Algeria, the reigning African champion, won the Arab Football Cup for the first time by winning (2-0) against Tunisia on Saturday in Qatar in extra time.
At the Al-Bayt stadium in Al-Khor, in northeastern Qatar, the Greens of Algeria were delivered by the substitute Amir Sayoud (99th) and by Yacine Brahimi (120th + 5), in front of crowded stands of more than 60,000 spectators, including the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Algeria had won the 2019 African Cup of Nations, after 29 years of a long wait since its first continental coronation.
Without the players playing in Europe
The Fennecs, who have not lost a match during the Arab Cup, had, like all the nations involved, to do without their players playing in Europe. The tournament took place in six of the eight stadiums that will host matches of the 2022 World Cup, with the final taking place on Qatar’s National Day and one year to the day before the World Cup final.
Earlier in the day, the host country beat Egypt on penalties (5-4, 0-0 at the end of regulation time) moving to third place in the first Arab Cup to be held under the aegis of FIFA.