The Algeria–Egypt football rivalry is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Algeria and Egypt, having achieved nine Africa Cup of Nations and two Arab Cups between the two countries. The two nations have played 29 games against each other; Algeria leads in wins with 11 to Egypt's 7 with the two sides drawing 12 times.
After the independence of Algeria, the first official match took place on 5 July 1963, in a friendly match at the 20 August 1955 Stadium in Algiers. The two teams' matches in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification remain a turning point in the history of the rivalry between the two countries. The two countries also have rivalries with Tunisia.
Background Egypt is the first African and Arab country to participate in a FIFA World Cup in 1934, it also participated in the 1990 and 2018 editions. Algeria, for its part, has participated four times in the biggest football event in the world: 1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014. The two have qualified together to the World Cup for the first time in 2026. YearAlgeriaEgyptQualificationRoundQualificationRound 1934Part of FranceQualified – Group 12 winnerFirst round 1982Qualified – Final round winnerGroup stageDid not qualify – Third round loser 1986Qualified – Final round winnerGroup stageDid not qualify – Third round loser 1990Did not qualify – Final round loserQualified – Final round winnerGroup stage 2010Qualified – Tiebreaking play-off winnerGroup stageDid not qualify – Tiebreaking play-off loser 2014Qualified – Third round winnerRound of 16Did not qualify – Third round loser 2018Did not qualify – Third round loserQualified – Third round winnerGroup stage 2026Qualified – CAF Group G winnerTBDQualified – CAF Group A winnerTBD
History The rivalry between the two countries could take root in the tour of the Algerian FLN football team in the Middle East in 1958. In solidarity with the Algerian cause, the countries of the Eastern bloc and the Arab countries defied the FIFA ban on playing with this clandestine team. However, the Egyptian authorities, anxious not to offend FIFA in a delicate context with the creation in 1957 of the Confederation of African Football in Cairo, refused to play exhibition matches. The generation of the FLN team remains marked by this episode. After the independence of Algeria, the two countries never met in the World Cup. Algeria participated in the 1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014 editions and Egypt in the 1934, 1990 and 2018 editions. However, the two nations met in the qualification of the 1990, 2002 and 2010; all three times in high-stakes matches with qualification for the winner.
For the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification, Algeria finished first in Group A undefeated and Egypt finished first in Group B. A final round was organized between the four group winners to determine the two nations participating in the World Cup. On 8 October 1989, the Egyptian team drew 0–0 in Algeria in the first leg and then won 1–0 in Cairo on 17 November 1989. The nation therefore qualified for the competition along with Cameroon, the winner against Tunisia. Egypt's qualification was marred by clashes that began with a hostile reception upon the arrival of the Algerian delegation in Cairo and continued throughout its stay until its departure. But what made headlines was the accusation brought against the playmaker of the Algerian team at the time, Lakhdar Belloumi, accused of having seriously injured the eye of an Egyptian supporter present at the hotel hosting the Algerian team after the match, following a fight between the Algerian delegation and Egyptian supporters who came to the hotel. The Algerian authorities then accused Egypt of having set up the Algerian team and its star Belloumi, who was used as a scapegoat to distract from the hostile events that the Algerian team suffered during its stay in Egypt. Belloumi was convicted and prosecuted for many years by the Egyptian justice system, and pursued by Interpol until 2009 when he was cleared of this affair because he was innocent.
In 2001, Algeria, eliminated from the race for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, played the last match of the qualifiers against Egypt in Annaba. In the first leg, the Egyptians crushed the Algerians 5–2 in Cairo. This historic victory put Egypt on the right track. It was celebrated by the Egyptians as the greatest success against the Maghreb rivals who at that time lost all chance of qualifying. The return match therefore promised to be decisive for the Pharaohs, in competition with Senegal. The Algerians, team and supporters, showed fierce determination to prevent the Pharaohs from qualifying. The score of 1-1 was celebrated in general jubilation. Incidents during the match and after were reported. Images of the bus being stoned were also shown on Egyptian television. In the other match played simultaneously in Windhoek, Senegal blew Namibia away 5–0. Senegal qualified.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Algerian team bus was stoned by Egyptian supporters. The situation was tense because it was the last match of the qualifiers and each of the two teams had the possibility of qualifying. After Egypt's victory by 2–0, the two teams had to play a play-off match in Sudan, because they were perfectly equal (points, goal difference, goals for and goals against). Algeria won 1-0 and qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Two months later, the two teams met in the semi-finals of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
List of matches #DateLocationHome TeamScoreAway teamCompetitionRef15 July 1963 Algiers, Algeria1–1 UARFriendly27 July 1963 Oran, Algeria2–2 UAR320 March 1964 Cairo, UARUAR 1–0422 March 1964 Alexandria, UARUAR 2–2519 September 1969 Cairo, UARUAR 1–01970 African Cup of Nations qualification628 September 1969 Algiers, Algeria1–1 UAR729 August 1975 Algiers, Algeria1–01975 Mediterranean Games84 January 1976 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia0–1Friendly913 July 1978 Algiers, Algeria1–11978 All–Africa Games1019 March 1980 Ibadan, Nigeria2–2 1980 African Cup of Nations116 January 1984 Algiers, Algeria1–11984 Summer Olympics qualification1217 February 1984 Cairo, Egypt1–01317 March 1984 Abidjan, Ivory Coast3–11984 African Cup of Nations148 October 1989 Constantine, Algeria0–01990 FIFA World Cup qualification1517 November 1989 Cairo, Egypt1–0168 March 1990 Algiers, Algeria2–01990 African Cup of Nations178 January 1995 Algiers, Algeria1–01996 African Cup of Nations qualification1814 July 1995 Cairo, Egypt1–11920 December 1997 Aswan, Egypt1–2Friendly2024 December 1997 Cairo, Egypt1–22111 March 2001 Cairo, Egypt5–22002 FIFA World Cup qualification2221 July 2001 Annaba, Algeria1–12329 January 2004 Sousse, Tunisia2–12004 African Cup of Nations247 June 2009 Blida, Algeria3–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification2514 November 2009 Cairo, Egypt2–02618 November 2009 Omdurman, Sudan0–12728 January 2010 Benguela, Angola0–42010 Africa Cup of Nations287 December 2021 Al Wakrah, Qatar1–12021 FIFA Arab Cup2916 October 2023 Al Ain, UAE1–1Friendly
Major encounters 1975 Mediterranean Games
1980 African Cup of Nations
1984 African Cup of Nations
1990 African Cup of Nations
2004 African Cup of Nations
2010 Africa Cup of Nations
2021 FIFA Arab Cup
See also 2009 Algeria v Egypt football matches Algeria–Egypt relations
References
External links Algeria v Egypt head to head at 11v11