, with the Pharaohs winning three of the previous four (L1).
• Egypt and DR Congo have met twice previously in the knock-out rounds of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, each winning once (DR Congo won 3-2 in the semi-final in 1974 and Egypt won 4-1 in the quarter-final in 2006).

On both occasions the winner of the tie went onto lift the trophy that year – DR Congo (as Zaire) in 1974 and Egypt in 2006.

• Both Egypt and DR Congo qualified for the knockout rounds of AFCON 2023 with three draws each in their group stage games – only four previous teams have progressed from their group with three draws since 1996 (when groups were made of four teams), and DR Congo (also in 2015) are the first to do so twice (Benin and Tunisia in 2019, Guinea in 2015).
• Four of Egypt’s last seven CAF Africa Cup of Nations knockout matches have gone to penalties (three wins, one defeat).

They’ve failed to score in four of their last five in the knockouts, with the other a 2-1 win over Morocco in the 2021 quarter-final.

• Egypt qualified from the group stages of the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations with three 2-2 draws seeing them into second-place.

They were the first side ever to qualify from an AFCON group stage despite conceding 2+ goals in all three games.

• In the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations group stage, Egypt had 12 more shots than any other team (59) and only Morocco (18) had more shots on target than they did (17). They also faced the joint fewest shots (18, level with DR Congo).
• Despite only playing 91 minutes in this year’s CAF African Cup of Nations group stage, Egypt’s Marwan Attia started more sequences that ended with a shot than any other player in the group stages (8).
• DR Congo scored just two goals in the group stages of AFCON 2023, only three sides netted fewer (Tunisia, Namibia and Tanzania – all one), while only Côte d’Ivoire (4.4% – 2/46) have a lower shot conversion rate than the Leopards (4.6% – 2/44) among teams to have progressed to the knockout rounds.
• Mostafa Mohamed has scored in each of his three 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations matches, the first Egypt player to score in their first three games of an AFCON tournament since Hossam Hassan in 2000.

No Egyptian player has scored in their first four at a single AFCON, while the only two to score in four different matches are Ali Abo Gresha (four in 1974) and Gedo (five in 2010).

• DR Congo’s Chancel Mbemba made the most ball carries (68), carried the ball the furthest distance (790m) and progressed the ball the furthest upfield (633m) of any player in the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations group stages.