Algeria's Samir Zaoui (L) tangles with Egypt's Ahmed Abu Trika at the 2010 World Cup qualifier in Khartoum, Nov. 18. (Reuters/Louafi Larbi)
Algeria's national team became the final African team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by defeating the Egyptian team, 1-0, in the final game of the African qualifiers for the global event. They played at Al-Marreekh Stadium in Omdurman, Sudan, on Nov. 18.
The two teams were forced into a playoff match after they tied in all aspects of the Group C qualifiers, following the Egyptian national team's 2-0 victory over Algeria on Nov.14 in Cairo, in the sixth round of the group qualifying matches.
Defender Antar Yahya of Germany's Bochum scored the only goal of the match in the 40th minute, handing the qualifying ticket to Algeria's national team, the 27th to reach the finals.
The Algerian Desert Warriors took revenge on the Pharaohs who had previously ousted them from the African qualifiers for the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy, when they tied, 0-0, in Algeria. Egypt later trounced Algeria, 1-0, in Cairo.
Algeria's national team, known to fans as the Greens, is the fifth African national team to land a position in the finals, joining Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon. They will all join the South African national team, which, as the representative of the World Cup host country, was not required to play in the qualifying round.
This is the third time that Algeria's national team will take part in the World Cup finals. It also participated in the 1982 and 1986 tournaments.
The Algerian national team is the only Arab team that will compete in the finals. All others from Asia and Africa exited the qualifying round empty-handed.
Source:
Receive our email updates
![Sanaa's Saleh Mosque is one of the largest in the capital. [Faisal Darem/Al-Shorfa]](/shared/images/2013/05/20/yemen-zakat-saleh-90_58.jpg)
![Travellers read newspapers while waiting in line at the Bahrain International Airport. Bahraini media workers will now have access to a fund set up to assist them during a challenging time for the industry. [Jihan Ammar/AFP]](/shared/images/2013/05/20/bahrain-newspapers-manama-90_58.jpg)
![Molasses seller Raef Abdul Salam pours out a measure of molasses from a ceramic jar. [Waleed Abu al-Khair/Al-Shorfa]](/shared/images/2013/05/20/egypt-molasses-seller-90_58.jpg)
![Yemeni Minister of Legal Affairs Mohammed al-Mekhlafi is working to bring the country's legislative process into line with international conventions. [Faisal Darem/Al-Shorfa]](/shared/images/2013/05/18/yemen-legal-minister-90_58.jpg)
![A torn poster of Syrian President Bashar Assad hangs in the northern Syrian city of al-Raqa on March 5th following days of fierce fighting. [Mohammad al-Hussein/AFP]](/shared/images/2013/04/19/Syria-assad-raqaa-90_58.jpg)
![Billboards posted by the Iraqi Interior Ministry in 2006 urge people to call a hotline to report suspicious activities. [Sabah Arar/AFP]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/20/iraq-hotline-report-90_58.jpg)
![Iraqi musician Taleb al-Qaraghulli died on May 16th after a long battle with diabetes. [Photo Courtesy of Dhi Qar Artists Union]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/20/iraq-taleb-qaraghulli-90_58.jpg)
![An Iraqi man pulls a cart up a hill through Baghdad traffic. [Karim Sahib/AFP]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/17/iraq-traffic-jam-90_58.jpg)
![Iraqi students of all levels are preparing for their final exams. [Saif Ahmed/Mawtani]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/17/iraq-students-tests-90_58.jpg)
ADD A COMMENT (COMMENT POLICY) * DENOTES REQUIRED FIELD
READER COMMENTS
سلمى
2011-3-7
I am happy because our national team will participate in the World Cup, in spite of the Egyptians.
اية
2010-1-3
Peace be upon you, O you African people. When it comes to football, they used to say that Captain Shehata is the best coach and one didn't know his worth. If he was the best coach then we would have won and gone to the World Cup. We are just comfortable with him "win or lose".
أحمد
2009-12-29
May God help you Egyptians! For how long will you continue to speak slander against us because we qualified for the 2010 WorldCup? Even if you had won, what would you have done? Thanks be to God for he does not support the oppressors.
pilot
2009-12-29
Praise be to God for he does not support the oppressors
2009-12-19
We are Arabs and we are one nation. Let go of Soccer. This is a conspiracy to break up our nation. What is the significance or importance of going to the World Cup? or even if Algeria wins the World Cup; do you think the world will listen to us and remove the siege from around Palestine? Will anyone listen to the demands of the Arabs? Only Arabs will support the Arabs.
عثما ن
2009-12-19
Osman the Sudanese As Arabs, we wish success to the teams representing us in the World Cup event, be it Egyptian or Algerian, without prejudice.
