Mohamed Salah struck with virtually the final kick of extra time as Egypt secured a hard-fought 3–1 victory over Benin in their Africa Cup of Nations last-16 clash at Stade d’Agadir, Morocco.
The Pharaohs were forced to dig deep after Benin stunned them with a late equaliser in regulation time, cancelling out Egypt’s earlier lead and pushing the encounter into extra time on Monday.
Despite controlling possession and territory from the opening whistle, Egypt struggled to convert their dominance into goals and finally broke the deadlock in the 69th minute.
Marwan Attia latched onto a cut-back from Mohamed Hany and curled a precise effort into the top corner from outside the penalty area.
Benin, however, refused to go quietly. Substitute Jodel Dossou capitalised on a rebound in the 83rd minute after goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy failed to fully deal with a deflected effort from Junior Olaitan, forcing the match beyond 90 minutes.
Egypt regained control early in extra time. Attia again played a key role, delivering a teasing cross that Yasser Ibrahim glanced home with a looping header in the seventh minute of the additional period to restore the Pharaohs’ advantage.
Salah then sealed the contest on the break, racing onto a through ball from Zizo and firing past Benin goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou from outside the box.
The goal was the Liverpool forward’s third of the tournament.
The seven-time champions, who have played all their matches in Agadir, will remain in the coastal city for Saturday’s quarterfinal, where they will face either Burkina Faso or defending champions Ivory Coast.
Benin, whose only group-stage victory was a narrow 1–0 win over Botswana, exit the tournament despite a resilient performance against one of Africa’s most decorated sides.
Earlier in the match, Egypt suffered a setback when left-back Mohamed Hamdy was stretchered off before half-time with a suspected knee injury following a heavy collision with Dokou Dodo.
Elsewhere in the competition, Nigeria were scheduled to face Mozambique later on Monday in Fez, with the winner set to meet either Algeria or Congo in the quarterfinals.
Mali and Senegal will contest the first last-eight tie on Friday, before hosts Morocco take on Cameroon.
