CAIRO — Thousands of people gathered in the streets around the Algerian embassy just after midnight yesterday in Cairo, witnesses said.

This followed Algeria’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup at Egypt’s expense with a 1-0 playoff victory in neutral Khartoum on Wednesday night.

Witnesses said one of the bridges into the neighbourhood of Zamalek in Cairo, where the embassy is located, was completely taken over by the crowds and that several of the island’s main thoroughfares were mobbed.

Many of the protesters were shouting obscenities at the embassy.

The crowds were gathering after clashes between Algerian and Egyptian fans in the previous weeks around World Cup qualifiers in Egypt and Sudan on Saturday and Wednesday nights.

Much smaller crowds gathered near the Algerian embassy after Egyptian media reported that Algerian fans attacked Egyptian fans in Sudan following Algeria’s victory.

Fifa, meanwhile, has charged Egypt’s football federation after an attack by fans on the Algerian national team before the qualifying match in Cairo last week.