Ghana are eliminated from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations while Egypt are on to the Round of 16 in dramatic fashion on Monday after a climactic end to Group B that saw Mozambique rally from two goals down to draw Ghana 2-2 and Egypt draw Cape Verde 2-2. Egypt and group winners Cape Verde exchanged goals in second half stoppage time to end even but Ghana conceded twice in stoppage time to crash out of the competition in sensational fashion.
For Ghana it looked like the Black Stars were through to the knockout stages after Jordan Ayew converted once in each half from the penalty spot. However it was an uninspired performance from Ghana and a desperate push from the Mambas of Mozambique resulted in a miracle revival. Geny Catamo converted a penalty kick of his own following an André Ayew handball and after Ghana goalkeeper Richard Ofori made a careless error to concede a corner kick, Reinildo Mandava headed in Shaquille Nangy’s service to leave the Black Stars stunned. Ghana finish in third place but have only two points which leaves it impossible for them to qualify as one of the four third place teams.
Meanwhile second place in the group went to Egypt who dominated their clash with Cape Verde but surprisingly fell behind just before halftime to an excellent finish from Blue Sharks striker Gilson Tavares. The Pharaohs rallied and halftime substitute Trezeguet leveled the match in the 50th minute. Cape Verde were under siege for the remainder of the match and held out admirably but the breakthrough came for Egypt in stoppage time when Mostafa Mohamed collected a long ball from Trezeguet and looped his finish over Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha.
After a long VAR review to study whether Mohamed trapped the ball with his arm the goal was confirmed. But it was not over yet. A late surge forward from the Cape Verdean attack saw a cross pushed away by Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy right into the path of Bryan Teixeira who finished the follow up to end the match at 2-2. Egyptian players thought they were eliminated but Mozambique’s late equalizer ensures the Pharoahs advance as the group runners-up.
Highlights of both matches from Group B will be posted below when available.
Ghana 2-2 Mozambique
Egypt 2-2 Cape Verde
