Algeria national football team

Algeria

Nickname(s)	الخُضر (The Greens)[1] الأفناك  (The Fennec Foxes)[2] محاربي الصحراء  (The Desert Warriors)[3]
Association	Algerian Football Federation (FAF)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNAF (North Africa)
Head coach	Djamel Belmadi[4]
Captain	Riyad Mahrez
Most caps	Lakhdar Belloumi (100)[5]
Top scorer	Islam Slimani (39)[6]
Home stadium	Mustapha Tchaker Stadium Stade du 5 Juillet
FIFA code	ALG
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	29 3 (23 December 2021)[7]
Highest	15 (October 2014)
Lowest	103 (June 2008)
First international
Algeria 2–1 Bulgaria  (Algiers, Algeria; 6 January 1963)
Biggest win
Algeria 15–1 South Yemen  (Tripoli, Libya; 17 August 1973)
Biggest defeat
Hungary 9–2 Algeria  (Budapest, Hungary; 16 August 1967)
World Cup
Appearances	4 (first in 1982)
Best result	Round of 16 (2014)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	19 (first in 1968)
Best result	Champions (1990, 2019)
Arab Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 1988)
Best result	Champions (2021)
African Nations Championship
Appearances	2 (first in 2011)
Best result	Fourth place (2011)
Medal record Men's Football Africa Cup of Nations 1990 Algeria 2019 Egypt 1980 Nigeria 1984 Ivory Coast 1988 Morocco FIFA Arab Cup 2021 Qatar Afro-Asian Cup of Nations 1991 Iran/Algeria African Games 1978 Algeirs Mediterranean Games 1975 Algeirs 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon 1979 Split
Website	Algerian FA

The Algeria national football team (Arabic: منتخب الجزائر لكرة القدم) represents Algeria in men's international football and is governed by the Algerian Football Federation. The team plays their home matches at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida and 5 July Stadium in Algiers. Algeria joined FIFA on 1 January 1964, a year and a half after gaining independence. They are the current champions of the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA Arab Cup.

The North African team has qualified for four World Cups in 1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014. Algeria has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice, once in 1990, when they hosted the tournament, and again in Egypt in 2019 and they recently won the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup. They were also champions of the 1991 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, the men's football tournament of the 1978 All-Africa Games and the men's football tournament of the 1975 Mediterranean Games.

The traditional rivals of Algeria are mainly Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. Algeria has also had very competitive matches against Nigeria, especially in the 1980s during Algeria's best football generation, against Mali due to sharing common border and a long-standing competitive rivalry, and against Senegal, where Algeria's first global success began. For the Algerians, their biggest victory was their 2–1 win against West Germany during the 1982 FIFA World Cup in which the African nation shocked the world. Algeria has produced many talented players throughout time and is considered one of the best teams in African football history. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Algeria became the first African team to score at least four goals in a match at a World Cup, which was against South Korea.

History[]

The ALN football team, 1957–1958[]

On 1956, in Tunis, Tunisia, was formed the first team to represent Algeria, the Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN) team by Ahmed Benelfoul and Habib Draoua.^[9][10] The team was approuved by the FLN on May 1957 and was managed by Salah Saidou and the player Abdelkader Zerrar was the captain.^[11] The first game was played on 1st June 1957 against Tunisia in the Stade Chedly Zouiten. On April 1958, the team was dissolved and was replaced by the FLN team.

The FLN football team, 1958–1962[]

The FLN football team was a team made up mainly of professional players in France, who then joined the Algerian independence movement of the National Liberation Front (FLN), and assisted in organizing football matches against national football teams. The FLN linked African football to anti-colonial resistance using the idea of Pan-Africanism as a legitimizing tool and symbol of national identity. The French authorities easily obtained the non-recognition of the team by FIFA. Despite the prohibition on play, the FLN team engaged in a world tour of about eighty meetings, including Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa. Of these meetings, the FLN won 55 matches.

The Beginning, 1962[]

Football in Algeria was established in the 1830s by European settlers bringing the sport to the country. The Algerian football team was established in 1962 after gaining independence from France, as the successor of the FLN football team.^[12] Under French rule, Algeria was not allowed to have a national team, the FLN football team was sort of a rebellion against the French colonization. All of their games were considered friendlies and were unrecognized by FIFA. During a press conference in Tunis, the Algerian football team refused to make any political statements, referring to football as a sport rather than a political influence.^[13] After the Algerian national football team was officially recognized by FIFA in 1963, the team only qualified to the 1968 Africa Cup of Nations and failed to qualify for the next five editions of the African cup until 1980, where the Algerians had a great run. After finishing first in their group, Algeria defeated rivals Egypt in the semi finals and reached the final for the first time, losing only to tournament hosts Nigeria 3–0. That tournament was considered the birth of the Algerian team as one of the big teams in Africa.

The golden generation, 1980–1990[]

1982 FIFA World Cup[]

Algeria caused one of the great World Cup upsets on the first day of the tournament with a 2–1 victory over the reigning European champions, West Germany. In the final match in the group between West Germany, Austria and Chile, with Algeria having already played their final group game the day before, the European teams knew that a West German win by 1 or 2 goals would qualify them both, while a larger West German victory would qualify Algeria over Austria, and a draw or an Austrian win would eliminate the West Germans. After 10 minutes of all-out attack, West Germany scored through a goal by Horst Hrubesch. After the goal was scored, the two teams kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the match. Chants of "Fuera, fuera" ("Out, out") were screamed by the Spanish crowd, while angry Algerian supporters waved banknotes at the players. This performance was widely deplored, even by the West German and Austrian fans. Algeria protested to FIFA, who ruled that the result be allowed to stand; FIFA introduced a revised qualification system at subsequent World Cups in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously.^[14]

1986 FIFA World Cup[]

In 1984, Algeria took third place in the 1984 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. During the 1986 Africa Cup of Nations, the national teams recorded two defeats and one draw and was eliminated in the first round. In Mexico, at the 1986 World Cup, the Algerians were not able to pass the first round once again in a group that included Northern Ireland (1–1 draw), Brazil (1–0 loss), and Spain (3–0 loss). Only one Algerian scored during this competition: Djamel Zidane. From thereon, Algeria failed to qualify for another World Cup until 2010.