2009-12-7
Long live Egypt!
2009-12-7
It is shameful that we were beaten, but we will not be silent. You will return to us for the African Nations tournament, and we will show you who the Egyptians are! Do you remember the Egyptians? May God have mercy on Abdel-Nasser, who used to take a portion of people's salaries and send the money to Algeria, its troops and martyrs.
2009-12-7
Egypt is always first. The World Cup is not important.
2009-12-7
Egypt always surpasses its competitors. They will not come to this match.
2009-12-5
The Algerians won the match and qualified for the World Cup. Meanwhile, the Egyptians are content to lament their fate. Football is a sport of men. The Egyptians are the first ones to act aggressively towards their hosts. They have no proof to back up their allegations of what happened in Sudan. Simply put, the Algerians were better.
2009-12-4
The Egyptian team must head to Angola. God willing, according to Mr. Abu Hafez, their message will reach Algeria, and they will be safe.
2009-12-4
A thousand thousand congratulations to Egypt. They deserve the victory.
2009-12-4
How glorious God is! I did not know that the people of Egypt were so naive! An analysis of the issue requires wisdom and a mind to analyse it. Only then can we judge who is at fault. I will say this with all the objectivity in the world. I believe that Algeria is keeping pace with the times, while most Egyptians are backwards in their views. The reason is simple. The people should find out by themselves if they do understand. How glorious God is!
2009-12-4
To all Egyptians, Have you all lost your reason? The fact that we have beat you twice this year (3-1 and 1-0) is not enough to show you that we are better? If you are the best, why didn't you qualify? Furthermore, could you please adopt the smallest degree of justice? What makes you think that you have a monopoly on dignity and respect? I believe that our team was attacked in Cairo by Egyptians fanatics. This is the first time in our history that this has happened. Not only there was no apology, but we have even been accused of making the event up. A five-year-old boy would not believe you! For me, Egypt has lost all credibility and its status as an important Arab nation. All of the lies on your television channels lead me to say so. Just think of the fake bus driver's testimony, the lies about Algerian supporters holding knives, the video that couldn't decide whether the events were in Sudan or elsewhere, Amr Adeeb's distress call, and the Egyptian actor who claimed that he was surrounded and attacked by Algerian supporters. It was all lies. He was acting from the Egyptian embassy in Sudan! I am so disappointed with Egypt, especially given its official position in the media and politics. There are fanatics everywhere, but to see such a behaviour from official representatives has damaged Egypt's image for a while.
2009-12-2
God willing, we will rejoice when you exit from the first match. We are the Pharaohs. God is Sufficient for us and is the best Disposer of our affairs.
2009-12-2
God willing, we will rejoice when you exit from the first match. We are the Pharaohs. God is Sufficient for us and is the best Disposer of our affairs.
2009-12-2
Algerians are thugs, but Egyptians are men and will not give up their rights.
2009-12-2
Peace be upon you. God willed it, and what He willed happened. Do not forget that God will not allow those who have done good deeds to lose their reward. It is not because we are weak that we did not use violence against the Algerians, but to prevent our enemy from feeling happy about our problems.
2009-12-2
They could have been the only Arab representative and honoured all Arab people, if they had not done what they did. I swear that the Egyptian people as a whole would have supported them, but they lied and said that they did not do the things that they did and that the Egyptians were lying about them. The situation proves what the Egyptians are saying. Ultimately, it is a very minor incident that took place. I would not say that there was a knife or a blade or anything else. An Algerian journalist was caught on camera spitting on Ali Emad Mutaeb when he went to get the ball from outside the field. Thanks to our Sudanese brothers, who at first denied the incidents, the police confirmed that the Algerians were carrying weapons. Is it possible for you to say, then, that the Algerians did not have weapons? Did you personally search people when they were entering the field? Of course not! When the Algerian president offered to pay for or fix everything in Sudan that was damaged by the Algerians, is this not evidence that they harassed people and broke things? Thank you.
2009-12-2
The Egyptians are still the Pharaohs. They are the ones who crossed the line of fire in 1973. They are they ones who built the High Dam and the Pyramids. They are the ones who dug the Suez Canal and gave value to the Arab people on an international level. They can discipline any dog that makes a mistake. There is nothing more to write or say about forgiveness and sportsmanship. Egypt, it is up to the world.
2009-12-1
We will see how they, the players of the barbaric team, will do in the African Nations Cup.
