When the clock turns to nine in the evening next Saturday, this will mark the date of the start of a new battle between Egypt and Morocco for control of Africa and the ascension of the throne of the continent.
Saturday .. Wydad against Al-Ahly
After 24 hours, Zamalek is against Raja
A week later, the conflict is renewed in the second leg, and on the 25th of October we may witness a new Egyptian-Moroccan confrontation if Pyramids qualify for the Confederation Final.
These matches will mark a new history in the Egyptian and Moroccan football series.
Morocco is the fifth country to have clashes with Egyptian clubs with 52 matches, after Tunisia (106), Nigeria (68), Sudan (65) and Algeria (57).
The first part of the conflict … the clubs
** African Champions League
At the club level in the African Champions League, the Egyptian control is undisputed.
The Egyptian clubs have won the most expensive African Cup 14 times, 8 for Al-Ahly, 5 for Zamalek, and once for Ismaili.
Egyptian clubs also won second place in the Champions League eight times.
This means that the Egyptian clubs have reached the final of the most prestigious continental tournament 22 times.
A number that is more than double what the Moroccan clubs have achieved, which come fourth in the number of times they reached the final.
As the Moroccan clubs reached the final only nine times.
Moroccan clubs won the title six times, three times for Raja, twice for their traditional rivals Wydad, and once for the Royal Army.
While Moroccan clubs finished runner-up three times.
** The Confederation
As for the confederation that began in 2004, the Moroccan supremacy is clear.
Clubs of Morocco won the championship four times, twice for the Royal Army, once for Raja, and the same for Morocco Fassi.
Egyptian clubs won the title only twice, shared by Al-Ahly and Zamalek.
Nahdet Berkane reached the final as a Moroccan team, but lost to Zamalek.
** African Cup Winners Cup
In the tournament, which canceled the African Cup of Cups, the Egyptian supremacy was purely with eight titles and was never defeated in any final.
Al-Ahly won the title four times as a record, followed by the Arab Contractors three times and once for Zamalek.
Wydad won the only title for Morocco and the Royal Army came in summer.
** Super African
In the African Super Cup, control is Egyptian as well, with 10 titles and four runners-up, compared to four tournaments for Morocco and five times runners-up.
Al-Ahly won the title six times and lost it twice, followed by Zamalek with four championships and once as a runner-up.
Raja won the title twice and once as runner-up, while Wydad’s position was contradictory by winning the title once and twice as much.
Morocco Fassi won the title only once.
Al-Mokawloon and Al-Fateh Al-Rabat lost the title.
This is about the history of the clubs of both countries in the African Championships, so what about their direct confrontations?
** Direct confrontations between the clubs of Egypt and Morocco
Like the Egyptian domination of tournaments, direct confrontations indicate a great preference for the Pharaohs.
52 matches between the Pharaohs’ clubs and the Atlas Lions, Egyptian clubs won 23 games and lost 13, and the draw was the master of the situation in 16 matches.
Egyptian clubs scored 62 goals against Moroccan clubs and received 43 of their competitors.
Inside Egypt, Egyptian clubs have won 18 matches out of 27, drawn seven times, and lost only twice.
In contrast, the number in Morocco was not good.
25 matches Egyptian clubs have won only five times, compared to 11 defeats and nine draws.
The clubs Egyptian clubs met the most with their Moroccan counterparts is Wydad, which is 13 times, followed by Raja eight times, and then six times for the Rabat conquest and Berkane Renaissance.
The first meeting was in 1984 between Al-Ahly and Wydad in the first round of the African Cup of Nations Cup, and Al-Ahly won back and forth.
As for the last meeting between Al-Masry and Nahdet Berkane, they tied back in Egypt with two goals each, and the Port Said team lost one way without a response, in the quarter-finals of the current version of the Confederation.
** Al-Ahly and Wedad
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Al-Ahly is the team that most confronts the Moroccan teams from the Egyptian clubs, with 21 meetings, winning seven times, defeating six, and tied in eight meetings.
Al-Ahly scored 23 goals and conceded 20.
Al-Ahly met Wydad eight times, winning twice and defeating the same, and the tie was the dominant one in four matches.
The beginning was in the group stage of the Champions League in 2011, a tie in Egypt with three goals for each team, and in Morocco with one for each.
And in the group stage of the 2016 championship, a goalless tied in Egypt, and Al-Ahly won in Morocco with a goal without a response.
In the 2017 edition in the group stage, Al-Ahly won in Egypt with two goals without a response and lost in Morocco with two goals to none.
With their qualification for the final in the same version, they tied in Egypt with a goal to the same, and Al-Ahly lost in Morocco with a goal without a response.
** Zamalek and please
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Zamalek has met Moroccan clubs 19 times, winning 11 times, defeating three times, and drawing five matches.
Zamalek scored 27 goals in Moroccan clubs and conceded 13.
Zamalek met with Raja only twice and it is a happy memory for all the fans of the White Club.
The confrontation came in the 2002 Champions League final, when Zamalek won their fifth title at the time.
Zamalek drew 0-0 in Morocco and won in Egypt with the famous goal of Tamer Abdel Hamid “Dunga”.
The second part of the conflict … the elect
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In stark contrast to the clear superiority of the Egyptian clubs over the Moroccan clubs, whether in tournaments or direct confrontations, the Atlas Lions outperform the Pharaohs in the national team.
The Egyptian national team met their Moroccan rival 27 times, and the Pharaohs won only three times.
On the other hand, the Egyptian national team was defeated 13 times.
The two teams have tied only three times.
The Egyptian team scored 14 goals against Morocco, and received 29.
In general, Morocco is the third team that faces the Pharaohs with 27 matches, equally with Sudan, after Tunisia (40) and Algeria (28).
Now, here is the conflict renewed, and the beginning will be in two days, so who will prevail?
** Many of the figures mentioned in the report from the Egyptian Football History website, Dr. Tariq Al-Saeed
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