1990 African Cup of Nations[]

In 1990, Algeria hosted the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time and were strongly considered to win the competition. drawn In Group A, the Algerians started the tournament by beating Nigeria 5–1, with doubles by Djamel Menad and Rabah Madjer and a goal by Djamel Amani. After a great start with a convincing victory against the Nigerians, they then beat Ivory Coast 3–0, with goals by Djamel Menad, Tahar Chérif El-Ouazzani, and Chérif Oudjani. The last game of the group, Algeria beat Egypt 2–0, with goals by Djamel Amani and Moussa Saïb. After a perfect start with three wins in as many games, Algeria beat Senegal 2–1 in the semi finals after Djamel Menad and Djamel Amani scored in front of 85,000 fans in the Stade du 5 Juillet to reach the final for the second time in history. In the final against Nigeria, in front of 105,302 fans in the same stadium, Chérif Oudjani, in the 38th minute, enabled Algeria to win the African Cup of Nations for the first time. Djamel Menad was crowned top scorer of the competition with four goals.^[15]

The dark years, 1992–2008[]

After winning the 1990 African Cup of Nations and barely missing out in qualifying to the 1990 World Cup, Algerian football was still at its peak and seemed to be moving towards the right direction while dominating fellow African teams with their unique north African style of play, mixed with physical but very technical football. However, with Algeria being on the brink of a civil war in the early 90s, social and political unrest started having a negative impact in every domain in the country including football. Although Algeria qualified to the 1992 African Cup of Nations, the title holders were disappointing and were eliminated in the first round of the competition.

In the 1994 African Cup of Nations Algeria was disqualified from the tournament after fielding an ineligible player, and many fans back home strongly criticized the staff of the team, accusing them of being irresponsible and unprofessional. In 1996, Algeria returned to African Cup of Nations, but were eliminated by hosts South Africa in the quarter-finals. The Algerians failed to qualify for the following World Cups in 1998, 2002 and 2006. During the 1998 African Cup of Nations, Algeria finished last in its group with three defeats and was eliminated in the group stage. Algerian football was losing its reputation and the team that was once considered one of the best and most feared teams in Africa, was no longer feared.

In the 2000 African Cup of Nations, the Fennecs passed the first round only to lose to 2–1 to eventual champions Cameroon in the quarter-finals. Algeria once more failed to pass the first round in the African competition in 2002. but in the 2004, Algeria, coached by Rabah Saadane were looking good and full of confidence, After drawing the first game of the group 1–1 against tournament favorites Cameroon, Algeria recorded a historic win against archrivals Egypt 2–1. After a good start by Algeria, the north African side surprisingly lost the last game of the group against Zimbabwe 2–1 However, because of the 2–1 victory against Egypt, Algeria finished second in their group and advanced to the next round. Their next opponent was Morocco and after a goalless game for over 80 minutes, Algeria took the lead in the 84th minute after a goal from Abdelmalek Cherrad, nearly seconds before the final whistle Morocco scored which meant the two sides would have to play in extra time, where Morocco would go on to win 3–1. The loss against their North African neighbors was heartbreaking, and after that game, Algeria failed to qualify for the following two Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2008 and nothing seemed to be working for Algerian football.

The return[]

2010 World Cup qualifiers[]

On 11 October 2008, Algeria returned to the top 20 African teams in the Fifa ranking by finishing first in their group ahead of Senegal, Gambia, and Liberia for the second round In the combined 2010 World Cup and 2010 African Cup of Nations qualifications. In the third and final round of the qualifiers, Algeria was joined by Zambia, Rwanda, and Egypt in group C. Egypt was widely considered the favorites to win the group and qualify for the World Cup. However, in June 2009, Algeria beat the double African champions Egypt 3–1 which ultimately changed the teams objectives from just qualifying for the African Cup of Nations, to qualifying for the World Cup after a 24-year absence. The next game was against Zambia where the Desert Foxes won 2–0 in Lusaka. Algeria then again beat Zambia at home in Blida 1–0 followed by a 3–1 win against Rwanda, the Algerians ensured that the qualification for the World Cup would go down to the wire with a final encounter against Egypt in Cairo, where only a loss by three goals would stop the Fennecs from going to South Africa. Prior to the game, the Algerian team bus was attacked in Cairo by Egyptian fans, leaving several team members injured. This led to a diplomatic row between the two countries. The attack prior to the game left the Algerian players in shock which resulted in a 2–0 loss in a controversial situation, conceding a goal just within a couple seconds from the final whistle. The loss would mean that the two north African sides would have a to play a playoff game in Sudan with the winner qualifying to the world cup in South Africa. Algeria won 1–0 after a stunning goal from Anthar Yahia and qualified for the World Cup for the third time in their history.^[16][17]

