AFCON Archives 2000s: Egypt’s historic treble
In this week’s AFCON Archives, the weekly deep dive into the history of Africa’s continental football tournament, we shift our attention to the most successful team in men’s Africa Cup of Nations history.
Egypt enter this year’s tournament with seven AFCON titles to their name, two more than next-best Cameroon.
Perhaps most remarkably, three of these titles came in a four-year span between 2006 and 2010. This is the story of that unprecedented three-peat.
AFCON 2006: Hope restored on home soil
A decade that would culminate in footballing ecstasy was mired by uncertainty and underperformance in its beginnings.
Egypt exited at AFCON’s quarter-final stage in 2000 and 2002, before crashing out in the group-stages during 2004.
To make matters worse, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions had sunk their teeth into a second consecutive AFCON in 2002, taking them level with Egypt’s Pharaohs and Ghana’s Black Stars on four titles.
Egypt headed into the 2006 AFCON with hosting rights and new head coach Hassan Shehata, but low expectations.
Shehata coached Egypt during all three AFCON triumphs
Mohamed Qoutb is an Egyptian sports journalist who experienced the treble as a Pharaohs fan on the ground.
He remembers the pervading scepticism ahead of the 2006 tournament.
“We’re hosting a cup of nations, but we have little faith in what the national team can do. Because months before that, we had failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup,” he tells the Sports Gazette.
Doubts were only compounded by a tough group stage draw, with The Pharaohs taking on Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Libya in Group A.
Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Eboué, and the Touré brothers featured for Ivory Coast in 2006
Quietly though, The Pharaohs were being strengthened.
Cairo-based Al-Ahly have long been regarded as the premier team on the continent, but this stature was greatly enhanced during the mid-2000s.
In 2005 and 2006, The Red Devils claimed back-to-back African Champions Leagues.
“They were the dominant team in African football, they managed to win the Champions League in style,” says Qoutb.
This was an Al-Ahly team powered by home-grown talent – players that would stamp their mark on the national side in 2006.
“They introduced the big names we know now of [Mohamed] Aboutrika, Wael Gomaa and Islam El-Shater,” Qoutb adds.
Aboutrika scores a free-kick at the 2006 Club World Cup
Egypt’s tough group stage draw at AFCON 2006 proved a blessing in disguise, allowing The Pharaohs to instil confidence amongst the home support.
65,000 fans were treated to a 3-0 win over Libya in a Cairo curtain-raiser, with goals from Tottenham Hotspur’s Mido, Aboutrika, and eventual player of the tournament Ahmed Hassan.
Hassan in action against Libya
A 0-0 draw against Morocco followed, leaving Egypt two points adrift of Ivory Coast in Group A.
In a decisive clash between Pharaoh and Elephant, Egypt emerged 3-1 victors.
“When we beat the Ivory Coast in the group stage, that’s when we thought yeah, hold on, we can do this.
“Because the Ivory Coast were as big an African side as you can get,” says Quotb.
The Pharaohs cruised past DR Congo in the quarter-finals and then defeated Senegal 2-1 in the semi-finals.
A familiar challenge awaited them in the final, with the Ivory Coast having eliminated Cameroon and Nigeria in the knockouts.
Ivory Coast defeated Cameroon 12-11 on penalties in the quarter-finals
The final ended goalless, so penalties were needed to separate the two sides.
Abdel Halim Ali failed to convert for the Pharaohs, but misses from Drogba and Bakari Koné left Aboutrika twelve yards from AFCON glory.
Essam El Hadary dives to deny Drogba
The Al-Ahly star made no mistake, finding the bottom-left with a casual, cushioned finish.
Egypt had their fifth AFCON title.
They had also recaptured the hearts of a fanbase whose affections had dwindled in the disappointments of the early decade.
“I think it came at the time when Egyptian fans were starting to shift towards a mood that favoured clubs over country, especially with the successful Al-Ahly. But that was the moment that brought Egyptian fans back to the national team.
