Omar Marmoush scored twice as Egypt thrashed South Sudan 5-0 in Juba on Tuesday to claim their first win of the 2027 AFCON qualifiers.
Mostafa Ziko opened the scoring before Marmoush struck twice in the second half. Substitutes Ibrahim Adel and Hamza Abdelkarim completed the rout.
The victory moved Hossam Hassan’s side onto four points from two Group B matches after Friday’s goalless draw with Angola in Cairo.
Egypt entered the game without captain Mohamed Salah, who left the camp rested because of concerns over Juba Stadium’s artificial pitch.
The decision had been agreed before the Angola match, according to Hassan. Mohamed Abdelmonem also missed the trip because of medical concerns surrounding the surface following his previous ACL surgery.
Egypt took control but had to wait until the 36th minute for their breakthrough.
Ziko finally broke South Sudan’s resistance to give the Pharaohs a 1-0 advantage before the interval. The goal continued the forward’s encouraging international form after Hassan handed him another start following the Angola draw.
Egypt then wasted little time putting the game beyond their hosts after the restart. Marmoush doubled the lead in the 49th minute, scoring four minutes into the second half.
The Tottenham forward carried Egypt’s main attacking responsibility in Salah’s absence and made the most of his return to the starting XI.
South Sudan struggled to contain Egypt as the game opened up, while Hassan turned to his bench to maintain the pressure.
Ibrahim Adel made it 3-0 in the 75th minute after coming on as a substitute.
Marmoush struck again eight minutes later to complete his brace and extend Egypt’s lead to four. The two goals took the 27-year-old to 13 goals for the senior national team.
Hamza Abdelkarim then added a fifth in the second minute of stoppage time, sealing Egypt’s biggest win since the World Cup.
The Barcelona striker had started on the bench before joining the second-half rout.
The five goals came from four different players as Egypt produced a sharp response to their frustrating opening qualifier.
Mostafa Shobeir also kept his second consecutive clean sheet of the campaign after starting again in goal.
Egypt now have four points from their opening two matches in the AFCON qualifiers and remain unbeaten in Group B.
The result also maintained their perfect record against South Sudan. Egypt won the countries’ previous meeting 3-0 in a 2023 friendly.
Hassan’s side will now return to Cairo before facing South Africa in a friendly on October 4.
Their AFCON qualifying campaign resumes in November with back-to-back matches against Malawi.
Egypt then complete the group against Angola and South Sudan in March 2027. The top two teams will qualify for the finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.