2010 Africa Cup of Nations[]

After qualifying to the 2010 world cup at the expense of Egypt, Algeria was gaining back the respect that they lost in the early 90s. So they came in the 2010 tournament full of confidence. Being drawn in Group A, with Angola, Malawi, and Mali, Algeria started poorly, surprisingly losing 3–0 to group outsiders Malawi. After that loss Algeria had to prove that the first game was only a mistake and in the following game against Mali they won 1–0 thanks to a Rafik Halliche header. In the last match, they drew 0–0 with Angola, which sent them to the second round, finishing with the same number of points as Mali, but with a superior head-to-head record. Playing in Cabinda, Algeria faced Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals who were considered heavy favorites. After trailing 1–0, Karim Matmour equalized in the first half, the Algerians were having a great game but as the game was heading into extra time Keita gave the Ivorians the lead in the 89th minute, a goal which seemed sure to seal their victory. However, the Algerians equalized with Madjid Bougherra just 2 minutes later in added time, and in extra time a perfect Karim Ziani cross found Hameur Bouazza who gave the Fennecs the lead. Algeria shocked the whole continent with a convincing win against a Cote Ivoire team that was considered the best in Africa. Next Algeria faced Egypt in the semi-finals, tensions were still high between the two nations after the World Cup qualification play-off incident and fans from both sides felt it was a must win game for them. Unfortunately for Algeria, things did not go as planned. After waves of controversial decisions from the referee for both sides, Algeria ended the game with 3 red cards which led to Egypt winning 4–0 which was the biggest defeat in the history of the teams' meetings. Algeria then lost 1–0 to Nigeria in the third-place game and finished fourth in the competition.

2010 FIFA World Cup[]

Algeria was drawn in Group C with England, USA, Slovenia. The north African side came in the tournament in poor form, losing nearly all their world cup preparation games in friendlies. In their first game they lost to Slovenia 0–1. The match was scoreless until Slovenia's captain Robert Koren scored in the 79th minute after Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off for his second bookable offence. In their second group game, Algeria drew with England leading to mass celebration throughout the world's Algerian communities.^[18] The Fennecs lost their final group game to the United States 1–0 thanks to a Landon Donovan winner in second-half injury time. Algeria exited the championship as one of two teams, along with Honduras, to fail to score a goal.

2010–11: A team in trouble[]

After the World Cup, bad results were growing and growing with no wins. After a 2–1 home loss to Guinea in a friendly match and a 1–1 draw at home to Tanzania, veteran manager Rabah Saâdane resigned and was replaced with Abdelhak Benchikha. The newly appointed coach tried to bring in new faces to the squad to bolster their offense but poor results continued for Benchikha's side who started off with a 2–0 away loss to Central African Republic. There was a little bit of hope restored for the Algerians after they beat Morocco 1–0 at home after a goal from Hassan Yebda but After they lost 4–0 to Morocco in the return leg, their manager resigned. Algeria failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and the nightmare continued.

2011–12: The arrival of Halilhodžić[]

After new coach Vahid Halilhodžić was appointed, he got a few decent results before the start of the World cup qualifiers. The Bosnian coach's debut resulted in a 1–1 away draw against Tanzania, they then beat Central African Republic 2–0 with goals coming from Hassan Yebda and Foued Kadir. After a good game against Tanzania and a convincing win against The Central African Rep, the Algerian fans started to believe in their national team again and put all their trust in coach Vahid to revive the national team, and that is exactly what happened as the good results kept on coming, Algeria then beat Niger 3–0 in a friendly, and with the start of the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifiers Algeria beat Rwanda 4–0 to start off brightly. Qualifying for The 2013 African cup of Nations was the next target for Les Fennecs and they started off with beating Gambia 2–1 in Banjul followed by a 4–1 victory in Blida to advance to the final qualifying round, where the Algerians would take on north African neighbors Libya. The desert warriors ended up winning 3–0 on aggregate against the Libyans to qualify for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

2013 Africa Cup of Nations: Disappointing results[]

Algeria arrived to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations with plenty of confidence and with the emergence of Islam Slimani and El Arbi Hillel Soudani, as well as the addition to the squad of talented Valencia CF winger Sofiane Feghouli, Algeria was even considered one of the favorites to win the competition, but unfortunately for them they lacked experience and despite clear domination against their opponents, they finished last in their group after losing the first game against Tunisia 1–0 after a crucial 90'minute goal from Youssef Msakni. In their second game against Togo, Algeria was widely expected to come out with a victory but again the lack of experience was once again crucial, after dominating the game, they conceded two goals and were officially eliminated from the competition. The last game against Ivory Coast ended in a 2–2 draw. The Algerian fans were extremely disappointed with their team's early exit from the competition, and the Algerian media even speculated coach Vahid would be sacked, but the president of the Algerian Football Federation decided to maintain Vahid, arguing that the team is heading in the right direction and just needs more time to gain experience.

Road to Brazil 2014[]

After a disappointing campaign in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, and the Algerian Football Federation confirming their manager's stay. Algeria would then focus on their World cup qualifying campaign which they had a decent start to with one win and one loss, They continued their campaign winning 3–1 versus Benin at home and beating them again 3–1 away in Benin. After travelling to Kigali to face Rwanda, a 1–0 away victory guaranteed them the first-place position in their group which means they would advance to the final round of the qualifying campaign. Their last game didn't have any effect on the standings but Algeria still won 1–0 versus Mali national football team. After topping group H, Algeria was drawn with Burkina Faso as their final opponent. The 1st leg was held in Burkina Faso and the second was in Algeria. The first leg ended in a highly-competitive, controversial 3–2 loss to Burkina Faso. Many Algerian fans believed Burkina Faso was wrongfully awarded a penalty. The second leg was also a tightly contested, competitive match with Algeria managing a 1–0 victory to advance to the 2014 World Cup.

