This archive report was first published on 20 November 2019.
On November 19, 2019, Egypt and Ivory Coast secured their spots in the Olympic Games in Tokyo after advancing to the final of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations.
Hosts Egypt defeated South Africa 3-0 in their semi-final match, while Ivory Coast edged Ghana 3-2 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw.
With their victories, Egypt and Ivory Coast have secured qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
South Africa and Ghana will compete for Africa's final spot in Tokyo in the 3rd/4th place play-off on Friday.
For Egypt, captain Ramadan Sobhy scored the opening goal in the 59th minute, and Abdel Rahman Magdy added two more goals late in the match.
"It was huge playing in front of all these crowds," said Taher Mohamed, a player for the Olympic Pharaohs, in an interview with the BBC. "That's the thing that helped us a lot in the four games – the crowd. We feel very proud that we qualified for the Olympics."
"It was huge playing in front of all these crowds," said Taher Mohamed, a player for the Olympic Pharaohs, in an interview with the BBC. "That's the thing that helped us a lot in the four games – the crowd. We feel very proud that we qualified for the Olympics." — Taher Mohamed, Olympic Pharaohs player
In the other semi-final match, Ivory Coast's Youssouf Dao scored twice, but Ghana equalized both times, including in stoppage time. The match went to a penalty shootout, which Ivory Coast won 3-2.
Ghana's Evans Mensah acknowledged the pressure of trying to perform for the expectations of the country's fans, saying, "We have the last game to prove to ourselves that we can do it … we have to be focused, we don’t give up."
"We have the last game to prove to ourselves that we can do it … we have to be focused, we don’t give up," said Evans Mensah, Ghana player. — Evans Mensah, Ghana player
