African Champion Algeria Wins FIFA Arab Cup
Algeria has won the FIFA Arab Cup after the extra-time goals from Amir Sayoud and Yacine Brahimi against Tunisia in Qatar.
That is neither to discount the quality on display from the hosts Qatar and some of the North African behemoths nor to minimize the cultural and sporting importance of the event.
It’s a tournament that could well have more merit and depth than the smaller, regional Gulf Cup, but apart from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, only few other countries on the Arabian peninsula have the infrastructure to stage a 16-team tournament of that scale.
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In reality, FIFA revived the Arab Cup, last staged in 2012, in an expanded format to hand World Cup organizers Qatar another dry run before the global finals in 2022.
In many ways, the trophy handover by the Emir of Qatar, the fireworks at both Al Bayt Stadium and at Doha’s Corniche in celebration of soccer and Qatar’s National Day mark the end of Qatar’s preparations for the World Cup. The competition is now truly on the country’s doorsteps. As as a matter of fact, this time next year, the full-time whistle will have sounded on the World Cup, that FIFA awarded in 2010 on a fr