Egypt vs South Africa 1-0: AFCON 2025 – as it happened

Despite being under the cosh from a spirited South African side, Egypt manage to hold on to secure a 1-0 result in Adagir.

They become the first team in the tournament to navigate into the round of 16.

We hope you enjoyed our coverage, and on behalf of Kevin Hand, this is Rohan Sharma signing off.

The final will be played on January 18 at the 69,500-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, marking the conclusion of the 52-match tournament.

The prize money remains the same as the last edition with the winners receiving $7m while the runners-up take home $4m.

The total prize pot for the tournament is $32m.

The CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2025 began on Sunday as hosts Morocco beat Comoros in the opening game.

Here are the other key dates of the tournament:

• Group stage: December 21-31
• Round of 16: January 3-6
• Quarterfinals: January 9-10
• Semifinals: January 14
• Third-place playoff: January 17
• Final: January 18

Click here for our full tournament guide.

Click here to read our match report about Egypt’s win against South Africa.

Today

• Group A: Zambia vs Comoros (Stade Mohammed V, 6:30pm/17:30 GMT)
• Group A: Morocco vs Mali (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 9pm/20:00 GMT)

Saturday

• Group D: Benin vs Botswana (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 1:30pm/12:30 GMT)
• Group D: Senegal vs Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ibn Batouta Stadium, 4pm/15:00 GMT)
• Group C: Uganda vs Tanzania (Al Barid Stadium, 6:30pm/17:30 GMT)
• Group C: Nigeria vs Tunisia (Fez Stadium, 9pm/20:00 GMT)

The full match schedule, groups and format can be found here.

Our Africa Cup of Nations coverage continues on Saturday as Tunisia take on Nigeria in Fez, Morocco.

You can get more details in our comprehensive match preview.

The blog is set to kick off at 16:00 GMT, so make sure to tune in!

South Africa now find themselves in a must-win situation against Zimbabwe in their last group match.

That one is set to take place at Stade de Marrakech on Monday.

Egypt, who are through to the next round, will look to maintain their undefeated record against Angola in Agadir on the same day.

Mohamed Salah scored for the second game running at AFCON 2025, but he had already achieved quite the feat with his first goal at this edition:

Egypt become the first team to book their passage into the round of 16.

They currently top Group B with six points after two matches.

South Africa sit in second position with three points while Zimbabwe and Angola round out the group with a point each.

Egypt came out of the blocks hot in the first half, culminating in a penalty on the cusp of half-time that Salah converted.

But soon after, a rash challenge from Hany allowed South Africa to gain a significant man advantage.

It resulted in a complete flip of the script for the second half as Egypt were forced to sit back and absorb wave after wave of attacks from the South Africans.

Despite Bafana Bafana producing 16 shots and having seven shots on target, Egyptian keeper El Shenawy proved to be magnificent between the sticks.

Full-time: Egypt 1-0 South Africa 

Egypt manage to survive to secure a valuable 1-0 result against South Africa.

Full-time: Egypt 1-0 South Africa

South Africa continue to fight valiantly in these late stages.

Mokoena is found on the left side and fires an attempt towards the far post but is just wide of the mark.

90+11 mins: Egypt 1-0 South Africa 

Mokoena fires it in from the right side. He finds a completely unmarked Faisal, who steers towards the far post, but is saved off the line by El Shenawy.

The second corner is taken, with another header in the box directed towards the goal, but ends up flashing across.

90+8 mins: Egypt 1-0 South Africa 

A brilliant cross from Mudau on the right side almost finds Makgopa in the box.

El Shenawy rushes out to fist the ball away, though, before the South African forward could do any further damage.

Looks like the Egyptian keeper has hurt himself in the process, as he is given some attention by medical staff.

The game could drift past the 100-minute mark here.

90+5 mins: Egypt 1-0 South Africa 

Egyptians the world over can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

And to add further salt to South Africa’s wounds, they win a free kick the other way as well.

90+3 mins: Egypt 1-0 South Africa 

He trots over to the VAR monitor to have a closer look.

90+2 mins: Egypt 1-0 South Africa 

It is being officially confirmed now at Adrar Stadium as the players wait in suspense.

Meanwhile, we will have a minimum of seven minutes of stoppage time.

90 mins: Egypt 1-0 South Africa