MOHAMED Salah netted a first half penalty as 10-man Egypt beat South Africa 1-0 in their Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group B clash in Agadir today.
With the tense victory, Egypt became the first team into the knockout stages of the competition.
Egypt have six points from their opening two games and cannot finish outside of the top two in the group.
South Africa have three points from their two games, while Zimbabwe and Angola have one each after they drew 1-1 earlier in the day.
Salah won the penalty when he was clipped in the face by South Africa defender Khuliso Mudau as they battled for the ball in the box, and stepped up to easily convert for his second goal of the tournament.
Egypt lost right-back Mohamed Hany to a red card for an ugly stamp at the end of the first half.
The Pharaohs faced wave after wave of South African attacks in the second period, as the latter were denied a penalty of their own for handball following a lengthy VAR check, as the officials decided the handball was not deliberate.