Two Arab duels are expected, and fiery confrontations await the Arab teams in the Asian Cup, while the three Arab teams in the African Cup face balanced confrontations that may be the keys to their passage to advanced stages in the African Championship.

9 teams out of 16 reached the quarter-finals of the strongest football tournament on the yellow continent, and 7 of them may reach the quarter-finals if they rise up and achieve victories. But the Arabs secured two places in the quarter-finals before they played due to two purely Arab confrontations between Qatar and Palestine on the one hand, and Iraq against Jordan on the other.

The curtain came down – yesterday, Thursday – on the group stage competitions for the 18th edition of the Asian Cup, which Qatar is hosting until the tenth of next February.

Among the teams that achieved qualification for the knockout rounds for the first time in their history, two are Arab: Palestine and Syria, Indonesia, and Tajikistan (in their first participation).

Schedule of the Asian Nations Cup quarter-final matches

The first track of the final

The journey of the teams qualifying for the elimination stages is divided into two paths until reaching the semi-finals, where the first path witnesses a very difficult test for the Saudi national team against South Korea in an early final between two teams that have won the title together 5 times.

The winner of the Saudi-Korean clash qualifies for the quarter-finals, facing a potential heavy-caliber confrontation. Where the winner of the Australia vs. Indonesia confrontation awaits; Most of the nominations are in favor of the “Kangaroo” team, the Asian champions in 2015.

On the same track, there is an exclusively Arab confrontation between the Iraqi national team, champion of the competition in 2007, against its Jordanian counterpart, and the winner of them will meet in the quarter-finals with the winner from the Emirates and Tajikistan.

This path ends with two teams qualifying for the semi-final match, which will be held on February 6th at the World Cup “Ahmed Bin Ali” Stadium.

The second path

The second track witnesses an exclusively Arab confrontation between the teams of Qatar and Palestine, with the winner qualifying for the quarter-finals, awaiting the winner from Uzbekistan and Thailand.

In the same vein, the Arab teams will face very difficult tests, as the Syrian national team will meet against its Iranian counterpart, the Asian champion 3 times, while the Bahrain national team will play against Japan, the champion of the Yellow Continent 4 times, and the winner of the two matches will qualify for the quarter-finals.

This path ends with two teams qualifying for the semi-final match, which will be held on February 7th at Al Thumama Stadium.

In both tracks, there are Arab teams; That is, there is a possibility that we will witness a final on the tenth of next February at Lusail Stadium, and it will be purely Arab, or at least with the presence of an Arab party and the preservation of the title in Arab land after “Al-Anabi” won the 2019 edition in the Emirates.

Yemen Hussein 🇮🇶 is at the top of the scorers’ rankings with 5️⃣ goals#AsiaCup2023 | #Come onAsia pic.twitter.com/9LAONqxZkQ

– #AsiaCup2023 (@afcasiancup_ar) January 26, 2024

It is noteworthy that there is no match between the losers in the two semi-final matches to determine the winner of the bronze medal and third place in the Asian Championship.

Arabs in the African Cup

If the Arabs secured at least two places in the quarter-finals of the Asian Championship, the three Arab teams face balanced tests in the African Championship, which is hosted by Ivory Coast until next February 11.

The second round of the African World Cup will be held with 8 matches over 4 consecutive days during the period between the 27th and 30th of this month.

This round witnesses heavy-caliber confrontations that herald the departure of well-established teams that have previously won the match. Especially in light of the presence of 4 direct confrontations between teams that previously won the African Cup of Nations.

The confrontations of the Arab teams in this round are:

• Egypt x Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Cape Verde x Mauritania
• Morocco x South Africa

Next Sunday, at the Laurent Poco Stadium, it will meet Egypt (the record holder for winning the tournament 7 times, most recently in 2010), which ranked second in Group Two and qualified hard-fought with 3 draws. The Democratic Republic of the Congo national team (won the title twice in 1968 and 1974), which came second in Group 6 with 4, faced Morocco in the confrontation, and almost defeated it in a match held at noon amidst high temperatures and incredible humidity.

However, the Egyptian national team is armed with superiority in direct confrontations in recent years, by defeating its Congolese counterpart in the first round of the 2019 edition in Egypt, and before that, it eliminated it from the round of 16 in the 2006 edition, which was also held in Egypt, by defeating it with a score of 4-1.

Schedule of the knockout round matches in the African Cup of Nations. pic.twitter.com/UUGemWJaGK

– Al Jazeera Net Sports (@AJASports) January 25, 2024

In the event of qualification, the “Pharaohs” will meet in the quarter-finals the winner between Equatorial Guinea (the surprise of the tournament) and Guinea.

As for the brave and sophisticated Mauritana, which defeated Algeria, the 2019 champion, eliminating it from the tournament and qualifying for the final, it clashes with the Cape Verdean team, the black horse of the tournament – so far – which topped a group that includes Egypt and Ghana. It defeated the latter and snatched a tie – with substitutes – from the “Sons of the Nile.”

The “Blue Sharks” team will face, next Monday, the “Al-Mourabitoun” team at the “Felix Houphouet-Boigny” stadium in Abidjan.

If Mauritania is able to repeat the victory over Algeria and defeat Cape Verde, it will clash in the quarter-finals with the winner of the fierce confrontation between Nigeria and Cameroon.

While Morocco, which achieved historic achievement in the 2022 World Cup when it finished fourth in the best result for an African team, qualified smoothly for the final 16, it faces the stubborn South African team and its top scorer, Percy Tau (Al-Ahly of Egypt), in the last match of the round of 16 – next Tuesday – at the “Laurent-Poco” Stadium. In San Pedro.

It is true that the “Atlas Lions” team imposed itself before the international teams and showed its teeth in the last World Cup, but the continental title has been stubborn to them since they won it the only time in 1976.

The Moroccan squad suffered a morale blow as coach Walid Regragui was suspended for 4 matches, two of which were suspended, after an argument that accompanied the confrontation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Schedule of the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final matches

Regarding the confrontation with South Africa, English Manchester United midfielder Sofiane Amrabat said: “We want to reach as far as possible in this tournament.” He continued: “For us, the tournament begins now, and we promise the audience that we will return with the tournament.”

If the “Atlas Lions” team succeeds in eliminating the “Boys” team (the winner of the cup when hosting the tournament in 1996), it will face the winner of the match between Angola and Namiba (which qualified for the knockout stage for the first time since its first appearance in 1998).

Since Morocco and Mauritania are in the first track that leads to the final, and Egypt is in the second track, there is a possibility, even if it is simple, that there will be two Arab parties or at least one in the final and the championship title will be returned to the Arabs of Africa for the first time since the 2019 edition, in which Algeria was crowned. .

The “Alassane Ouattara” stadium in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, will host the final of the tournament, which will be held on the 11th of next month, preceded by the match to determine the winner of third place and the bronze medal on the 10th of next month at the “Felix Houphouet-Boigny” stadium, also in Abidjan.