Egypt reappeared for the 1980 African Cup of Nations in Nigeria. Egypt, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, and Tanzania, were in Group A. They won in their first game against the Ivory Coast 2–1, defeated Tanzania 2–1 too, but lost to the host Nigeria by a score of 1–0, scored by Okey Isima. Egypt progressed to the next round which was the semi-finals, to face Algeria. Egypt lost this game 4–2 in penalties, after drawing 2–2 after extra time. For the third-place match, Egypt lost to Morocco, making Egypt being in the fourth place rank.