Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Faé admitted his disappointment after the Elephants’ Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title defence came to an end with a quarter-final defeat to Egypt in Morocco on Saturday.

The reigning champions, who lifted the trophy on home soil in 2023, were knocked out after a dramatic 3–2 loss to a resilient Egyptian side at the Stade Adrar in Tangier, falling short of a place in the semi-finals.

In a fiercely contested encounter, Egypt captain Mohamed Salah played a decisive role, scoring once and providing an assist as the Pharaohs weathered sustained pressure to claim victory.

Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush opened the scoring just four minutes into the match, before Ramy Rabia doubled Egypt’s advantage with a powerful header from a Salah corner. Ivory Coast responded well and pulled a goal back when Yan Diomandé’s pressure forced Ahmed Fatouh into an own goal shortly before the break.

However, just as the Elephants looked poised to build momentum, Salah struck again, firing a low effort past the goalkeeper to register his fourth goal of the tournament and restore Egypt’s two-goal cushion.

Guela Doué reignited Ivorian hopes in the 73rd minute by reducing the deficit, but Egypt held firm in the closing stages to seal a memorable win and eliminate one of the pre-tournament favourites for the 2025 crown.

Faé rues costly mistakes

Speaking after the match, Faé acknowledged that individual errors at key moments ultimately proved decisive, singling out Egypt’s third goal as the turning point.

“We are frustrated by tonight’s result,” Faé told CAF Media. “We prepared well for this Egyptian team, but we made too many mistakes at crucial moments to hope to eliminate them.

“What hurts most are those errors. It took us time to settle into the game, and conceding the first goal so early, followed by the second, made things difficult. We reacted well to make it 2–1 before half-time, but the third goal put us in serious trouble.

“It’s hard to explain those lapses in concentration. We will continue working as we look ahead to preparing for the World Cup.”

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan praised his players’ commitment and discipline, while also admitting there were areas to improve despite the victory.

“Every match is like a final for us,” said Hassan, Egypt’s all-time leading scorer. “We approach each game differently depending on the opponent, and today our preparation made the difference.

“I’m very happy with the qualification. The players gave everything and I’m proud of them. We respected Ivory Coast as the reigning champions and followed our game plan. We did make mistakes that led to two goals, but we scored three — and we will correct those errors going forward.”

Egypt will now face Senegal in the semi-finals after the Lions of Teranga secured their place with a 1–0 victory over Algeria in the other quarter-final.