Bengaluru, February 5: After almost a month of riveting action, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2021 has reached its business end with Senegal set to take on Egypt in a dream final at Cameroon's Olembe Stadium on Sunday (February 6) night.

In a thrilling sub-plot, the final will see Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Cameroon's Sadio Mane face off against each other.

Reds manager Jurgen Klopp could be forgiven for wishing both teams had been knocked out sooner so he could have Mane and Salah back on Merseyside, but he described it as a "great achievement" to see both players competing for the trophy.

"Now it's obviously not so easy because one will definitely be really happy after and the other one much less so, but both have a good chance to achieve something really big," the gaffer said.

Mohamed Abou Gabal did the star turn for Egypt as they reached the AFCON 2021 final at the expense of hosts Cameroon with a 3-1 success on penalties.

After 120 minutes of scoreless action at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde (Cameroon), goalkeeper Abou Gabal saved spot-kicks from Harold Moukoudi and James Lea Siliki before Clinton N'Jie completely missed the target.

In the final, the Pharaohs will be without coach Carlos Queiroz as the Portuguese taskmaster will not be in the dugout after being sent off for two displays of dissent towards the end of normal time.

Earlier, Senegal reached a second consecutive AFCON final as goals from Abdou Diallo, Idrissa Gueye and Sadio Mane secured a 3-1 win over Burkina Faso in the first semifinals.

Aliou Cisse's side were denied a first AFCON title by Algeria back in 2019, but they will have another chance to get their hands on the trophy against Egypt in Sunday's decider after edging their semifinal.

It may be recalled that after a year's delay due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the 33rd edition of the Confederation of African Football (CAF)-sanctioned AFCON began in Cameroon on January 9.

The tournament was being be played across five cities and six stadiums -- Olembe Stadium and Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in the capital Yaounde, the Japoma Stadium in Douala, the Limbe Stadium in Limbe, the Kouekong Stadium in Bafoussam and the Roumde Adjia Stadium in Garoua.

Salah did not need to take a penalty in the semifinal shoot-out with Cameroon, who beat them in their last final appearance in 2017, as the host nation missed three kicks in a row to send the Pharoahs through.

This will be a record-equalling ninth AFCON final for Egypt and their first meeting with Senegal in this competition since the 2006 semifinals, which they won 2-1 en route to lifting the trophy.

Final is scheduled at the 60,000 seater Olembe Stadium. Game on! Bring it on!

Kick-off time/Head-to-Head record

Match: Senegal vs Egypt

Date: February 6, 8pm local time (12.30am IST, Monday, Feb 7)

Venue: Olembe Stadium

Head-to-Head: Played 12, Egypt won 6, Senegal won 4, draw 2

Where to watch: There is no live telecast, but you can live stream the AFCON 2021 via CAF TV YouTube Channel. You can also follow all the results, updates, match reports and analysis on myKhel.com.