Women’s AFCON: the Morocco–Algeria match through the eyes of the Algerian press
Morocco and Algeria meet this Saturday in Rabat to play for the bronze medal at the Women’s AFCON. In the Algerian press, this second confrontation in just over two weeks is seen as an opportunity to bring a historic campaign to an end and, for some, to take revenge on the Atlas Lionesses.
A third-place play-off that ultimately is anything but minor. Just hours before the Morocco–Algeria match scheduled for this Saturday at Rabat’s Olympic Stadium, Algerian media are attaching particular importance to this second derby of the Women’s AFCON.
On Bladi.net : Morocco Women’s Football Derby: Algerian Media Controversy
Compétition.dz is the most explicit. The newspaper believes the match will have “an air of revenge,” recalling the first meeting between the two teams, on 30 July. The Moroccan team then prevailed 1-0 thanks to a goal scored in the 84th minute, a defeat that had left the Algerians, according to the outlet, with “a bitter taste.”
The daily had already stressed after that first derby that the Greens had long “held their own” against Morocco before giving way at the end of the match. Fifteen days later, the possibility of taking their revenge comes with an additional stake: a bronze medal.
L’Expression, for its part, focuses more on the opportunity for Algeria to finish on the podium after the 3-1 defeat to Malawi in the semi-final. The focus is less on the rivalry with Morocco than on what a third-place finish would represent for a national team that has just crossed several milestones.
The same tone can be found at DZfoot, which refers to a “magnificent AFCON” for the Algerian team before their final appointment with the host country. The site presents this match as the conclusion of a campaign that has already exceeded expectations.
Beat Morocco to finish a historic AFCON
Because the dominant narrative in Algeria is also that of a team that has entered a new dimension. After the elimination by Malawi, Ennahar recalled that the Greens had reached the semi-finals for the first time and secured qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. The outlet already viewed the third-place match as an opportunity to complete this historic participation with a medal.
The official Algérie Presse Service news agency adopts a much more factual tone. It reported on the elimination against Malawi without giving the future Morocco–Algeria match the symbolic significance used by some sports media. Throughout the tournament, however, APS presented Algeria’s progress as the crossing of a new continental milestone.
Morocco therefore faces an Algerian team that believes it has already succeeded in its competition, but which is still missing a medal. The Atlas Lionesses, for their part, have another frustration to overcome after their semi-final elimination on penalties against Cameroon.
On Bladi.net : Morocco vs Algeria Women’s CAN: Crucial Derby in Rabat
One thing is now recurring in the Algerian newspapers: finishing third would give the Greens’ campaign another dimension. And for Compétition, the scenario would be even more satisfying if this first medal were won against Morocco, the only team to have beaten Algeria during the group stage.
