Egypt vs Mozambique Prediction: Pharaohs to rule Group B opener

The most successful team in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations goes in search of an eighth title - and first since 2010 - in this year's tournament in Ivory Coast, and Egypt begin their pursuit of the trophy with an opening round fixture against Mozambique on Sunday (KO, 17:00).

The pressure is certainly on the Pharaohs after two second-placed finishes in the last three AFCON's, the latest of which - in Cameroon in 2022 - saw them defeated by Senegal on penalties.

Egypt should be confident of getting off to the perfect start in Group B, though, as they face Mozambique - the lowest FIFA-ranked nation in the group - at Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Abidjan, before supposedly tougher tests against Ghana and Cape Verde.

Team News

The majority of Egypt's squad play their football in their homeland, with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah the headline name expected to carry the Pharaoh's far.

Salah has a capable focal point in attack to feed off, though, with Mostafa Mohamed (Nantes) one of the top scorers in France this season with six Ligue 1 goals. Ex-Aston Villa winger Trezeguet (Trabzonspor), Omar Marmoush (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal) are other familiar name to European audiences.

Former West Brom central defender Ahmed Hegazi (Al Ittihad) is also expected to line up in defence.

Mozambique's most famous face, meanwhile, is wing-back Reinildo Mandava, but the 29-year-old has barely played for Atletico Madrid this season due to injury, though he did make his comeback for the La Liga side last month and scored for his nation in a friendly match against Lesotho last week.

Sporting Lisbon's Geny Catamo has scored five times in 20 caps and is likely to play a prominent role in attack for the Mambas alongside Clesio (Honka) and Witi (Nacional).

Match Odds

Egypt are 1/3 to secure the win on Sunday with a victory for Mozambique at 8/1 and the draw priced at 16/5.

Both teams to score is 6/4 and it's 11/10 for over 2.5 goals.

Egypt to win to nil @ 5/6

The two sides have met on five occasions and they all ended with an Egypt win to nil.

It's been over 10 years since the last meeting between them, when a young Salah scored the only goal of the game, and it's fair to say Mozambique have made strides, but they still lack a real goal-getter in attack. Their all-time top scorer - Domingues (UD Songo), named in the squad - is now 40 and without an international goal since 2017.

Egypt are a famously compact side and they have kept a clean sheet in six of their last eight matches, while they conceded just twice in seven games at the last AFCON.

Anything other than an Egypt win here would be a major surprise, and I expect them to get it.

Egypt to win and under 2.5 goals @ 7/4

The Pharaohs should collect all three points but whether we'll see them tot up their tally is another thing.

All five of their previous meetings with Mozambique have seen fewer than three goals, and while the last match-up was a long time ago, the Mambas' results in the last few years are proof that they are no pushovers.

In Mozambique's last 33 matches, stretching back to November 2021, they have only lost by more than one goal on three occasions, and 25 of them saw two goals or fewer scored.

Four of Egypt's last five games, meanwhile, have seen under 2.5 goals, with Rui Vitoria's side winning three of them.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.