The Egyptian national team’s game against Botswana in the second round of 2025 AFCON qualifiers has been delayed.
The issue started after it was revealed that the Botswanan delegation is still stranded in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, after their match in the opening round of the AFCON qualifiers.
The Botswana Football Association issued an official statement explaining the situation and formally addressed CAF to request the postponement of the match against Egypt.
The Botswanan national team was supposed to land in Gaborone at 10 AM on Monday, but will now arrive 24 hours later.
The Egyptian Football Association received a letter from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) regarding the rescheduling of the Botswana vs. Egypt match. The match will now take place at 7:00 PM Cairo time (6:00 PM Botswana time) on Tuesday as part of the second round of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Taking all that into consideration, CAF has decided to delay the game for it to take place at 7:00 PM Cairo time on Tuesday instead of 4 PM.
This means that Botswana will only arrive just a few hours before the clash, while the Egyptian team had arrived on Sunday evening.
On another hand, the Egyptian FA has issued a statement refusing the delay of the game and insisting on it being played at the already set time.
Egypt has started its campaign in the best way possible, beating Cape Verde 3-0, while Botswana suffered a 1-0 away defeat to Mauritania.