Egypt was the first country to participate in the inaugural Africa Cup of Nations tournament in the year 1957. In their first match which was a semi-final match they played Sudan and won 2-1. Egypt defeated Sudan 4-1 during the championship.
In their second time participating in the Africa Cup of Nations in 1959, Egypt became champions again. There were just three teams in the tournament, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt and they were unbeaten. They fell in their first final during the Africa Cup of Nations in 1962.
Their fourth appearance was during the year 1963, in Ghana. Egypt were placed into the group B alongside Sudan and Nigeria and defeated Nigeria 3-1, and losing 2-2 to Sudan. Although they were undefeated at their group, they finished second behind Sudan in goal difference. Egypt as runners-up of Group B, played in the 3rd position match against Ethiopia and winning 3-0.
In 1965, for the Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt was a participant in the tournament, but pulled out due to their diplomatic relations between hosts Tunisia. In 1968, they also withdrew.
The 1970 Africa Cup of Nations, which was held again at Sudan, Egypt were in Group B alongside Ghana, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo which was known as Congo-Kinshasa in the day. In their first game, Egypt defeated Guinea by 4-1. They drawn Ghana 1-1. They also beat Congo-Kinshasa by a score of 1-0. Egypt finished in first place, moving on into the next round in which they will play Sudan. Egypt ended up losing their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations by the score of 2-1. and then in the third game, they beat Ivory Coast 3-1.
Egypt did not be able to qualify at the beginning of its time since 1972, after it was eliminated by Morocco with 5-3 in aggregate. But, Egypt returned for 1974 hosting the event. They came in third. A year later they were in Ethiopia they were part of Group A along with host, Guinea, and Uganda. Egypt defeated Uganda by a score of 2-1, however they drew in the final against Uganda as well as Ethiopia. Egypt advanced to the last round, but ended up losing all of their matches. It was the very first Africa Cup of Nations tournament which Egypt lost three games in succession. Egypt was then unable to be able to qualify for the 1978 tournament.
Egypt came back in during the tournament of 1980 African Cup of Nations, beating Ivory Coast and defeated Tanzania but losing to host Nigeria 1-1. Egypt made it to the semi-finals and faced Algeria which defeated the Egyptians with penalties. In the four years following, Egypt defeated Cameroon and Ivory Coast, and drew Togo and ended up being fourth in the standings behind Algeria.
In 1986, Egypt hosted; they were defeated by Senegal by 1-0. Then, Egypt went on to win the two matches in their group, winning 2-0 against Ivory Coast and Mozambique. Egypt reached in the semifinal for the first time since 1962 ultimately winning. Egypt was able to qualify for the 1990 tournament, defeating all the group stage matches and thereby causing Egypt not achieve at minimum one point for the first time at the Africa Cup of Nations. The same thing happened in 1992.
In 1994, at the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, Egypt defeated Gabon by 4-0, and then was tied with Nigeria at 0-0. They fell to Mali in the quarterfinals 1-0. Egypt took home their fourth trophy in 1998, beating South Africa in the final.
Egypt has been selected to participate in Egypt was selected for the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. Egypt found themselves in the group C alongside Algeria, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon. Egypt beat Zimbabwe 2-1 Zimbabwe and lost 2-1 against Algeria and played the game 0-0 with Cameroon but failed to make it into the quarter-finals because of Algeria score more goals against Egypt during the initial group phase after being equal in goals and points.
2006. The Africa Cup of Nations was held in Egypt The hosts were in Group A along with Libya, Morocco, and the Ivory Coast. Egypt defeated Libya by 3-0, held with Morocco 0-0, and then beat Morocco and then beat Morocco 3-1 in Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast. Egypt would be victorious on penalties and also be victorious in the tournaments in 2008 and 2010. Then, they would fail to be able to qualify for the following three AFCON tournaments.
Egypt was a participant in the 2017 tournamentafter taking on Mali in their opening match of Group D. A series of 1-0 victories against Uganda and Ghana made the Pharaohs advance to the quarterfinals in Group D as winners. Egypt played Morocco in the quarter-finals and beat Morocco at first-time in over a decade to make way for a semi-final match against Burkina Faso. The goal scored by Mohamed Salah at the Stallions was cancelled off by an Aristide Bance strike; however the veteran goalkeeper Essam El Hadary snatched two penalty shootout to secure an appearance on the stage of the finals for Egypt. Egypt next faced Cameroon in the final, but ended up losing the final twice.
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations host nation, Egypt were eliminated in the round of 16 by South Africa in the round of 16 despite winning three times during the stage of group. At the 2021 Africa Cup, Egypt went to the final, despite poor performance during the group stage, as well as winning against Ivory Coast on penalties after an 0-0 draw. Egypt also beat Cameroon 3-1 on penalties following an 0-0 draw to get to their 10th final surpassing Ghana's record for final appearances. Egypt was beaten for the first time in two losses against Senegal at the end of 2022. Both losses were via penalty kicks (in their AFCON final as well as in World Cup qualifying), winning penalties made by Sadio Mane.