Making history, 2014 FIFA World Cup[]

Algeria were drawn in Group H with World Cup favorites Belgium, Russia, and South Korea. In their opening game against Belgium, Sofiane Feghouli scored Algeria's first World Cup goal for 28 years giving his team the lead 1–0. Eventually, Belgium caught up and scored two goals to give themselves a 2–1 victory. In their second game against South Korea, the Algerians needed a strong win to have a good chance of going to the next round. They won 4–2, with Yacine Brahimi scored the fourth goal against the opposition to set a record of being the first African team to score four or more goals in a single match in the World Cup. On 26 June, Algeria played Russia for second place in Group H. Russia scored the opening goal but Islam Slimani became a hero by scoring the equalizer to carry Algeria to the second round of the World Cup for the first time. In the second round, Algeria was able to hold eventual champions Germany to a goalless draw for 90 minutes. In extra-time the Germans scored twice while Algeria scored a lone goal from Abdelmoumene Djabou. The match that ended in elimination for the Algerian team.

Decline (2015–2018)[]

After their successful World Cup, Algeria gained respect and was once more considered one of the best teams in Africa, with young and exciting players playing in top teams across Europe. After coach Vahid decided to opt out of a contract extension following their historic World Cup, long time Lorient coach Christian Gourcuff was appointed by FAF president Mohamed Raouraoua to help Algeria reach its goals.

2015 Africa Cup of Nations[]

After easily topping their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification group which consisted of Mali, Malawi, and Ethiopia, Algeria were heavy favorites to win the 2015 edition of the tournament hosted in Equatorial Guinea. Algeria were drawn in a very difficult group that included South Africa, Ghana, and Senegal. With every single team in the group being in top form, Algeria struggled in the first game against the South Africans and were a goal down before finally beating them 3–1. In the second game against Ghana, the Black Stars were in desperate need of a victory after losing the first game to Senegal, After 90 minutes, and while the game looked like it was heading to a goalless draw with neither side looking dangerous, Asamoah Gyan struck before the final whistle to give a 1–0 victory to Ghana. In the last game of the group against Senegal, Algeria looked much better and after goals from Riyad Mahrez and youngster Nabil Bentaleb the Foxes were through to the next round. The Desert Foxes finished second in their group behind Ghana despite their goal difference due to their head to head record. Ivory Coast awaited them, where Wilfried Bony would score twice for an eventual 2–1 win for the Elephants, eliminating the Desert Foxes from the competition.

2017–2018: Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualification[]

Manager Christian Gourcuff was widely criticized after the African Cup exit, he continued being criticized for his tactics and results, losing 2–1 in a friendly against Guinea and drawing 2–2 Against Tanzania. Although Algeria would achieve remarkable wins at home, such as the 7–0 return leg win against Tanzania the team was very fragile on away games and conceded too many goals. The Tanzania win allowed them to reach the Final round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Algeria were drawn in an incredibly tough group with Nigeria, Cameroon and Zambia with only the team finishing top of the group qualifying to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

After a 3–3 away draw against Ethiopia, Manager Christian Gourcuff resigned from his position. Milovan Rajevac was then appointed manager in June 2016, but resigned 4 months later after Algeria's first World cup qualifying game ended in a home draw against Cameroon. The Algerian Football federation then hired Georges Leekens who did no better than his predecessor by losing to Nigeria 3-1 during match day 2 of the World cup Qualifiers in November 2016.

Leekens then coached Algeria during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations where the desert foxes had a horrible campaign drawing against Zimbabwe and Senegal and losing against Tunisia which resulted in an early group stage elimination. The African nation was on a steady decline due to constant changes at the management level and once again Algeria would get a new coach after Leekens resigned right after the African Cup and FAF president Raouraoua also left his position and was replaced by the much younger Kheiredine Zetchi. The new president came with new ideas, he brought in Spanish coach Lucas Alcaraz to try to kick start the national team once again, however the Spaniard was sacked after poor results which meant Algeria would miss the 2018 Fifa World cup. Missing the World cup was a huge upset in the country as the team consisted of very talented players playing at a high level across Europe's best leagues.

In November 2017, Former Algerian Superstar Rabah Madjer was appointed as manager, the decision to bring in Madjer was a controversial one as he hadn't coached any team for over 10 years and did have a past failed coaching experience with Algeria. Madjer wouldn't last very long either, after a couple of bad results in friendly matches including a 3–0 loss against Portugal, he would also be sacked after only 7 months in charge. Within four years of the end of the 2014 World cup, Algeria had five different coaches with the performances and results only getting worse.

2019–present: Hope & coach Belmadi[]

After a series of errors from the Algerian Football Federation with repeated under performing coaches, the federation appointed former Algerian international Djamel Belmadi on 2 August 2018.^[19] Belmadi was a young coach and had mainly previously coached in Qatar. However, due to his unsuccessful tenure in Qatar, especially as coach of the Qatar national football team when Qatar was eliminated early in 2015 AFC Asian Cup,^[20] skepticism arose about the manager. Algeria's performance in the 2019 AFCON qualification, while acceptable, also suffered setback, such as a shocking 0–1 away loss to Benin^[21] and two 1–1 draws to less known Gambia,^[22][23] raising big concerns over Algeria in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Thus, Algeria was not expected to contend for the trophy, but was nonetheless expected to proceed at least to the quarter-finals.In spite of criticisms of Belmadi, Algeria managed an unthinkable performance, often seen as the best performance of any Algerian team in recent AFCON history. Algeria topped group C with a perfect record, winning all three matches including a 1–0 victory over 2018 FIFA World Cup's participant Senegal.^[24] Algeria's solid performance continued with a 3–0 win over Guinea in the round of sixteen;^[25] before they overcame Ivory Coast in a hard-fought encounter which they won in a penalty shootout 4–3, after having drawn 1–1 after 120 minutes.^[26] The Algerians then went on to defeat Nigeria 2–1 with a dying minute's free kick shot by Riyad Mahrez.^[27] Facing Senegal once again in the final, Baghdad Bounedjah scored the only goal of the game as Algeria won 1–0, earning them their second title since 1990. This made Algeria the second North African side after Egypt to win more than one AFCON trophy.^[28]

