The group stage of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations will come to an end when Group D takes centre stage on Wednesday.

With hosts, Gabon and defending champions the Ivory Coast eliminated, the pairings for the quarter-finals will be finalised will be known as Ghana take on Egypt in Port-Gentil while the Cranes of Uganda, already eliminated from the competition will play for pride against Mali in Oyem.

Ghana lead the group with six points from two games with Egypt just behind them on four points and would probably want to keep it that way.

A draw will be good enough to get both sides into the quarter-finals which might spell doom for a Mali side looking to get into the knock-out stage.

The Black Stars started the competition with a slim 1-0 win over Uganda with Andre Ayew’s penalty proving to be the difference between the two sides.

They followed that up with another 1-0 win over Mali to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Ghana will likely make slight changes to the line-up against Egypt. Left back Baba Rahman has been ruled out of the tournament with Frank Acheampong likely to continue in that position.

Asamoah Gyan will lead an attack that has Andrew Ayew and his brother Jordan with Christian Atsu supporting the cast from the wide areas.

Atsu has been phenomenal for the Black Stars in the tournament so far and they will count on him to come up good again against the Pharaohs of Egypt.

Familiar foes

Egypt holds the record for the most number of AFCON wins (seven) and want to get back to the top of the pile again after a prolonged absence from the tournament.

Head coach Hector Cuper’s side looked heavy in their first group game against Mali and needed a late goal to see off a resilient Ugandan side.

Abdallah Said’s goal against the Cranes gave Egypt a window of hope after the goalless draw against Mali. They have to do better than they did in their first two games to have any hopes of getting anything out of the Ghana game.

Mohammed Salah, Mahmoud Hassan ‘Trezeguet’, Mohamed Elneny and Ahmed Fathi are some of the players Cuper will rely on to do the business against Ghana.

Even though a point will be good enough for Egypt to go through, taking the first spot in the group will be at the in their minds as they prepare for Wednesday’s grudge match.

Group D standings

P W D L GF GA GD PTS POS

Ghana 2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 6 1

Egypt 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 3 2

Mali 2 0 1 1 0 1 -1 1 3

Uganda 2 0 0 2 0 2 -2 0 4

Group D recap

Ghana 1 (Andre Ayew) Uganda 0

Mali 0 Egypt 0

Ghana 1 (Asamoah Gyan) Mali 0

Egypt 1 (Abdallah Said) Uganda 0

Snippet

The last time the two sides met was in a 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier in November 2016. Two goals from Mohammed Salah and Abdallah Said gave the Pharaohs a 2-0 win in Alexandria.

 

Group D permutations

Ghana defeats Egypt, Mali defeat Uganda - Ghana and Mali qualify

Egypt defeat Ghana, Uganda defeat Mali- Ghana and Egypt qualify

Ghana and Egypt draw, Uganda and Mali draw - Ghana and Egypt qualify

Ghana defeats Egypt, Uganda and Mali draw - Ghana and Egypt qualify

Egypt defeat Ghana, Uganda and Mali draw - Ghana and Egypt qualify

Mali defeat Uganda, Ghana and Egypt draw- Ghana and Egypt qualify

Uganda defeat Mali, Ghana and Egypt draw - Ghana and Egypt qualify

source:Andrew Randa/supersport.com