Tunisia vs Algeria 2021 Arab Cup Finals

Tunisia vs Algeria 2021 Arab Cup Finals. Tunisia will battle Algeria for gold at the FIFA Arab Cup™ after semi-final victories packed full of passion, tension and late, late drama.

The Eagles of Carthage prevailed in the 95th minute, scoring with almost the last touch of a last-four duel with Egypt that had looked to be heading inexorably towards extra time.

But if we thought that match-winning Amro Elsoulia own goal had been dramatic, we hadn’t seen anything yet. In the second of the day’s semis, Algeria looked to be heading for a deserved and fairly routine 1-0 win of their own until Mohammed Muntari popped up in the 97th minute to send home a thundering headed equaliser.

But the delays and VAR check that followed extended stoppage time yet further and, fully 17 minutes after the clock hit 90, Mohammed Belaili notched the winner on the rebound after his initial penalty had been saved. It made for an incredible conclusion to a truly remarkable day of action and set a high bar for Saturday’s final act.

All Algeria national football team players 2021/2022

All Tunisia national football team players: 2021

Algeria–Tunisia football rivalry

Tunisia played until today 44 games against Algeria. The first match took place on 1 June 1957 in a friendly match against the FLN football team when Algeria was a French colony. It was at this time that the matches were the most regular. Indeed, the two teams met eight times, between June 1957 and October 1959, with eight victories for the Algerians.

After the independence of Algeria, the first official match took place on 15 December 1963, in a friendly match at the Stade Chedly Zouiten in Tunisia. The two teams also met three times in the qualifying phase of the World Cup in 1970, 1978 and 1986. The overall record indicates to the equivalent between the two teams with fifteen wins, thirteen draws and fifteen losses, however Tunisia has dominated Algeria in most of major official games. The last defeat of Algeria against their neighbors dated back to 20 January 2017 during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations which was hosted by Gabon. Before this match, the two teams had met once in the African Cup of Nations finals in 2013, which was also dominated by the Tunisians.

Algeria vs Tunisia Head to Head

FIFA Arab Cup

The FIFA Arab Cup (Arabic: كأس العرب‎, romanized: Kaʾs al-ʿArab), or simply Arab Cup, is an international association football competition which has been organized by FIFA since 2021, and is contested by the senior men’s national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), the sport’s governing body for countries in the Arab world.^[1]

The championship’s inaugural edition was in 1963, held in Lebanon, which was won by Tunisia. After having been played in 1964 and 1966, the Arab Cup was halted for almost 20 years, before being contested in 1985. The tournament was played five more times until 2012, the last competition organized by the UAFA. The 2021 edition is the first organized by FIFA.

The nine Arab Cup tournaments have been won by five national teams. Iraq have won four times; the other Arab Cup winners are Saudi Arabia, with two titles; Egypt, Morocco, and inaugural winner Tunisia, with one title each.

ADVERTISEMENT

Seven countries have hosted the Arab Cup. Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have each hosted twice, while Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Syria have each hosted once. All Arab Cups have been held in Asia.

Results

Semi-finals

Tunisia 1-0 Egypt

Qatar 1-2 Algeria

The moments

Reluctant Elsoulia takes Salah’s spot Five goals were shared between Tunisia and Egypt in their last competitive match: a thrilling 3-2 win for the Pharaohs in CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifying just over three years ago. A few survivors from that match were in action tonight, with Mohamed El Shenawy and Ahmed Hegazy prominent at the back for Egypt, and Ferjani Sassi and Yassine Meriah starting for Tunisia. But as chances came and went, with many being snatched at wastefully, the killer touch of Mohamed Salah – scorer of the 90th-minute winner that November 2018 night – was conspicuous by its absence. Even Seifeddine Jaziri, the tournament’s top scorer, was kept unusually quiet. This time, the late clincher came not from an unerring finish by a razor-sharp striker, but from an unfortunate defensive error. Amro Elsoulia emerged as Tunisia’s unwitting match-winner thanks to an attempted headed clearance that sailed unstoppably into the top-right corner.

Doha revels in noisy North African invasion If there is anyone still doubting how much the FIFA Arab Cup means to fans in this region, those sceptics should have been at the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium tonight. This unique arena, which is comprised of 974 shipping containers – and will be dismantled and repurposed after next year’s FIFA World Cup™ – was turned into a veritable cauldron of noise and passion by Tunisia and Egypt fans. With red-clad diehards on all sides, and competing songs echoing from one end to the other, it was a sight – and sound – for neutrals to savour. As with the evenly matched teams on the pitch, it was often difficult to tell which set of fans had the upper hand. But thanks to the intervention of the luckless Elsoulia, it was the Tunisians who ended the night in joyous revelry.

😎 The coolest man in Qatar? 🤔

💚 Algeria keeper Rais Mbolhi has been Cruyff-turning his way through the first-half of this #FIFArabCup semi-final against the hosts 👌 pic.twitter.com/dJrLIvj0Dt

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 15, 2021

Benlamri’s glancing blow When Algeria took a deserved lead at Al Thumama Stadium, the camera zoomed in on Hocine Benayada, who wheeled away to accept the acclaim. Replays, however, revealed a subtle but vital headed touch from Djamel Benlamri that had diverted the ball netwards. Defender Benlamri, in fact, now boasts a record of a goal every appearance at this FIFA Arab Cup, having scored in Les Fennecs’ opening win over Sudan and sat out the three matches between that one and today’s with a neck injury. Rubbing salt in Qatari wounds is the fact that the big centre-back – a veteran of Algeria’s 2019 AFCON triumph – plays his club football in Doha with Qatar SC.

Algeria’s Cruyff-turning keeper Both semi-finals were frenetic, full-throttle affairs, and all four coaches would have hoped for a little more composure to complement the commitment their players showed in bucketloads. When one man did eventually put his foot on the ball to add a little ice to the fire, it happened to be a goalkeeper. Twice in the first half, the ice-cool Rais Mbolhi showed fancy footwork to jink away Qatar’s forwards, fooling Almoez Ali on one occasion with a particularly classy Cruyff turn. And while match-winner Belaili didn’t prove quite as unflappable from the spot – perhaps understandably, with the stakes so high and the clock showing 117 minutes – he at least showed the presence of mind to follow in his effort and knock home the rebound.

Next up

Saturday 18 December (all times local)

Match for third place

Egypt-Qatar (13:00, Ras Abu Aboud Stadium)

Final

Tunisia-Algeria (18:00, Al Bayt Stadium)