Trezeguet's curling effort four minutes before halftime was enough to give Egypt a winning start to the tournament at Cairo International Stadium.

The build-up to the competition, the first Africa Cup of Nations to feature 24 teams, has been plagued by controversy, largely centring on the Confederation of African Football and its President Ahmad.

Egypt had only been installed as hosts in January after Cameroon lost the rights due to delays to infrastructure and security concerns.

The CAF itself is in a state of turmoil with FIFA appointing their secretary general Fatma Samoura as the head of a group which will run the continental body due to a series of corruption scandals.

This includes Ahmad, who goes by one name, facing allegations of corruption and sexual misconduct.

A fresh controversy erupted on the morning of the opening game after reports in the Zimbabwe media claimed the team was considering boycotting the match over a pay dispute with their federation.

The Zimbabwe Football Association denied the speculation and insisted the team had not refused to play.

On the pitch, Egypt were far superior but were not able to assert their dominance.

Trezeguet found the net with a neat finish in the 41st minute to send the majority of the 75,000 supporters inside the ground into raptures.

Mo Salah had a good chance to double their lead but Zimbabwe keeper Edmore Sibanda was equal to his low effort.

Zimbabwe barely threatened the Egyptian goal and the hosts saw out a win which got their campaign off to the ideal start.