After an exciting tournament with plenty of surprises, epic moments and great stories, AFCON 2021 comes to an end on Sunday with the final between Senegal and Egypt.
The Senegalese, who are in the final for the second time in a row, have never won the AFCON, losing the previous final in 2019 against Algeria and the 2002 one against Cameroon. On the opposite side, the Egyptians have won more AFCONs than anyone else (7) but haven’t been able to repeat that since 2010.
Senegal, led by the former PSG or Birmingham player Alou Cissé, beat Burkina Faso comfortably (3-1). Egypt, under former Man United coach Carlos Queiroz, struggles against the hosts Cameroon and after a 0-0 draw, they went through on penalties (3-1). It was Egypt’s third extra time and second penalty shoot-out in the tournament, which gives us an idea of how difficult it has been for them to advance.
In this preview of the final, we’ll use data analysis to address both team’s tactics and the key battles in every part of the pitch.
Senegal v Egypt: opposite sensations in the finalists
Senegal and Egypt were among the favourites to win the AFCON 2021 at the start of the tournaments and they must have done something well to get to the final but both teams’ trajectory has been quite different.
Senegal have been a dominating side and their dominance on paper has translated into the pitch. The Lions of Teranga have scored a total of 9 goals (8 of them in the knock-out stage) from 7.61 xG with their 11.93 shots per 90, which is much better than Egypt’s 4 goals from 6.15 xG. Even if The Pharaohs have produced more than they have scored (they should have scored more than double), they still don’t match Senegal’s output in attack.