“It asserted Egypt’s reputation as the powerhouse it is now,” says Qoutb.
AFCON 2008: Taming The Lions
Despite the success of 2006, scepticism reigned as AFCON 2008 approached.
“The funny thing about this Egyptian team was that every time they walked into an AFCON, they weren’t considered the favourites.
“Every time, they would come out of a series of underwhelming performances in the qualifiers,” Qoutb explains.
In the 2008 qualifiers, Egypt had registered three draws from six games while sharing a group with Mauritania, Burundi, and Botswana — three sides who have not won an AFCON game to this day.
Mauritania will search for a first win in the year’s Group D
Though The Pharaohs had struggled for rhythm in qualifying, they wasted no time in finding their groove at the tournament.
It was an Egypt exhibition at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi during their opening game against Cameroon.
The Pharaohs led 3-0 at half-time, finishing 4-2 winners after a Samuel Eto’o brace restored some dignity for The Indomitable Lions.
Perhaps most importantly, it was a victory with verve.
“It was shocking, absolutely shocking. I was rubbing my eyes thinking what is happening and why are we so good?
“We always had the football style of a counter attacking team, a team that sits at the back and hits on the counter, but that was a dominant performance,” says Qoutb.
The Pharaohs dispatched of another AFCON giant in the semi-finals, putting four past an Ivory Coast side who could only muster one in reply.
Egypt broke Ivorian hearts for a second consecutive AFCON
Cameroon scraped past Ghana in the other semi-final and so, for the second final in a row, they would face a team they had beaten in the group stages.
The Pharaohs came out on top as they had done in 2006.
Aboutrika scored the winner for a second consecutive final, netting the game’s only goal in the 76th minute.
Frenzied celebrations after Aboutrika’s winner
For Qoutb, it ranks as the most memorable of the three triumphs.
“I love 2008 the most because it was the one in which Egypt produced the most compelling football. It was the one that defied this reputation of Egypt not being able to win outside home soil and in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
AFCON 2010: Out for revenge
An 85th minute winner from ‘Gedo’ cemented Egypt’s place in the annals of AFCON history.
Gedo was unheralded heading into the tournament
By beating Ghana 1-0 in the 2010 final, they had become the first team in men’s AFCON history to win three consecutive championships and the first to tally seven titles.
Despite the monumental significance of this trophy, that final lies in the margins of Egypt’s story at the 2010 AFCON.
A 4-0 semi-final victory over Algeria is more well remembered, and for good reason.
Egypt fans during the 4-0 rout
Egypt’s successes on the continent in this period stand in sharp contrast with their absence on the global stage.
The Pharaohs had missed out on the 2006 World Cup in Germany, strengthening their resolve to compete at the first World Cup on African soil – South Africa 2010.
To add to the drama, it was Algeria, their historic rivals, who stood in their way.
Algeria’s 2019 AFCON triumph on Egyptian soil is a bitter memory
The two titans of North African football were tied for first spot in Group C after a 2-0 Egypt win in the final game of qualifying on November 14th.
This was a match marred by controversy, though, with Egyptian fans launching rocks at the Algerian team bus in the lead up.
“It’s shameful. In our home game we welcomed them with flowers,” said Algerian international Antar Yahia.
Off-field violence struck again when a play-off was contested in Sudan four days later.
On November 27th 2009, CNN reported on the depth of animosity.
“Not since the so-called ‘Soccer War,’ when a World Cup qualifier between Honduras and El Salvador sparked armed conflict between the two feuding Central American nations in 1969, has a football match taken on such overtly political tones.”
Algeria had pulled of a 1-0 win amidst the chaos, meaning that the reigning continental champions would not represent Africa at the World Cup.
Would Egypt have matched Ghana’s impressive World Cup run?
Seventy-one days passed before their rematch in the AFCON semi-finals, but Egypt’s desire for revenge had continued to burn.
