Egypt to face Senegal, Mauritania take on Morocco
CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations reigning champions, Senegal will have a tough task ahead of them in their quest to defend their continental crown when they face tournament hosts, Egypt in the Semi-Finals of the CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2024.
The two tournament favourites face each other head on in the first fixture on Thursday, 23 October at 15h00 Local Time to determine who will advance to the finals of the continental showpiece in Hurghada.
Egypt, who made a clean sweep of points in Group A go into the tie high in confidence after overcoming Ghana, Tanzania as well as Morocco who finished second.
The reigning champions on the other hand had a rather jittery start to their title defense when they stumbled to a 5-2 loss to debutants Mauritania but showed their championship mettle against Mozambique and Malawi to secure passage into the last four.
The other semi-final fixture to determine who advances to the finals will be between the Mauritanians and Morocco at 16h30 Local Time.
After sending shockwaves across the continent with their win over Senegal, Mauritania who have been on a dream run in their debut and will be hoping to top it off with a qualification to the final that will see them being one of the three African representatives at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Seychelles next year.
It will be a tough mountain to climb against a disciplined Morocco side who are yearning for a gold medal with this being their sixth appearance at the CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations.
Seychelles, as well as the two finalists of this year’s CAF Beach Soccer AFCON will represent Africa in the World Cup.
All CAF Beach Soccer AFCON Egypt 2024 semi-final matches can be streamed live on CAF ‘s official YouTube channel, CAF TV.
Below is a brief summary of the Semi-Finalists:
EGYPT
- Tournament hosts for the second time after staging the 2018 edition where they finished third.
- Finished runners up at the last edition in Mozambique.
- Represented Africa at the last BS World Cup alongside Senegal.
SENEGAL
- Senegal are the most successful nation at the Beach Soccer AFCON with 4 titles
- They have been dominant in the last four editions, winning it four times in succession (2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022) and finishing second behind Madagascar in the inaugural 2015 edition.
- Senegal captain, Al Seyni Ndiaye is the most successful player in the tournament and has been a member of all Senegalese squads that won the CAF Beach Soccer AFCON.
MAURITANIA
- Mauritania participating in their first ever CAF Beach Soccer AFCON
- Their qualification came at the expense of two-time champions, Nigeria whom they edged 6 – 5 on aggregate.
- Mauritania is coached by former national team captain, Moussa Baghayogho who captained the Mauritania in their first CHAN appearance in Rwanda 2016
MOROCCO
- This is Morocco’s sixth Beach Soccer AFCON appearance.
- They were semi-finalists in 2015 and 2016.
- Morocco have two bronze medals at the CAF Beach Soccer AFCON Finals (2021 & 2022). They finished fourth at the 2016 and 2018 respective editions.