Egypt U20 secured their place at the 2027 Africa U20 Cup of Nations in the best possible way, beating Algeria 2-0 to finish top of the North African qualifiers and claim the regional title for the fourth time in their history.

Egypt faced Algeria on Tuesday in the final round of the qualifiers, which were hosted in Ismailia.

The young Pharaohs entered the game with more than one route to qualification, while Algeria needed a victory to keep their hopes alive.

Egypt, however, did not settle for the draw that would have been enough to qualify.

They went for the win, finished the tournament at the top of the standings and booked their place at the 2027 Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Ghana.

Salah Opens the Way

Egypt started the match strongly and tried to take control from the opening minutes.

Their first major chance came in the 15th minute when Nour Ashraf found himself in a dangerous position after good work from Mahmoud Salah, but Egypt could not turn the opportunity into a goal.

A few minutes later, Mahmoud Salah threatened again, but the Algerian goalkeeper made an important save to keep the score level.

Algeria's resistance did not last much longer.

In the 22nd minute, Mahmoud Salah gave Egypt the lead when he met a corner with a header and sent the ball into the net.

Egypt protected their advantage until half-time, while Algeria came out after the break knowing they needed to respond to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Egypt had another good opportunity to double their lead in the 61st minute but failed to take advantage of the situation in front of goal.

Four minutes later, Algeria came very close to equalising when a dangerous header struck Egypt's right post.

The closing stages brought more drama.

Mohamed Raafat thought he had scored Egypt's second goal with a header in the 81st minute, but the referee ruled it out after awarding a foul against Egypt.

Head coach Wael Riad protested the decision and was shown a second yellow card, resulting in his dismissal from the technical area.

Egypt continued to push forward despite the incident, and substitute Anas Roshdy eventually settled the contest.

He produced an impressive individual run before firing into the near corner, beating the goalkeeper and making it 2-0.

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Fourth Title Secured

Egypt finished the qualifiers at the top of the standings with nine points from three victories and one defeat.

The young Pharaohs also benefited from Morocco's defeat against Libya in the final round.

Morocco finished second with seven points and joined Egypt in qualifying for the continental tournament.

Algeria ended the competition in third place with four points, ahead of Libya on goal difference, while Tunisia finished bottom with three points.

Egypt started their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Libya before defeating Tunisia 2-1.

Their only setback came against Morocco, who won their meeting 2-0.

That result meant Egypt went into the final game against Algeria knowing that either a victory or a draw would guarantee qualification.

Instead of simply protecting their position, Egypt ended the campaign with another victory and secured first place.

The win also gave Egypt their fourth North African U20 title.

They had previously won the competition in 2006, 2008 and 2012.

Egypt had finished third in the 2023 edition before taking second place in 2024, making this year's triumph a return to the top of the podium.

The result also secured Egypt a place at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations for the third consecutive edition and the 20th time overall.

The North African title is also the first trophy of Wael Riad's coaching career.

Egypt started the Algeria match with Omar Abdel Aziz in goal.

Nour Ashraf, Eyad Medhat, Mohamed Awad and Mohannad El Shamy formed the defence, with Mohamed Samir Konta, Younes El Mallah and Mohamed Hamd in midfield.

Omar El Ezzab, Mahmoud Salah and Mohamed Haitham led the attack.

Egypt therefore left the final round with two major achievements: qualification for the 2027 Africa U20 Cup of Nations and the North African title after finishing the qualifiers at the top of the table.