With the Angolan heat bearing down, The Pharaohs plated up a dish best served cold.
Algeria finished the game with eight-men on the field, four goals conceded, and zero scored.
It was total demolition for The Desert Foxes; total catharsis for Egypt.
“Nobody was bothered about how the final would unfold. After the four-nil win, people took to the streets and celebrated. Everyone had wanted to prove a point in this one,” says Qoutb.
Politicised Pharaohs
The significance of Egypt’s footballing triumphs extended beyond football.
In 2011, the thirty-year-rule of Hosni Mubarak was swept aside by the Egyptian revolution.
Mubarak in 1988
This was a regime that had exploited football as a source of consolidation, but one whose downfall was also bound to the beautiful game.
“The state had adopted this team and tried to exploit its success.
“Every time Egypt won the AFCON they would get a presidential reception. One of the few times the President has come to the stadium was in 2006, to award the team the trophy,” says Qoutb.
Gamal Mubarak, the son of the aging ruler, was particularly zealous in seeking affiliation with the national side.
Gamal Mubarak (top, centre) poses with Al-Ahly after the 2006 Club World Cup
He attended Pharaohs’ training sessions and publicly defended coach Shehata, whose wildly successful tenure was strangely insecure.
The extremity of Gamal’s involvement in Pharaohs’ affairs was made apparent after Mido and Shehata fell out during the 2006 semi-final.
“And who tried to mediate between the manager and Mido? It was the president’s son.
“So this is how they tried to picture themselves: as men of the people, who love football as much as [the Egyptian] people love it,” says Qoutb.
While the state sought consolidation through football, the beautiful game was also an agent in its downfall.
When revolution broke out in January 2011, football ultras were a notable presence in the protests.
“The ultras groups were formed in 2007 and these groups ended up becoming one of the powerhouses in the protests against Hosni Mubarak.
“This tool that the Mubarak regime capitalised on for quite some time also ended up becoming a tool for people to get to know each other, and to understand the power of taking to the streets,” Qoutb explains.
Post-2010: Pharaohs slumping
Egypt followed up the treble of 2006-10 with a less covetous three-peat.
In 2012, 2013, and 2015, The Pharaohs missed three consecutive AFCONs.
Niger made their AFCON debut in 2012 after topping Egypt’s qualification group
This owed partly to the ageing of Egypt’s continent conquering side, but the political landscape was similarly debilitating for Pharaohs football.
“The whole country was living in absolute instability and it coincided with a moment of decline for this generation we’ve been talking about,” says Qoutb.
Football entered a moment of absolute instability too.
In 2012, the Egyptian football league ground to a halt after 72 Al-Ahly ultras were killed during their game against Al-Masry in Port Said.
The tragedy drove many Egyptian fans away from football.
“When you see a game that was concluded with the loss of 72 lives in the stadium, you lose a bit of the spark for football.
“And the state thought, well, football is no longer producing good moments, it’s just producing troubles so we might as well just not be bothered about it,” says Qoutb.
How would Egyptian football recover?
“And then came Salah,” Qoutb answers.
Post-2015: Salah searching
Mohamed Salah has ranked amongst the best footballers in the world since he traded Rome for Merseyside in 2017.
The birth of an iconic trio: Salah, Mané, and Firmino
His talent rejuvenated Egyptian football and The Pharaohs returned to AFCON contention in 2017, though they suffered a heart-breaking loss in the final against Cameroon.
The AFCON title eluded the great winger once again in 2022, when then-Liverpool teammate Sadio Mané netted the decisive penalty for winners Senegal.
So close, yet so far
At AFCON 2023, Salah is continuing his quest for the trophy that will cement his place in Egyptian footballing folklore.
“Well look, you can score as many goals in Europe as you want. You can win titles in the Premier League and it’s a source of pride for sure. But to sink into the Egyptian footballing history, you need an [AFCON] trophy to pose next to,” says Qoutb.
You can read the full AFCON Archives collection here.
