Algeria defeated Tunisia 2-0 in the Arab Cup final at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar on Saturday, thanks to goals from substitute Amr Sayoud and Yacine Brahimi in extra time.
It added the Arab title to Algeria’s Africa Cup of Nations title, which they won in 2019 and will defend next month in Cameroon.
Sayoud, 31, made his international debut in Algeria’s first game of the tournament, but did not play again until the final, when he came on just after the hour mark.
Sayoud became an immediate national hero when his thundering 99th-minute shot gave Tunisia goalie Mouez Hassen no chance.
With the final kick of the game, Brahimi scored on a breakaway after Tunisia pushed everyone up for a last-gasp corner, and he raced away unchecked after the ball was cleared by the Algeria defence.
Both sides were playing without their European-based players and were exhausted at the end of the 18-day competition, but they continued to press for goals in front of a loud crowd of 60,456.
The tournament was intended to serve as a warm-up for the World Cup following year. Fans crammed into several of the stadiums that the Gulf Arab state built in preparation for the global showpiece competition for the first time.
Thousands of cars carrying Algerian, Tunisian, and Qatari flags drove north on the desert expressway to Al Bayt Stadium, roughly 50 kilometres north of Doha, Qatar’s capital.
The stadium, which resembles a massive black and white Bedouin tent similar to those used by nomadic tribes in the Arab Gulf, will host the World Cup’s first match.
