North African teams made up the bottom half of the quarterfinal round at the 2022 Arab Cup U-20 and Sunday’s games featured a couple of notable rivalries as Egypt and Morocco squared off while Algeria and Tunisia clashed. Egypt advanced with a 2-1 comeback victory and will meet Algeria in the semifinals following their 1-0 shutout of Tunisia, with the winner facing either hosts Saudi Arabia or Palestine in the final.
Egypt took control of their matchup against Morocco over the course of the game but it was a rough start for the Group D winners. Morocco took the lead in the 22nd minute through Osama Al Yacoubi, who collected an excellent through ball before calmly finishing past the Egyptian goalkeeper. It took less than ten minutes for Egypt to respond with a finish from Ahmed Hawash who had plenty of time to finish from close range after taking down a cross. Udinese forward Salah Pasha won it for Egypt just after the hour mark by slotting his finish underneath the advancing Moroccan keeper.
Algeria advanced past Tunisia through a goal towards the end of the first half from Chekkal Belhadj, who flicked a header into the goal off a cross that came shortly after a corner kick. Belhadj and Algeria will face Egypt on Wednesday in another North African rivalry match with a spot in the final on the line.
Highlights from both of Sunday’s games featuring African teams are below.
Egypt 2-1 Morocco
Algeria 1-0 Tunisia
