November 14, 2026
The Egyptian national team began its journey under the leadership of its new coach, Ali Maher – who took over from Hossam Hassan on November 7th – with a crushing victory over its Malawian guest, with five unanswered goals, in the match that brought them together in the third round of qualifiers for the finals of the African Cup of Nations.
The “Pharaohs” imposed their control early with intense offensive pressure, which resulted in the lead goal in the sixth minute through Nasser Maher, who took advantage of a perfect cross from Mohamed Hani, thus scoring his first international goal for the national team, indicating his fifth international participation. The second goal did not take long, as Omar Marmoush added the goal in the tenth minute, taking advantage of an error in the defense of the Malawi national team.
Despite the Malawi national team’s attempts to return to the atmosphere of the match and increase its danger in the middle of the first half, goalkeeper Mustafa Schubert excelled in repelling two dangerous attacks and keeping his net clean. Four minutes before the end of the first half, specifically in the 38th minute, Mohamed Hani crowned his distinguished performance by scoring the third goal for his country with a one-touch missile shot.
In the second half, the star Mohamed Salah continued to write history with the national team. He scored the fourth goal in the 84th minute, equaling the record for the number of international goals recorded by former coach Hossam Hassan, with 69 goals. Salah did not stop there, but returned to conclude the goal festival by scoring the fifth goal from a penalty kick in stoppage time, reaching his 70th international goal and becoming the Egyptian national team’s top scorer throughout history.
With this great result, the Egyptian team strengthened its lead in the second group with 7 points, 4 points away from the second-placed Angola team, which is preparing to face South Sudan, bottom of the standings without points, on Saturday, while the Malawi team’s balance stopped at 3 points in third place. The meeting between the two teams is scheduled to be renewed in the fourth round on November 17th.
