Morocco and Jordan will contest the final of the FIFA Arab Cup after winning their semi-final games on Monday.
Morocco blanked the UAE 3-0 while Jordan edged Saudi Arabia 1-0.
The final will be played on Thursday 18 December in Qatar.
Meantime, fingers continue to point at who is to blame for Egypt’s humiliating 3-0 defeat to Jordan which resulted in an early group stage exit for the Pharaohs.
Egypt finished third in Group C with just two points from three games. Jordan advanced with a perfect nine points while the UAE claimed second place on four points.
The game that could have put Egypt in the quarter-finals had they won or maybe even tied turned into a humbling loss to Jordan thanks to goals from Mohamed Abu Hashish, Mohamed Abu Zraiq, and Ali Alwan.
Jordan were playing with mostly substitutes after they had already secured top spot in the group.
Egypt, too, were playing with their B team, so called because it was replacing the standing 11.
With the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) scheduled to take place in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January, the Egyptian Football Association decided in May to send a second-string squad to the Arab Cup while the first team prepares for the continental competition and its own World Cup hopes.
But despite being second stringers, the B team still deserves an F grade.
Against Kuwait in the opener and later the UAE, both games ended 1-1 and on the two occasions, Egypt had to come from behind late to equalise. Against Jordan, Egypt were down 2-0 at the half. The loss was sealed with a late penalty.
Egypt’s coach Helmi Toulan said a lack of cooperation between key stakeholders was behind the Pharaohs’ early exit.
“I take full responsibility and do not shirk it,” Toulan told a post-match news conference.
“I am not looking for excuses, but the person who had the authority to suspend the league and chose not to, is responsible for this humiliating exit.”
Toulan, 76, was referring to the Egyptian Pro League’s refusal to postpone Pyramids FC fixtures, which would have allowed many of the club’s players to join his squad for the regional tournament.
He had initially called up seven Pyramids players but only striker Marwan Hamdi was released after the EPL insisted Pyramids play two league matches as scheduled.
“Everyone knows the quality of Pyramids’ players. We were deprived of them because of others’ decisions, as the league was suspended only for Ahly, Zamalek and Masri - not for Pyramids,” he said.
“They told us the league was more important than the national team, something that has never happened before,” he added.
Toulan did not mention his relationship with Hossam Hassan, Egypt’s first-team coach. It is an open secret that the two don’t get along, a situation which could have affected the fortunes of the B squad.
More than one football TV pundit cited the fact that Hassan could have “lent” some of his players to the B team, especially those who are basically substitutes, but that the bad blood between Hassan and Toulan prevented such a fix.
There have also been suggestions that Hassan did not want to coach the B team for fear of losing, not only in the Arab Cup, but his job in general.
Egypt won the Arab Cup in 1992 and finished fourth in the 2021 tournament, also held in Qatar.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 December, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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