Goals from Walid El Karti, Marwan Hamdy, and Mostafa Ziko were pivotal at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo, as the dominant African champions triumphed over the tough challenge posed by their Oceania rivals.

Pyramids will now advance to compete against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli, the champions of the AFC Champions League Elite, in the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup – and are only two matches away from a chance at the Intercontinental Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain.

The Egyptians continued to press the visitors’ goal and thought they had scored again just before the half-hour mark. However, Mohamed Hamdy’s strong header was correctly ruled out for offside.

Auckland’s best chance came on a counter-attack. Dylan Manickum was clear on goal but missed wide, wasting a great opportunity for a surprise equaliser in the second half.

However, Marwan Hamdy ended any hopes for Auckland by scoring 16 minutes from time with a powerful header from close range.

Substitute Ziko then added a third goal, taking advantage of the tiring Auckland defence and curling a great shot inside the far post.

Al Ahli now waits for Pyramids. The winner of that match will face either Mexico’s Cruz Azul, the Concacaf Champions Cup winners, or the yet-to-be-determined CONMEBOL Libertadores champions.

Whichever team wins from that FIFA Challenger Cup match will go on to compete for the Intercontinental Cup against PSG, the champions of Europe.

Pyramids’ goal: Walid El Karti (14), Marwan Hamdy (74), Mostafa Ziko (85)