Extra-time goals by substitute Amr Sayoud and Yacine Brahimi gave Algeria a 2-0 win over neighbours Tunisia in the Arab Cup final at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar on Saturday.
It added the Arab crown to the Africa Cup of Nations title Algeria won in 2019 and will defend in Cameroon next month.
The 31-year-old Sayoud made his international debut in Algeria’s opening game of the tournament but did not play again until coming on just past the hour mark in the final.
His thunderous 99th-minute shot gave Tunisia goalkeeper Mouez Hassen no chance and turned Sayoud into an instant national hero.
Brahimi scored on a breakaway with the last kick of the game as Tunisia pushed everyone up for a last-gasp corner and he raced away unchecked after the ball was cleared by the Algeria defence.
Both countries were playing without their European-based players and looked tired at the end of the 18-day tournament but kept pressing for goals against the backdrop of a raucous atmosphere delivered by a capacity 60,456 crowd.
The tournament was designed as a dress rehearsal for next year’s World Cup. It has been the first time fans have packed into some of the stadiums the Gulf Arab state built in preparation for the global showpiece tournament.
Thousands of fan-filled cars decorated with Algerian, Tunisian and Qatari flags headed north along the desert expressway leading to Al Bayt Stadium, about 50km north of the Qatari capital, Doha.
The stadium, which resembles a giant black and white Bedouin tent like those traditionally used by nomadic tribes in the Arab Gulf, will be the venue for the World Cup’s opening match.
Mohammed Belaili converted a penalty kick in the 17th minute of stoppage time to send Algeria to the final of the FIFA Arab Cup after knocking out hosts Qatar 2-1 in a lively and pulsating semi-final at Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday.
A 60th-minute goal by Benlamri Djamel helped Algeria take the lead but a dramatic end to the match was witnessed with Qatar equalising through Mohammed Muntari in the seventh minute of injury time.
The match seemed to be heading for extra time before Algeria was awarded a penalty kick, which was converted after the initial effort was saved by Qatar’s goal-keeper Saad Alsheeb.Referee Szymon Marciniak had officially added nine minutes of injury time, but that was extended to make up for the time spent during a video assistant referee (VAR) check of a suspected foul in the lead-up to Qatar’s goal.
The Qatari goal eventually counted, but Algeria was able to win a penalty in the final moments of the game, minutes later.
Al Jazeera’s Andy Richardson, reporting from Al Thumama Stadium, said it was “a really confusing end to what had been a pretty straight-forward game for most of it”.
“The end result not what many of the organisers and the fans here would have wanted,” said Richardson. “Qatar will be going through to a third-place playoff on Saturday against Egypt.”
Algeria will take on Tunisia in Sunday’s final, with the latter having edged out Egypt in the first semi-final earlier in the day.An injury time own-goal helped Tunisia snatch victory with virtually the last kick of the game in a 1-0 win over Egypt.
Amr El Sulaya, the Egyptian captain, flicked a last-gasp free kick into his own net four minutes into stoppage time to break the deadlock between the north African rivals at the newly built Stadium 974 and sent Tunisia into the final.