The first leg of the contest was played at Cairo Internation Stadium in Cairo, Egypt. The hosts won 1-0 but still faced a trip to the Stade Me Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar, Senegal to finish the tie. Senegal prevailed 1-0 forcing the contest to extra time.
After a scoreless extra time, the two legged contest, locked at a 1-1 draw, would come down to penalty kicks. For their first penalty shot, Egypt turned to their greatest player, Mohamed Salah.
Salah has a sterling penalty kick record in the Premier League, converting 18 of 20 attempts since arriving at Liverpool in 2017. However, the Egyptian forward could not open the scoring in the shootout, as he was blinded by a laser just as he was attempting to strike the ball.
Salah skied his strike and the ball, which sailed above the crossbar, went into Senegal’s fan zone.
The hosts were the first to score, with Amadou Bamba Dieng outplaying the Egyptian goalkeeper and pushing Senegal ahead. Egypt did not score again – Mostafa Mohamed was also blinded by a laser pointer. Sadio Mane put an end to the penalty shootout, bringing his national team to the 2022 World Cup by the fifth blow.