Egypt Crowned Champions Of U-23 AFCON After Beating Cote d’Ivoire 2-1

An extra time equalizer from Egyptian Captain Ramadan Sobhi was the deciding factor on Friday evening as the North Africans posted a 2-1 win over their counterpart from Cote d’Ivoire to emerge as champions of the 2019 CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.

The two countries cruised to the finals of the continental tournament after progressing through the various stages with some authoritative displays.

In a final match to climax the tournament which is also serving as grounds to hand qualification to teams to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, fans were treated to some exciting football.

A first-half dominated by Egypt saw them deservedly taking the lead through Karim El Eraki on the 37^th minute. That goal separated the two sides at the end of the first half with the Ivorians made to chase the game.

Egypt continued its dominance in the second half but was punished in the dying minutes after failing to kill off the game. Aboubacar Doumbia scored on the 89^th minute to restore parity for Cote d’Ivoire to push the match into extra time.

Another impressive showing from the host nation who pushed for the winning goal finally paid off with Ramadan Sobhi scoring with just four minutes to end proceedings.

With the game ending 2-1, Egypt has been crowned champions of the CAF U-23 AFCON.