To continue off the high of the African Cup win, Algeria competed in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup which was held in Qatar. As the tournament did not occur during the international break, Belmadi was unable to coach and national team veteran and assistant coach Madjid Bougherra filled in. Algeria managed to stay undefeated through the group stages. Their first match ended in a 4-0 win over Sudan with goals from Bounedjah, Benlamri, and Soudani. The second match against Lebanon ended in a 2-0 win with goals from Brahimi and Meziani. The last match for the top of Group D ended in a tie against Egypt, putting Egypt at the top of the group due to their fewer fouls throughout the tournament. This brought them to the knockout stages where they started with a match against Morocco. Brahimi scored off a penalty that was immediately equalized by Morocco's Nahiri. After Belaili scored in overtime and Morocco equalized again, the game went onto a penalty shootout that ended in a 5-3 win for Algeria, moving them to the semifinals against the host country, Qatar. Benlamri took the lead in the 59th minute but when the unnecessary 5 minutes of stoppage time extended to 7 minutes for Qatar to score off a corner, the game appeared to be heading into overtime. However, the referee kept the match going when Qatar regained possession beyond reason which backfired when Algeria made a counterattack that ultimately led to a free kick scored by Belaili at 90+17', with the game concluding at a record 90+19'. The Arab Cup final against their neighbor and rival Tunisia ended regular time in a scoreless draw. In overtime, Algeria took the lead with a goal by Sayoud in the 99th minute. The match ended with Tunisia attempting to equalize on a corner and go into a penalty shootout. However, Tunisia missed the chance when Algeria gained possession for a counterattack by Brahimi to conclude the match with a goal at 120+5' and winning the team another trophy.

AFCON 2022 came off to a rough start. Their first match against Sierra Leone ended in a scoreless draw for 1 point each. Their second match ended in their first loss since 2019 against Equatorial Guinea, losing 0-1. This not only put them at the bottom of their group but also ended their 41-game undefeated streak, beating Italy by 4 games for the best of all time.

Home stadium[]

The Algerian National Football Team have played their home games at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida since 2009. However, the team has played traditionally in the 5 July Stadium. There are many new stadiums being built in Algeria, two of which are expected to be the home venue for the team, the first being the forty thousand capacity Baraki Stadium being built in Algiers, the other one is Olympic Stadium in Oran. Another Stadium currently under construction, where the National team is expected to play some of its scheduled friendly games is in the Stade Abdelkader Khalef in the city of Tizi Ouzou.

• 

  5 July Stadium, Algiers

• 

  Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida

Team image[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Algeria national football team kits.

The Algeria national team home kit is all white with green trim, and the away kit is all green with white trim.

Kit sponsorship[]

Supplier	Period
None	1962–1968
Adidas	1975–1978
Sonitex	1978–1990
Adidas	1990–1992
Lotto	1993–1995
Cirta Sport	1996–2001
Baliston	2002–2004
Le Coq Sportif	2004–2009
Puma	2010–2014
Adidas	2015–present

Results and fixtures[]

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2021[]

2022[]

Coaching staff[]

Position	Name
Head coach	Djamel Belmadi
Assistant coach	Salmane Ben Ali
Assistant coach	Madjid Bougherra
Goalkeeping coach	Aziz Bouras
Fitness coach	Amara Merouani
First team Doctor	Mohamed Soltani

Players[]

Current squad[]

The following 28 players were selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.^[29][30]
Caps and goals updated as of 16 January 2022, after the match against Equatorial Guinea.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Moustapha Zeghba	(1990-11-21)21 November 1990 (aged 31)	2	0	Damac
16	1GK	Alexandre Oukidja	(1988-07-19)19 July 1988 (aged 33)	6	0	Metz
23	1GK	Raïs M'Bolhi	(1986-04-25)25 April 1986 (aged 35)	91	0	Al-Ettifaq
2	2DF	Aïssa Mandi	(1991-10-22)22 October 1991 (aged 30)	69	3	Villarreal
3	2DF	Mehdi Tahrat	(1990-01-24)24 January 1990 (aged 31)	18	0	Al-Gharafa
4	2DF	Djamel Benlamri	(1989-12-25)25 December 1989 (aged 32)	29	2	Qatar SC
5	2DF	Mohamed Amine Tougai	(2000-01-22)22 January 2000 (aged 21)	4	1	ES Tunis
17	2DF	Abdelkader Bedrane	(1992-04-02)2 April 1992 (aged 29)	11	0	ES Tunis
20	2DF	Youcef Atal	(1996-05-17)17 May 1996 (aged 25)	24	1	Nice
21	2DF	Ramy Bensebaini	(1995-04-16)16 April 1995 (aged 26)	43	5	Borussia Mönchengladbach
24	2DF	Ilyes Chetti	(1995-01-22)22 January 1995 (aged 26)	8	0	ES Tunis
25	2DF	Houcine Benayada	(1992-08-08)8 August 1992 (aged 29)	10	0	ES Sahel
28	2DF	Réda Halaïmia	(1996-08-28)28 August 1996 (aged 25)	6	0	Beerschot
6	3MF	Ramiz Zerrouki	(1998-05-26)26 May 1998 (aged 23)	8	1	Twente
10	3MF	Sofiane Feghouli	(1989-12-26)26 December 1989 (aged 32)	75	19	Galatasaray
11	3MF	Yacine Brahimi	(1990-02-08)8 February 1990 (aged 31)	64	14	Al-Rayyan
12	3MF	Haris Belkebla	(1994-01-28)28 January 1994 (aged 27)	10	0	Brest
14	3MF	Sofiane Bendebka	(1992-08-09)9 August 1992 (aged 29)	8	1	Al-Fateh
15	3MF	Farid Boulaya	(1993-02-25)25 February 1993 (aged 28)	6	1	Metz
19	3MF	Adem Zorgane	(2000-01-06)6 January 2000 (aged 22)	4	0	Charleroi
22	3MF	Ismaël Bennacer	(1997-12-01)1 December 1997 (aged 24)	32	2	Milan
7	4FW	Riyad Mahrez (captain)	(1991-02-21)21 February 1991 (aged 30)	72	26	Manchester City
8	4FW	Youcef Belaïli	(1992-03-14)14 March 1992 (aged 29)	32	8	Unattached
9	4FW	Baghdad Bounedjah	(1991-11-24)24 November 1991 (aged 30)	56	24	Al Sadd
13	4FW	Islam Slimani	(1988-06-18)18 June 1988 (aged 33)	82	39	Lyon
18	4FW	Adam Ounas	(1996-11-11)11 November 1996 (aged 25)	16	5	Napoli
26	4FW	Mohamed El Amine Amoura	(2000-05-09)9 May 2000 (aged 21)	4	4	Lugano
27	4FW	Saïd Benrahma	(1995-08-10)10 August 1995 (aged 26)	15	1	West Ham United

