Côte d’Ivoire’s hopes of defending their Africa Cup of Nations title ended in disappointment after a quarterfinal exit at the 2025 tournament.
The reigning champions were knocked out following a 3-2 defeat to Egypt, a result head coach Emerse Faé attributed to costly lapses in concentration.
“We are frustrated by tonight’s result. We had prepared our players to face this Egyptian team, but we made far too many mistakes at key moments in the match to hope to eliminate them.”
The Ivorians were put under early pressure when Omar Marmoush struck in the fourth minute, setting Egypt on course for victory.
Mohamed Salah later sealed qualification for the record champions with his fourth goal of the competition, earning the Man of the Match award.
Faé admitted the manner of the goals conceded made the defeat even harder to accept.
“I regret conceding the first goal so early, as well as the second. It’s hard to explain these lapses in concentration” Fae said to CAF.
Egypt now advance to the semifinals, where they will face Senegal on Wednesday, January 14 at 17:00 GMT in a high-profile clash that reunites Salah with Senegal captain and former Liverpool teammate Sadio Mané.
