AFCON 2025: Mohamed Salah scores winner as Egypt beats Zimbabwe; South Africa wins, Zambia draws

Mohamed Salah grabbed a dramatic injury-time winner as Egypt came from behind to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in his first match at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco on Monday.

Egypt’s captain, starting his first game after four consecutive games on the bench at Liverpool, fired a left-footed shot in the 91st minute to give the seven-time champions a late victory after Zimbabwe stunned the country by taking the lead in the first half.

Egypt laid siege to Zimbabwe’s goal early on, but it was the underdog who scored first through Prince Dube in the 20th minute.

It was left to Egyptian Premier League contingent Omar Marmoush, who equalized in the 64th minute, and talisman Salah to see the side to a final victory.

It was as much as Egypt earned and broke a run of six consecutive draws in the last two editions of the Cup of Nations.

They had four good chances in the opening ten minutes as they put Zimbabwe under heavy pressure, but fell behind when Emmanuel Jalai fed the ball in for Dube, who turned possession and placed his effort into the bottom left corner.

Egypt will meet South Africa in Agadir on Boxing Day, while Zimbabwe and Angola will face each other in Marrakech on Friday.

South Africa beats Angola 2-1

Lyle Foster scored a superb winner from outside the box as South Africa defeated Angola 2-1 in what was the first win in its AFCON opener in 21 years.

South Africa took the lead after 21 minutes when Oswin Appollis showed neat footwork in the penalty area to create a shooting opportunity and put the ball into the bottom corner, but Angola equalized before half-time when Show got a free kick from Fredy to send the ball into the net.

The winning moment came after 79 minutes when Foster was captured from 20 yards out and curled his shot into the top corner, giving the previous edition’s bronze medalist a positive start to his campaign.

It was a workman’s performance from South Africa, who do not have an abundance of players in Europe’s top leagues – something their AFCON rivals enjoy, with Foster the only one to play for Burnley in the Premier League.

Zambia draws 1-1 against Mali

Zambia’s Patson Daka scored with a spectacular header in stoppage time to see his side come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Mali in the earlier Group A match.

Mali looked in control for most of the encounter but paid the price for sitting back in the closing stages as Zambia made a late recovery, with Daka leaping through the air to power home Mathews Banda’s curling cross two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the match.

Lassine Sinayoko had taken advantage of sloppy defending to give Mali a 62nd minute lead after his strike partner El Bilal Toure saved a first-half penalty.

Mali next meets host table-topper Morocco in Rabat on Friday, while Zambia takes on Comoros in Casablanca on the same day.

Published on December 23, 2025