Mahmoud Salah dedicates North Africa award to Egypt Under-20 team-mates

Mahmoud Salah dedicated his best-player award at the North Africa Under-20 tournament to his Egypt team-mates and the coaching and medical staff after helping his side qualify for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

Egypt secured the North Africa title and a place at next year’s finals in Ghana by beating Algeria 2-0 in their final match. Salah scored Egypt’s opening goal in that victory.

“I thank the players and the coaching staff for qualifying and achieving part of our dreams,” Salah said after the tournament.

“We played with the hopes of an entire generation. We did not wait to see what happened in the Morocco and Libya match; our focus was on qualifying by winning against Algeria.”

Salah was subsequently named the best player of the North Africa Under-20 competition, which was held in Egypt, in the city of Ismailia. Matches were played at the Suez Canal Authority Stadium and Ismailia Stadium.

The tournament victory was Egypt’s fourth in its history, following previous triumphs in 2006, 2008 and 2012. It was also the first title of Wail Riyad’s managerial career.

Egypt will appear at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana for a third successive edition and for the 20th time overall. The next tournament is scheduled to take place in February 2027.

Egypt began their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Libya and then defeated Tunisia 2-1. They lost 2-0 to Morocco before ending the competition with their 2-0 win against Algeria.

The result left Egypt top of the table with nine points, two points clear of Morocco, who finished second and also qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Algeria were third with four points, ahead of Libya on goal difference, while Tunisia finished bottom with three points.

Egypt’s latest success comes after they finished third in the 2023 edition and runners-up in 2024.