Recent call-ups[]

The following players have been called up to the Algeria squad at least once within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Azzedine Doukha	(1986-08-05) 5 August 1986 (age 35)	15	0	JS Kabylie	v.  Tunisia, 11 June 2021
DF	Naoufel Khacef	(1997-10-27) 27 October 1997 (age 24)	2	0	Tondela	v.  Burkina Faso, 7 September 2021
DF	Mehdi Tahrat	(1990-01-24) 24 January 1990 (age 31)	13	0	Al-Gharafa	v.  Tunisia, 11 June 2021
MF	Adlène Guedioura	(1985-11-12) 12 November 1985 (age 36)	61	2	Sheffield United	v.  Tunisia, 11 June 2021
MF	Mehdi Abeid	(1992-08-06) 6 August 1992 (age 29)	19	1	Al-Nasr	v.  Tunisia, 11 June 2021
MF	Farid Boulaya	(1993-02-25) 25 February 1993 (age 28)	4	1	Metz	v.  Tunisia, 11 June 2021
MF	Mehdi Zerkane	(1999-07-15) 15 July 1999 (age 22)	1	0	Bordeaux	v.  Tunisia, 11 June 2021
FW	Rachid Ghezzal	(1992-05-09) 9 May 1992 (age 29)	19	2	Beşiktaş	v.  Burkina Faso, 7 September 2021
FW	Andy Delort	(1991-10-09) 9 October 1991 (age 30)	11	2	Nice	v.  Burkina Faso, 7 September 2021
FW	Zinedine Ferhat	(1993-03-01) 1 March 1993 (age 28)	12	0	Nîmes	v.  Tunisia, 11 June 2021
FW	Hillal Soudani	(1987-11-25) 25 November 1987 (age 34)	52	24	Damac	v.  Botswana, 29 March 2021
FW	Oussama Darfalou	(1993-09-23) 23 September 1993 (age 28)	2	0	PEC Zwolle	v.  Botswana, 29 March 2021
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. RET Retired from international football. WD Player withdrew from the roster for non-injury related reasons COV Player withdrew from the roster due to COVID-19

Records[]

As of 16 January 2022^[31]

Players in bold are still active with Algeria.

Most appearances[]

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Lakhdar Belloumi	100	28	1978–1989
2	Raïs M'Bolhi	91	0	2010–present
3	Rabah Madjer	86	28	1978–1992
4	Islam Slimani	82	39	2012–present
5	Billel Dziri	81	9	1992–2005
6	Abdelhafid Tasfaout	80	36	1990–2002
7	Djamel Menad	79	25	1980–1995
8	Mahieddine Meftah	77	4	1989–2002
9	Sofiane Feghouli	75	19	2012–present
10	Mahmoud Guendouz	74	4	1977–1986

Top goalscorers[]

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Islam Slimani	39	82	0.48	2012–present
2	Abdelhafid Tasfaout	36	80	0.45	1990–2002
3	Rabah Madjer	28	86	0.33	1978–1992
	Lakhdar Belloumi	28	100	0.28	1978–1989
5	Riyad Mahrez	26	72	0.36	2014–present
6	Djamel Menad	25	79	0.32	1980–1995
7	Baghdad Bounedjah	24	56	0.43	2014–present
	Hillal Soudani	24	54	0.44	2011–present
9	Tedj Bensaoula	20	52	0.38	1979–1986
10	Sofiane Feghouli	19	75	0.25	2012–present

Competitive record[]

FIFA World Cup[]

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Round	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Part of  France									Part of  France
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966	Did not enter									Did not enter
1970	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	1	2
1974										2	1	0	1	2	5
1978										4	1	2	1	2	3
1982	Group stage	13th	3	2	0	1	5	5		8	5	2	1	16	6
1986	Group stage	22nd	3	0	1	2	1	5		6	5	1	0	13	3
1990	Did not qualify									6	3	2	1	6	2
1994										8	2	3	3	8	11
1998										2	1	0	1	2	3
2002										10	3	3	4	13	14
2006										12	3	5	4	15	15
2010	Group stage	28th	3	0	1	2	0	2		13	8	2	3	17	8
2014	Round of 16	14th	4	1	1	2	7	7		8	6	0	2	16	7
2018	Did not qualify									8	2	2	4	15	12
2022	To be determined									To be determined
2026
Total	Round of 16	4/21	13	3	3	7	13	19		89	40	23	26	126	91

Olympic Games[]

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1908–1960	Part of France
1964	Did not enter
1968	Did not qualify
1972
1976
1980	Quarter-finals	8th	4	1	1	2	4	5
1984	Did not qualify
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016	Group stage	14th	3	0	1	2	4	6
2020	Did not qualify
2024	To be determined
Total	Quarter-finals	2/26	7	1	2	4	8	11

• Prior to the Barcelona 1992 campaign, the Football at the Summer Olympics was open to full senior national teams.

