Defending champions Egypt have qualified for the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Zambia 2-0 on aggregate.
The Young Pharaohs had reached the third and final round of the 2023 U-23 AFCON qualifiers after beating Eswatini 1-0 on aggregate in the second round.
As a result, they were drawn against Zambia for a spot in Morocco, winning the first-leg in Cairo 2-0, thanks to goals from Ibrahim Adel and Abdelrahman Atef.
Four days later, both teams met once again in Ndola, Zambia, where Egypt needed to avoid losing by more than a one-goal margin to reach the final tournament.
Despite their first-leg win, the Egyptians were the ones who dominated the early minutes in hopes of searching for a goal that would settle the win.
The hosts grew into the game as it progressed, but couldn’t break the Egyptian defences and when they did, goalkeeper Hamza Alaa was there to stop them.
Overall, the game didn’t witness many chances from either side and Hamza Alaa was involved on just a few occasions for the game to end in a 0-0 draw and a 2-0 aggregate win for Egypt.
The win has secured Egypt’s place in the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, set to take place in Morocco from June 24 to July 8, becoming the first country to qualify after the hosts.
The tournament acts as a qualifier for the 2024 Summer Olympic men’s football tournament in Paris, with the top three teams earning a direct place in the Olympics, while the 4th-placed team play the AFC–CAF playoffs to decide the final slot.
Egypt had won the 2019 version of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Ivory Coast in the final at the Cairo international stadium.
