Algeria National Football Team

Algeria are the most prominent footballing nation in North Africa alongside Morocco and Egypt, with two Africa Cup of Nations titles (1990 as hosts, 2019 in Egypt), one FIFA Arab Cup title (2021), and five World Cup appearances (1982, 1986, 2010, 2014 and 2026) — making the 2026 cycle a return after 12 years away. The Fédération Algérienne de Football was founded in 1962, the year of Algerian independence from France, and Les Fennecs have spent most of their existence as one of CAF's most consistent forces. The 1982 World Cup debut, with the stunning 2-1 upset of West Germany in Gijón — Rabah Madjer and Lakhdar Belloumi scoring against a German side that had been heavy favourites to win the tournament — remains one of the most-cited African footballing performances in tournament history. The same tournament ended in controversy with the so-called 'Disgrace of Gijón' between West Germany and Austria, a match in which both sides allegedly conspired to play out a 1-0 result that eliminated Algeria on goal difference and ensured both German-speaking sides progressed. Vladimir Petković, the Bosnian-Swiss coach who took Switzerland to the 2018 World Cup round of 16 and the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, was appointed head coach in May 2024 after Djamel Belmadi's exit. Captain Riyad Mahrez of Al-Ahli (formerly Manchester City and Leicester City) is the headline name. The squad combines Mahrez with Islam Slimani (the country's all-time top scorer with 45 goals), Saïd Benrahma (Olympique Lyonnais), Houssem Aouar (Roma) and goalkeeper Anthony Mandrea. Algeria enter the World Cup with one of the most settled squads of any CAF nation.

Algeria's 2-1 win over West Germany at El Molinón in Gijón on 16 June 1982 — Lakhdar Belloumi's 68th-minute winner — remains the most-quoted African footballing upset of all time and Algeria's most consequential single result. The Algeria-West Germany scoreline was so unexpected that several major European newspapers ran corrected front-page stories the following morning. The result subsequently triggered the so-called 'Disgrace of Gijón' between West Germany and Austria on the final matchday, in which both sides played out a result that eliminated Algeria — a fixture so widely criticised that FIFA changed group-stage scheduling rules to require simultaneous final-matchday kick-offs. The 4-2 group-stage win over South Korea at the Estádio Beira-Rio on 22 June 2014 — Islam Slimani opening the scoring, Rafik Halliche heading in twice, Abdelmoumene Djabou adding the fourth — is the most prolific Algerian World Cup performance in the federation's history. The Fennecs scored four goals in a single tournament fixture for the first time, and the result clinched their first ever round-of-16 appearance (they lost 2-1 to Germany after extra time, with Mesut Özil's 120th-minute equaliser to a 91st-minute Abdelmoumene Djabou strike). Riyad Mahrez's 95th-minute free-kick winner against Nigeria in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations semi-final at the Cairo International Stadium on 14 July 2019 — bending into the top corner from 22 yards — sealed Algeria's place in the AFCON final. The Fennecs went on to beat Senegal 1-0 in the final on a Baghdad Bounedjah goal, completing the country's second continental title 29 years after the first in 1990.