Egypt seal North Africa Under-20 title as Anas Rushdy targets ‘a whole generation’

Egypt secured the North Africa Under-20 Championship and qualification for the 2027 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations after beating Algeria 2-0 in the final round of matches.

Anas Rushdy scored Egypt’s second goal and thanked his team-mates, coaching staff and the Egyptian Football Association board after the victory.

“ I thank the players, the coaching staff and the board of the Egyptian Football Association. After the disappointment of the previous match against Morocco, we managed to come back,” Rushdy said after the game.

The ENPPI player added: “We played for a whole generation. The entire generation deserves to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.”

Egypt had opened their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win over Libya and followed that with a 2-1 victory against Tunisia. They then lost 2-0 to Morocco before finishing the tournament with a 2-0 success against Algeria.

Midfielder Mohamed Samir Konta said Egypt had been focused on winning from the start of the competition.

“We played from the first day to win the championship,” he said.

“We will celebrate today and tomorrow, then close the page on the tournament and begin focusing on the Africa Cup of Nations.”

The North Africa qualifying tournament was held in Egypt, in Ismailia, at the Suez Canal Authority and Ismailia stadiums.

Egypt finished top of the standings with nine points, two ahead of Morocco, who finished second and also qualified for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.

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

The title was Egypt’s fourth in the competition, following their previous triumphs in 2006, 2008 and 2012. They had finished third in 2023 and runners-up in 2024.

Egypt will now compete at the 2027 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Ghana, which is scheduled to take place in February 2027. It will be their third consecutive appearance in the finals and their 20th overall.

The success also represents the first title of Wael Riyad’s managerial career.