Africa Cup of Nations[]

Africa Cup of Nations record										Africa Cup of Nations qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1957	Part of France									Part of France
1959
1962
1963	Did not enter									Did not enter
1965
1968	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	5	6		4	4	0	0	9	2
1970	Did not qualify									4	1	1	2	3	3
1972										2	1	0	1	3	4
1974										2	0	1	1	2	3
1976										2	0	1	1	2	3
1978										4	2	0	2	7	5
1980	Runners-up	2nd	5	2	2	1	6	7		2	1	0	1	3	2
1982	Fourth place	4th	5	2	1	2	5	6		4	2	1	1	13	5
1984	Third place	3rd	5	3	2	0	8	1		4	2	2	0	10	4
1986	Group stage	6th	3	0	2	1	2	3		4	2	2	0	8	1
1988	Third place	3rd	5	1	3	1	4	4		2	1	1	0	2	1
1990	Champions	1st	5	5	0	0	13	2		Qualified as hosts
1992	Group stage	10th	2	0	1	1	1	4		Qualified as defending champions
1994	Disqualified after qualification									6	4	1	1	13	4
1996	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	1	1	5	3		10	4	5	1	12	7
1998	Group stage	15th	3	0	0	3	2	5		6	3	1	2	9	5
2000	Quarter-finals	6th	4	1	2	1	5	4		8	4	1	3	14	8
2002	Group stage	15th	3	0	1	2	2	5		6	3	2	1	9	7
2004	Quarter-finals	8th	4	1	1	2	5	7		4	3	1	0	6	1
2006	Did not qualify									12	3	5	4	15	15
2008										6	2	2	2	6	6
2010	Fourth place	4th	6	2	1	3	4	10		12	7	2	3	16	8
2012	Did not qualify									6	2	2	2	5	8
2013	Group stage	13th	3	0	1	2	2	5		4	4	0	0	9	2
2015	Quarter-finals	6th	4	2	0	2	6	5		6	5	0	1	11	4
2017	Group stage	10th	3	0	2	1	5	6		6	5	1	0	25	5
2019	Champions	1st	7	6	1	0	13	2		6	3	2	1	9	4
2021	Qualified									6	4	2	0	19	6
2023	To be determind									To be determind
2025
Total	2 Titles	19/33	74	28	21	25	93	83		131	67	34	30	221	117

African Games[]

African Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1965	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	6	5
1973	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	6	6
1978	Gold medal	1st	5	4	1	0	9	2
1987	Disqualified 1
1991	Did not qualify
1995	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	2	4
1999	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	2	4
2003	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	3	4
2007	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	4	4
2011	Did not qualify
2015	Did not enter
2019	Did not qualify
	To be determined
Total	Gold Medal	7/11	25	11	4	10	32	29

• Prior to the Cairo 1991 campaign, the Football at the African Games was open to full senior national teams.
• ^1 Algeria withdrew in protest at CAF's decision to order a replay of the first leg against Tunisia; CAF had made this decision following Tunisia's protest that Algeria had fielded two ineligible players.

Mediterranean Games[]

Mediterranean Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1951	Part of France
1955
1959
1963	Did not enter
1967	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	4	6
1971	Did not qualify
19751	Gold medal	1st	6	6	0	0	14	3
1979	Bronze medal	3rd	5	2	2	1	7	6
1983	Group stage	6th	2	1	0	1	3	3
19871	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	1	7
1991	Group stage	8th	2	0	0	2	1	5
1993	Silver medal	2nd	4	2	1	1	6	4
1997	Group stage	8th	3	0	3	0	4	4
2001	Group stage	8th	2	0	0	2	3	7
2005	Quarter-finals	6th	3	1	1	1	3	4
2009	Did not qualify
2013
2018	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	3	5
	Qualified
Total	Gold Medal	11/18	36	14	7	15	49	54

• Prior to the Athens 1991 campaign, the Football at the Mediterranean Games was open to full senior national teams.
• ^1 Algeria participated with the national B team in 1975 and 1987.

FIFA Arab Cup[]

FIFA Arab Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1963	Did not enter
1964
1966
1985
1988	Group stage 1	5th	4	1	2	1	3	3
1992	Did not enter
1998	Group stage 2	10th	2	0	1	1	0	3
2002	Did not enter
2012
2021	Champions 3	1st	6	4	2	0	13	4
Total	Champions	3/9	12	5	5	2	16	10

1. ^ Algeria participated with the national University team
2. ^ Algeria participated with the national U-23 team
3. ^ Algeria participated with the national A' team (local players) in addition to players from other Arab leagues

Pan Arab Games[]

Pan Arab Games record
Appearances: 1
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1953	Part of France
1957
1961
1965	Did not enter
1976
1985	Bronze medal 1	3rd	5	2	0	3	4	6
1992	Did not enter
1997
1999	Withdrew
2004	No tournament
2007	Did not enter
2011
	To be determined
Total	Bronze Medal	1/11	5	2	0	3	4	6

1. ^ Algeria participated with the B team

Other records[]

