Having already progressed to the play-off stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Egypt finished off their group phase unbeaten after picking up a 2-1 victory over Gabon at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria on Tuesday.
Johann Obiang scored an own goal to hand Egypt the maximum points after Jim Allevinah had equalized for the Gabonese, cancelling out Mohamed Afsha’s early penalty for the Pharaohs.
With the victory, Egypt finished the group phase with 14 points off four victories and two draws.
Ahly striker Afsha converted from the penalty spot in the fourth minute after Ahmed Yasser Rayyan was brought down inside the box by Denis Bouanga. The forward almost turned from villain to hero when he had a chance on the other end, but the Egypt keeper made a good save from a tight angle.
The visitors finally drew level nine minutes into the second half when Jim Allevinah pushed the ball into the net with the back of his heel on the ground after his initial attempt to connect to a Bouanga cross saw him go to the ground.
After conceding Egypt made changes, bringing in Mo Salah and Mostafa Fathi. They got their winner in the 74th minute when Johann Obiang scored into his own net as he tried to cut out an Afsha pass intended for Salah inside the box.
Gabon had to finish the match with 10 men when Bouanga was sent off for a second yellow card with three minutes left.
Elsewhere, Libya had a good chance of pipping Gabon to second place in the group with a win, but they conceded a late equalizer to draw 1-1 and move to seven points, same as Gabon but with an inferior goal difference.
Sand Msoud gave Libya the lead four minutes after the break when he converted from the penalty spot. But, Angola were never letting it go easy.
They finally got the equalizer in the 80th minute when Zini guided the ball home with a simple side footed finish inside the box.