The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was hosted in Egypt, making Egypt automatically qualified. They were in Group A with Libya, Morocco, and the Ivory Coast. In the opening match, Egypt defeated Libya 3–0. In the second game, Egypt drew 0–0 against Morocco. However, in the third game, Egypt won 3–1 against the Ivory Coast, thus making Egypt as the group leader and advancing to the next round, the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals phase, Egypt faced DR Congo, in which Egypt won 4–1, thus making Egypt advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, Egypt faced Senegal. In this game, Egypt won Senegal 2–1, thus making Egypt qualify for the final to face the Ivory Coast, after playing against each other in the group stage. In the final match, Egypt drew 0–0 with the Ivory Coast, sending them to extra time, and still, the score remained 0–0. After extra time, the game was taking to the penalty shoot-out phase. In the penalty shoot-out phase, Egypt were victorious, winning 4–2 against the Ivory Coast, and claiming their fifth title, being the third title won as hosts, the last time Egypt won the tournament before this was in 1998.