Algeria and Morocco meet for a place in the Mediterranean Games football final

Algeria and Morocco will contest the 2026 Mediterranean Games football semi-final on Friday, with a place in the gold-medal match at stake.

The match will be played at Iacovone Stadium in Taranto, Italy, with kick-off scheduled for 21:00 French time. It will begin at 20:00 in Algeria and Morocco.

The game is expected to be broadcast live on beIN Sports in France, although the channel has yet to be confirmed. Viewers in Morocco will be able to watch on Arryadia, while ENTV will show the match in Algeria.

Algeria arrive in the last four as the only team to complete the group stage with a perfect record. The Greens collected all nine available points after winning each of their three matches.

They opened the competition with a 2-1 victory over Kosovo before producing successive wins against hosts Italy, whom they defeated 3-1, and Albania, who were beaten 2-0.

Lahlou Akhrib of JS Kabylie and Ben Ahmed Kohili of MC Alger have been Algeria’s leading scorers so far, with two goals apiece.

Morocco, by contrast, had to wait until the final round of group fixtures to secure their semi-final place. The Atlas Lion Cubs drew 2-2 with Turkey in their opening match before suffering a 1-0 defeat by Tunisia.

That left Morocco needing a decisive result in their final game. They responded with a 5-1 victory over North Macedonia on Wednesday, allowing them to overtake Turkey by a single goal in the standings and finish second in Group A.

Morocco have had seven different players score during the tournament. The list includes Yahia Iguiz of Raja Casablanca, Abderrahmane Arkid of FUS Rabat, Hamza Raji of Berkane, Rayan Zinebi Talbi of Granada, Mohamed Mounssef of Wydad Casablanca, Karim Essaadi of Raja Casablanca and Abdelghafour Gourari of Berkane.

Friday’s winner will guarantee themselves a medal and remain in contention for gold. The defeated side will instead move into the bronze-medal play-off, where they will have the chance to recover from semi-final disappointment by securing third place.

The meeting between the North African rivals is therefore a pivotal contest in the football tournament, with both teams now one victory away from a place in the final and a guaranteed medal.

By Prudence Ahanogbe

A versatile member of the football editorial team, Prudence Ahanogbe has built a reputation through determination and hard work: a natural gift for writing on the left, like Lionel Messi, combined with the application and effort associated with Cristiano Ronaldo.