A week after their humiliating last-16 loss at the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast, Egypt’s Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria was fired on Sunday, according to an announcement made by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA).

Vitoria’s contract was meant to stretch until the 2026 World Cup, but Egypt’s miserable Cup of Nations campaign—which ended last Sunday with a shootout loss to the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a 1-1 draw—brought an early stop to his employment.

The 53-year-old and his whole backroom crew, according to the EFA, had been freed of their responsibilities.

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Additionally, it stated that Mohamed Youssef, a former Al Ahly coach who guided the Egyptian powerhouses to the 2013 African Champions League championship, will assume interim leadership.

“The association will also study the CVs of (some) foreign coaches,” the EFA added in a statement.

After leading Egypt to the Cup of Nations final in Cameroon a few months prior, the team was in severe form when Vitoria took over as manager in 2022.

At first, everything appeared positive as Egypt shown a noticeable improvement in their offensive capabilities and secured their spot in the Ivory Coast Cup of Nations finals with ease.

Additionally, they triumphed in their first two World Cup qualifying matches.

They did, however, put in some poor performances in the Ivory Coast, reaching the round of 16 only by virtue of three consecutive 2-2 draws, before DR Congo destroyed their dreams of winning an unprecedented eighth Cup of Nations championship.

After the departures of Algerian coach Djamel Belmadi, Gambia’s Tom Saintfiet, Ghana’s Chris Hughton, Tunisia’s Jalel Kadri, Tanzania’s Adel Amrouche, and Ivory Coast manager Jean-Louis Gasset, Vitoria became the most recent victim of the tournament.