2021 FIFA Arab Cup Group D

Right from the start, Egypt dominated possession, holding 76% of the ball in the first 15 minutes.[3] Despite their dominance on the ball, they could not break through Lebanon's defence, having to resort to harmless crosses and long-distance shots.[3] The first dangerous chance of the game came in the 33rd minute, when Egypt's Ahmed Hegazi headed from Mostafa Fathi's free kick, with Lebanon's Mostafa Matar saving the shot; El Wensh's rebound was cleared off the line by Felix Michel Melki.[3] At half time, the result was 0–0, with Egypt incapable of capitalising from a couple of attacking opportunities.[3] Matar proved decisive once again in the second half, saving a one-on-one attack from Afsha.[3] It was Afsha who broke the deadlock in the 71st minute through a penalty, after Ahmed Abou El Fotouh was brought down inside the penalty area by Alexander Michel Melki.[3] In the final 20 minutes, Lebanon modestly attempted to equalise in vain.[4]

1 December 2021 (2021-12-01)

16:00

Egypt	1–0	Lebanon
Afsha 71' (pen.)	Report

Al Thumama Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 11,757

Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

Egypt

Lebanon

GK 1 Mohamed El Shenawy RB 14 Akram Tawfik  45+3'  84' CB 11 Ahmed Hegazi CB 15 Mahmoud Hamdy LB 13 Ahmed Abou El Fotouh CM 5 Hamdy Fathy  38' CM 4 Amr El Solia (c) RW 8 Mostafa Fathi  46' AM 9 Mohamed Sherif  73'  84' LW 22 Mohamed Magdy  90+5' CF 10 Marwan Hamdy  66' Substitutions: MF 17 Mohanad Lasheen  38' FW 7 Ahmed Refaat  46' MF 21 Ahmed Sayed  66' DF 3 Omar Kamal  84' FW 19 Osama Faisal  84' DF 12 Ayman Ashraf  90+5' Manager: Carlos Queiroz

GK 21 Mostafa Matar RB 12 Alexander Michel Melki CB 4 Nour Mansour (c)  86'  89' CB 13 Felix Michel Melki LB 18 Kassem El Zein DM 6 Mouhammed-Ali Dhaini RM 22 Abbas Assi LM 3 Maher Sabra  83' AM 10 Mohamad Haidar  75' SS 20 Rabih Ataya  74' CF 9 Hilal El-Helwe  75' Substitutions: MF 15 Walid Shour  74' MF 14 Nader Matar  75' FW 17 Fadel Antar  75' DF 16 Hassan Chaitou  83' MF 5 Jihad Ayoub  89' Manager: Ivan Hašek

Despite Algeria dominating play, Lebanon brought the first half to a goalless draw thanks to their defending, most notably through their goalkeeper Mostafa Matar and defender Alexander Michel Melki. The second half initially proceeded in a similar fashion to the first, until Youcef Belaïli was brought down in the box by Hussein El Dor; Yacine Brahimi converted the subsequent penalty in the 69th minute. Lebanon reacted from the conceded goal, attempting attacks of their own. In the 78th minute, Houssem Eddine Mrezigue of Algeria was sent off, before Lebanon's Kassem El Zein also got a second yellow card, reducing both teams to 10 men in the final minutes. Following a missed chance by Baghdad Bounedjah one-on-one against the goalkeeper, Algeria doubled their lead in added time after Tayeb Meziani scored from a counter attack.[5]

4 December 2021 (2021-12-04)

16:00

Lebanon	0–2	Algeria
	Report	Brahimi 69' (pen.) Meziani 90+3'

Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Attendance: 9,405

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

Lebanon

Algeria

GK 21 Mostafa Matar RB 12 Alexander Michel Melki CB 4 Nour Mansour (c)  46' CB 2 Hussein El Dor  80' LB 18 Kassem El Zein  45'  83' CM 5 Jihad Ayoub  73' CM 6 Mouhammed-Ali Dhaini RW 20 Rabih Ataya  44'  73' AM 14 Nader Matar  63' LW 16 Hassan Chaitou CF 9 Hilal El-Helwe Substitutions: DF 3 Maher Sabra  46' MF 10 Mohamad Haidar  63' MF 13 Felix Michel Melki  73' MF 8 Mahdi Zein  73' FW 17 Fadel Antar  80' Manager: Ivan Hašek

GK 1 Moustapha Zeghba RB 3 Houcine Benayada CB 12 Mohamed Amine Tougai CB 5 Mehdi Tahrat LB 20 Ilyes Chetti CM 18 Houssem Eddine Mrezigue  72'  78' CM 14 Sofiane Bendebka RW 15 Hillal Soudani  66' AM 11 Yacine Brahimi (c)  80' LW 10 Youcef Belaïli  87' CF 9 Baghdad Bounedjah Substitutions: FW 7 Tayeb Meziani  66' MF 17 Zakaria Draoui  80' FW 22 Zineddine Boutmène  87' Manager: Madjid Bougherra

Lebanon began the first half strong, with Sudanese goalkeeper Ali Abu Eshrein saving a shot from Rabih Ataya and a close-range header from Maher Sabra. Sudan's only attempts did not threaten Lebanon's goal. Ataya was sent off in the 62nd minute, reducing Lebanon to 10 men. Both Lebanon and Sudan came close to scoring in the 70th and 75th minute respectively, with Fadel Antar and Mohamed Ering having their close-range shots saved. Sudan's Ahmed Wadah received a red card in the 76th minute and both teams headed into the last 14 minutes with 10 men each. Lebanon gained the lead the same minute, with Abu Eshrein punching the subsequent free kick cross into his own net. It proved to be the only goal of the game, which ended in a 1–0 win for Lebanon.[6]

7 December 2021 (2021-12-07)

22:00

Lebanon	1–0	Sudan
Abu Eshrein 76' (o.g.)	Report

Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 5,991

Referee: Fernando Hernández Gómez (Mexico)

Lebanon

Sudan

GK 23 Ali Daher RB 17 Mohamad Zein Tahan  90+6' CB 12 Alexander Michel Melki CB 13 Felix Michel Melki LB 3 Maher Sabra DM 6 Mouhammed-Ali Dhaini  58'  73' RM 16 Hassan Chaitou LM 8 Mahdi Zein  73' AM 10 Mohamad Haidar (c)  53' SS 20 Rabih Ataya  62' CF 9 Hilal El-Helwe  53' Substitutions: MF 14 Nader Matar  53' FW 17 Fadel Antar  53' DF 2 Hussein El Dor  73' DF 22 Abbas Assi  73' MF 11 Hussein Awada  90+6' Manager: Ivan Hašek

GK 1 Ali Abu Eshrein CB 5 Ahmed Wadah  76' CB 12 Ahmed Bibo CB 6 Mohamed Ering RWB 13 Walid Hassan  57' LWB 18 Samawal Merghani DM 14 Salah Adel  57' CM 8 Mohamed Al Rashed  19' CM 21 Walieldin Khedr  46' CF 7 Ramadan Agab (c) CF 10 Mohamed Abdelrahman  81' Substitutions: MF 2 Abuaagla Abdalla  46'  61' FW 11 Muaaz Al-Quoz  57' MF 23 Nasr Eldin El Shigail  57' MF 19 Dhiya Mahjoub  61' FW 22 Al-Jezoli Nouh  81' Manager: Hubert Velud