FOOTBALL – JORDAN and Morocco will meet in the Fifa Arab Cup final after respective victories over Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the last four yesterday.
Another imperious defensive display from Morocco has secured their passage to the final, as they saw off the UAE 3-0 in Al Rayyan.
In Thursday’s showpiece, the Atlas Lions will meet fellow Fifa World Cup 2026 participants Jordan, who edged past Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the evening’s second semi-final in Al Bayt. UAE and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, will clash in the third-place match.
Invariably when Morocco go in front, they go on to win. That was once again the case for a nation that has been powered by a brilliant defensive display in Qatar, where the only goal they conceded – an own goal – came way back in the first hour of their opening match.
Going forward they have been clinical in securing the goals they need to protect. On this occasion it was a Karim El Berkaoui header, on the end of a Hamza El Moussaoui cross just shy of the half hour that proved decisive.
UAE struggled to find a way to penetrate centrally and that saw them resort to efforts from range or a string of crosses, most of which were comfortably dealt with the superb central pairing of Soufiane Bouftini and Marwane Saadane.
The Atlas Lions then applied the killer touch with two late goals. The first came as a pair of substitutes combined, with Abderrazzaq Hamdallah squaring for Achraf El Mahdioui to guide his shot home from the box. The second saw provider turn finisher with Hamdallah tucking home a Mohamed Boulacsout cross to book their passage to the final.
Meanwhile, Nizar Al Rashdan’s brilliant header proved the difference as Jordan dispatched ten-man Saudi Arabia to set up a battle royale with Morocco.
Jordan were without star forward Yazan Al Naimat, who suffered a serious knee injury in the quarter-final victory over Iraq. But the Fifa World Cup participants showed just why they are the highest-scoring nation at the tournament as they ground out a deserved victory against the Green Falcons.
After an opening half of few chances for either team, the game opened up when Al Rashdan met an inswinging cross from Mahmoud Al Mardi with a powerful leaping header to give Jordan the lead.
Saudi Arabia soon fought back and Feras Al Brikan had a smart turn-and-shot well saved by Jordan goalkeeper Yazid Abu Leila. There was late drama when Saudi defender Waleed Al Ahmad was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity as Jordan held on for victory.
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