Year	Position
1969 World military Cup	2nd
1972 Palestine Cup of Nations	3rd
1973 Palestine Cup of Nations	3rd
	2nd
1991 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations	1st
7th November Cup 1995	2nd
2004 African Military cup	3rd
2005 World military Cup	2nd
2008 African Military cup	2nd
2011 World military Cup	1st
2015 World military Cup	1st
2019 World military Cup	3rd
Total	3 titles

All-time record against FIFA recognized nations[]

• Below is a record of all matches correct as of 16 Jan 2021 after match against  Equatorial Guinea

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Albania	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	0%
Angola	9	2	6	1	11	10	+1	22.22%
Argentina	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1	0%
Armenia	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100%
Austria	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0%
Bahrain	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Bangladesh	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	100%
Belgium	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	0%
Benin	10	7	2	1	24	8	+16	70%
Botswana	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	100%
Brazil	4	0	0	4	0	8	−8	0%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0%
Bulgaria	6	1	2	3	6	9	−3	16.66%
Burkina Faso	22	9	7	6	35	20	+15	40.91%
Burundi	5	3	2	0	7	3	+4	60%
Cameroon	9	1	4	4	10	11	-1	11.11%
Canada	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	100%
Cape Verde	5	2	2	1	8	5	+3	40%
Central African Republic	3	2	0	1	5	2	+3	66.67%
Chad	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3	50%
Chile	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100%
China PR	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	66.67%
Colombia	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%
Congo	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	66.6%
DR Congo	5	2	3	0	7	3	+4	40%
Ivory Coast	22	6	10	6	23	23	0	27.27%
Cuba	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0%
Czech Republic	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2	50%
Denmark	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%
Djibouti	2	2	0	0	12	0	+12	100%
Egypt	24	10	10	5	30	31	−1	25.78%
England	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Ethiopia	8	4	3	1	18	7	+11	50%
Equatorial Guinea	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0%
Finland	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
France	6	3	1	2	12	7	+5	50%
Gabon	7	2	1	4	7	12	−5	14.3%
Gambia	8	4	2	2	11	7	+4	50%
Germany	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	66.67%
East Germanya	4	0	1	3	4	14	−10	0%
Ghana	11	4	2	5	14	13	+1	36%
Greece	3	2	0	1	7	2	+5	66.67%
Guinea	12	5	3	4	18	16	+2	41.67%
Guinea-Bissau	2	2	0	0	7	2	+5	100%
Hungary	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	0%
Iran	3	1	0	2	3	4	-1	33.33%
Iraq	8	0	4	4	3	11	−8	0%
Italy	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0%
Jordan	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0%
Kenya	8	4	1	3	12	7	+5	50%
South Korea	2	1	0	1	4	4	0	50%
Lebanon	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	50%
Lesotho	2	2	0	0	9	1	+8	100%
Liberia	5	2	3	0	10	4	+6	40%
Libya	17	13	2	2	24	7	+17	75%
Luxembourg	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%
Madagascar	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	100%
Malawi	7	4	1	2	13	6	+7	57.14%
Mali	18	10	1	7	24	21	+3	55.55%
Malta	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	66.67%
Mauritania	4	3	1	0	12	2	+10	75%
Mexico	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	0%
Morocco	26	6	10	10	20	28	−8	24%
Mozambique	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2	50%
Namibia	4	4	0	0	7	0	+7	100%
Niger	7	6	0	1	24	2	+22	85.71%
Nigeria	20	9	4	7	27	26	+1	45%
Northern Ireland	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0%
Oman	3	3	0	0	6	1	+5	100%
Qatar	5	4	0	1	9	2	+7	80%
Palestine	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Peru	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0%
Portugal	2	1	0	1	5	3	+2	50%
Poland	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	0%
Republic of Ireland	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	50%
Romania	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%
Russiab	2	0	2	0	3	3	0	0%
Rwanda	6	4	2	0	10	2	+7	60%
Saudi Arabia	5	1	2	2	6	8	-2	20%
Senegal	20	11	5	4	29	16	+13	55%
Serbia	1	0	0	0	1	3	-3	0%
Seychelles	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100%
Sierra Leone	6	2	3	1	7	4	+3	33%
Slovakia	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0%
Slovenia	3	2	0	1	4	1	+3	66.6%
South Africa	5	1	3	1	5	4	+1	20%
Spain	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	0%
Sudan	6	3	2	1	9	4	+5	50%
Sweden	4	0	1	3	1	9	−8	0%
Switzerland	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0%
Syria	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	50%
Tanzania	8	5	2	1	16	7	+8	62.50%
Togo	7	3	1	3	9	4	+5	42.86%
Tunisia	43	17	12	14	43	35	+8	39.53%
Turkey	3	2	0	1	2	4	−2	66.6%
Uganda	9	3	4	2	13	8	+5	33.33%
United Arab Emirates	5	2	2	1	3	3	0	40%
United States	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0%
Uruguay	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%
South Yemena	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100%
Zambia	14	7	2	5	13	9	+4	50%
Zimbabwe	6	2	3	1	11	8	+3	33.33%
Total	488	202	137	149	643	494	+149	41.39%

(a) Denotes defunct national football team.
(b) Includes games against USSR.
(c) Includes games against Yugoslavia.

Honours[]

See also[]

• Algeria A' national football team
• Algeria national under-23 football team
• Algeria national under-20 football team
• Algeria national under-17 football team
• List of Algeria national football team managers
• List of Algeria international footballers
• Algeria national football team records and statistics
• List of leading goalscorers for the Algeria national football team
• Algeria national football team all-time record

Notes[]

A.^ Prior to Algerian independence in 1962, matches were organised under the auspices of the Front de Libération Nationale and it's called the FLN football team.^[32]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Algeria national football team.

• Algerian FA
• Algeria FIFA profile
• The Algerian Football Notebooks
• ELKHADRA
• National Football Teams