Egypt claimed a 1-0 win over Zambia in an international friendly played at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday evening, with Hamdi Fathy scoring deep in injury time to secure the victory.
Both the Pharaohs and Chipolopolo are preparing for the start of 2026 World Cup qualifying (in November) and the next Africa Cup of Nations (which gets under way early next year), with this match representing the kind of competitive challenge they will face in the coming months.
Egypt created the early pressure, most notably drawing a save from Zambia goalkeeper Francis Mwansa from Fathy’s third-minute shot, while Mohamed Salah saw an effort deflected just wide on the quarter-hour mark.
On 18 minutes Zambia had their first sight of goal, as Fashion Sakala slipped past Mohamed Hany before shooting on target, but Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy made a fine save.
The South Central Africans went on to have a spell of dominance, including a shot from Emmanuel Banda which flashed just off target, before Egypt reasserted control and Mostafa Mohamed put a header just wide of the mark on the half-hour mark.
The Pharaohs bossed the remainder of the first half, but the interval arrived with the score still locked at 0-0.
Egypt opted for an attacking change at the start of the second half, withdrawing holding midfielder Mohamed Elneny in favour of the more offensive-minded Zizo, and the Zamalek man nearly opened the scoring with a stinging shot on 49 minutes.
In the 55th minute Egypt were inches away from taking the lead, as Salah’s lobbed cross found the head of Trezeguet, but his effort bounced off the crossbar and away to safety.
The next clear chance of the match went the way of the Pharaohs, with substitute Marwan Attia driving a shot just wide of goal in the 83rd minute, and it seemed that a goalless stalemate was the inevitable outcome.
However, four minutes into injury time Fathy got on the end of an excellent cross from Zizo and headed home from close range to secure a hard-earned win for the North African heavyweights.
Hamdi Fathy’s late winner for Egypt. 🇪🇬
— KingFut.com (@King_Fut) October 12, 2023
pic.twitter.com/igJexfaTO8
Egypt will be in action again on Monday when they face arch rivals Algeria in a friendly in Abu Dhabi, while Zambia are set to face Uganda in Sharjah the following day.
Egypt (0) 1 (Fathy 90+4’)
Zambia 0
Egypt: El Shenawy, Abdelmonem, El Fotouh (Sharaf 65’), Elneny (Zizo 46’), Fathy, Hamed (Attia 65’), Hany (Kamal 78’), Mossad, Mohamed, Trezeguet (Marmoush 78’), Salah
Zambia: Mwansa, E. Banda (Mafwenta 68’), Chanda, Chepeshi, Daka, Kabwe, K. Kangwa (Daka 80’), Kapumbu (L. Bwalya 90+2’), Musonda, Sakala (Chilufya 80’), Sunzu