Hannibal Mejbri suffered heartbreak in the Arab Cup final as he and Tunisia were beaten in extra time by Algeria.
The Manchester United teenager had helped his national side through to the final in Qatar, having started in all five of Tunisia’s games on the way to the showpiece event.
And the 18-year-old was eyeing up his first piece of silverware since switching allegiances from France in the summer, with the United starlet having shone during the tournament.
But he was denied in cruel fashion, with Algeria winning 2-0 in extra time after a goalless 90 minutes.
Ten minutes in, Mejbri felt he should have been awarded a penalty as Ilyes Cheti clumsily swiped away his legs inside the box, although the referee and VAR both disagreed.
Both sides had their chances to take the lead during the first half, with Algeria, in particular, going close after a goalmouth scramble while Tunisia struck the bar.
The referee had a job on his hands to keep things under control as tempers flared heading into the break, but there was still nothing to separate the sides.
And the deadlock remained unbroken as the game headed for extra time, with Mejbri substituted with three minutes to go in normal time.
Having been inseparable throughout the 90 minutes, Algeria eventually took the lead in superb fashion in the first period of extra time when Amir Sayoud fired home from the edge of the penalty area.
Tunisia tried to find an equaliser, with Firas Ben Larbi going agonisingly close as he volleyed just wide.
Hopes of sending the game to penalties ended, though, when Yacine Brahimi was left to run the ball into an empty net deep in stoppage time after Tunisia had committed everybody forward for a corner.
Mejbri will now return to United, where he will be aiming to catch the eye of new interim boss Ralf Rangnick as he looks to force his way into his first-team plans.
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