2009-12-1
I am an Egyptian and am very disappointed on behalf of our national team, the best Arab national team. The Egyptian national team is the one with the most right to play in the World Cup. I just wish I knew why FIFA discriminated against us. Why Egypt, which won the championship in 1989? I wish that, if the Football Association doesn't like defending our rights, it would just listen, because they are making deals with the enemy. It is FIFA that is giving them the chance to make it. God only knows what kind of business is between them!
2009-12-1
Algeria does not deserve to win, because its fans are despicable. They carry knives and pocket knives and are uncivilised people.
2009-12-1
We will see how they, the players of the barbaric team, will do in the African Nations Cup.
2009-12-1
Long live Egypt. That important Qatari website did not mention the incidents that took place in Sudan and what the mercenary Algerian fans did to Egyptian fans, because Qatar does not like Egypt. It is a barbaric racist state.
2009-12-1
I am an Egyptian and am very disappointed on behalf of our national team, the best Arab national team. The Egyptian national team is the one with the most right to play in the World Cup. I just wish I knew why FIFA discriminated against us. Why Egypt, which won the championship in 1989? I wish that, if the Football Association doesn't like defending our rights, it would just listen, because they are making deals with the enemy. It is FIFA that is giving them the chance to make it. God only knows what kind of business is between them!
2009-12-1
The Egyptians are still the Pharaohs. They are the ones who crossed the line of fire in 1973 and built the High Dam. They are the ones who built the pyramids, dug the Suez Canal and gave value to the Arabs on an international level. They are the ones who can discipline any dog who makes a mistake. There is nothing else to be written or said about forgiveness and sportsmanship.
2009-12-1
Algeria does not deserve to win, because its fans are despicable. They carry knives and pocket knives and are uncivilised people.
2009-12-1
The most important thing is morals, not who will qualify.
2009-11-29
Algeria is a team of double-crossers.
2009-11-29
It's a shame that they won.
2009-11-29
I am confused about a decision on FIFA’s website regarding the rematch. A decision was made in coordination between FIFA and the Egyptian Football Association a long time ago to develop African football in Egypt and the Arab world. This cooperation will further develop in November with the organisation of a new match to determine who will qualify to the World Cup between the two brotherly national teams of Egypt and Algeria. The FIFA sports court decided to hold a rematch after the rioting that took place in Omdurman in Khartoum. The symposium that was held in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on Nov. 22-25, 2009 was honoured to have the attendance of Samir Zaher, the president of the Egyptian Football Association, in addition to the president of the Algerian Football Association and Sebastián Bauzá, the host of the event and president of the Uruguayan Football Association. Both the Egyptian and the Algerian sides agreed to hold the playoff match in Libya.
2009-11-28
Do you call this sports? Where are the Arabs? It is a shame how far we have gone. Instead of brotherhood, brothers have turned into enemies! I wish they will replay the match to erase the hatred and remain without fans [sic] and feel happy and applaud for whoever wins. We are all Arabs. We should respect our Arab identity, and not allow our enemies to be happy at what we do. We should officially apologize, and the Egyptian people are good and forgiving when they feel that their dignity has been preserved [sic].
2009-11-28
We Egyptians played the matches as men, but the Algerians threatened to kill our players on the field. They terrorised women and children after the end of the match in Sudan. Do they have the right to qualify for the World Cup? We are known for our strength and patience. We can face anything, as the Holy Qur'an says, with good morals.
2009-11-27
Egypt deserved the victory.
2009-11-26
Peace be upon you. I think that it is a shame for a respected website like this one, which talks about the beauty of international football and 2010 World Cup matches and qualifiers, should not know the name of the player about which it is writing. He is international star Mohammed Abu Trika, not Ahmed. Thank you.
2009-11-25
Congratulations to Algeria for qualifying to the World Cup ... by plotting, intimidating and terrorising other teams with the help of FIFA. Football is a sport, not a war. The Algerian national team qualified to the World Cup and lost the support of the Arab and Egyptian people. History will talk about the Algerian mob in Omdurman terrorising Egyptian fans with pocket knives and knives.
2009-11-25
Congratulations to my Algerian brothers, and next time to my Egyptian and Syrian brothers, God willing.
2009-11-25
God is Sufficient for us and the best Disposer of affairs in Algeria.
2009-11-25
I am a real Egyptian. The Algerian team was no good. What kind of thugs are these? Just because they have a few professional players, they always manage an average performance. We'll see who will take the African Nations championship in Angola this year. Algeria is stuck with Angola, the host of the tournament. Meanwhile, the Angolan national team is trained by Manuel Jose.
2009-11-25
Algeria has no right to this victory, given its oppression of Egypt.
2009-11-24
The Pharaohs are the Pharaohs. God is Sufficient for us and the best Disposer of the affairs of the oppressed and slandered.