Egypt starts AFCON campaign by facing Mozambique

CAIRO, January 14, 2024: The Egyptian national team's match against Mozambique marks the start of both teams' campaigns and the first round of Group B in the 2023 African Cup of Nations Côte d'Ivoire. As the clock strikes seven o'clock this evening, Sunday, Cairo time, Egyptian fans' eyes and hearts turn to the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

The Egyptian national team takes on Mozambique in the opening round of the African Nations Championship. In the second round, they play Ghana in a match that is anticipated, and in the final group stage, they play Cape Verde.

The goal of the Egyptian national side, coached by Portuguese player Rui Vitoria, is to climb back up the African Cup of Nations podium after a 13-year hiatus and add the eighth star to the Pharaohs' championship wheel throughout the competition's history.

As for Vitoria, he met with the players on several occasions and instructed them to apply his guidance and focus intently in order to compete fiercely for the championship title. "We came to play seven matches in Côte d'Ivoire and we will play in each match to win as if it were a final match, and we must fight in every match," Vitoria said to the players. We're exerting every effort to get back the missing trophy and please the supporters.

The senior players in the national team, led by Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Elneny, Mohamed El-Shenawy and Ahmed Hegazy, also spoke with their colleagues, stressing that it is time to win the African Nations Championship after an absence of years, and after qualifying twice for the final match without obtaining the African title.