Egypt vs Sudan: Kickoff time, venue, team news, predictions - AFCON 2021 Preview

Egypt face Sudan in their final Group D game at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for a place in the secure Round-of-16.

The Pharaohs bounced back from an opening day defeat to Nigeria by seeing off Guinea-Bissau courtesy of a Mohamed Salah goal. 

Carlos Queiroz's side need to win or at least pick a draw and hope Nigeria avoids defeat against Guinea-Bissau to qualify for the next round. 

On the other hand, it is win or bust for the Jediane Falcons of Sudan who have picked only one point from the tournament so far.

Any of Egypt, Sudan, and Guinea-Bissau could still finish in either second or third by the end of the day with only Nigeria guaranteed a place in the Round-of-16 irrespective of the outcome of their match against Guinea-Bissau.

Egypt have had it tough in recent games, their 1-0 win over Guinea-Bissau was only their second victory in their last five matches.

The Pharaohs lost three in a row, against Tunisia (1-0) and Qatar (0-0, lost on penalties) at the Arab World Cup and 1-0 against Nigeria at their first game at AFCON 2021.

Meanwhile, Sudan are in a more wretched form, losing four of their last five matches and only one draw against Guinea-Bissau at their opening AFCON 2021 fixture.

Egypt and Sudan have a long history of head-to-head matches, having met a total of 21 times in all competitions. The Pharaohs have won 14 of those encounters while the Jediane Falcons have won only twice with five matches ending in draws.

In AFCON finals, both sides have met nine times with Egypt winning six times, drawing twice, and losing just once to Sudan.

The Egypt Vs. Sudan game is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, January 19 at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde by 8 pm Nigerian time.

Both teams have no new injury concerns same as for Covid-19 cases and suspensions. Akram Tawfiq remains sidelined for the Pharaohs after he picked up an injury on the opening day against Nigeria.

Egypt Possible Starting XI: Mohamed El Shenawi; Ayman Ashraf, Mahmoud El Wensh, Ahmed Hegazy, Omar Kamal; Abdalla El Said, Amr Al Sulaya, Mohamed Elneny; Omar Marmoush, Mostafa Mohamed, Mohamed Salah.

Sudan Possible Starting XI: Sudan Possible Starting XI: Ali Abu-Eshrein; Mustafa Elfadni, Salaheldin Nemer, Mustafa Mohammed, Mazin Mohamedein; Gumaa Abas, Walieldin Khidir, Mohamed Alrashed Mahamoud, Abdelrazig Omer; Yasin Hamed, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman.

Their opening loss against Nigeria aside, Egypt are always a formidable side at any AFCON finals and this year's would not be an exception. 

The seven-time champions should be able to handle their business against the Falcons of Jediane without a fuss. A 2-0 scoreline in favour of Egypt is the likely result for this match.