Ivory Coast vs Egypt: Kickoff time, venue, team news, predictions - AFCON 2021 R16 Preview

The final day of the first round of the knockout stages will see pre-tournament favourites in Cote d'Ivoire and Egypt battle it out for one of two places left in the last 8.

Ivory Coast has looked good so far in the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON 2021 in Cameroon.

The Elephants finished the group stages unscathed, winning two and drawing one of their three matches.

However, it's the final performance against defending champions Algeria that stood out after the 2017 champions left nothing to chance to send the holders home following a 3-1 thrashing.

Going into this titanic battle, Ivory Coast sees itself as the outsiders, the underdogs, and will be looking forward to an exciting and tactical battle against the seven-time champions, Egypt.

Meanwhile, Egypt kicked off their campaign on a shaky note courtesy of that poor 1-0 defeat to Nigeria in their opener.

But the Pharaohs have since looked rejuvenated after two consecutive wins over Guinea-Bissau and Sudan to seal a place in the last 16.

The Pharaohs are no strangers at this stage of the competition but believe that despite their poor start, they are beginning to find their feet and form at the right time to make those back home proud with victory over the Elephants.

Ivory Coast going into this game in better form with two wins and a draw in the last three matches compared to Egypt's two wins and a loss in the same period.

In terms of the AFCON, this will be the 11th meeting between the two at Africa's biggest football showpiece - making it the most played fixture in the tournament's history.

Egypt has the upper hand when facing Cote d'Ivoire in the knockout stages of the AFCON, with wins in each of the four times both have clashed.

The game is billed for later today, January 26, 2022, at the Japoma Stadium, Douala and will kick off at 5 pm, Nigerian time.

Cote d'Ivoire boss Patrice Beaumelle is expected to name the same starting eleven that thrashed ousted champions Algeria the last time, with Sebastien Haller and Nicolas Pepe in the attack.

For Egypt, Carlos Quieroz's Pharaohs will be without the duo of Akram Tawfik and Ahmed Fatouh, who picked up injuries in the first game against Nigeria.

Ivory Coast XI: Sangare; Aurier, Kossounou, Deli, Konan; Kessie, Seri, Sangare; Zaha, Haller, Pepe

Egypt XI: El-Shennawy; Kamal, Hegazi, Hamdi, Ashraf; Fathi, El-Sulya, Elneny; Mohamed, Marmoush, Salah

I think Ivory Coast has looked quite the part so far between the two teams, and after the manner with which they dispatched Egypt's Northern neighbours, Algeria, I think the Elephants will take this one.

But expect a closer and tighter match than the one against Les Fennec, with Ivory Coast going through with a narrow win.