The Algeria team led by Vladimir Petkovic can learn a lot from its journey at the 2025 African Cup of Nations in Morocco. The Greens performed flawlessly in the group stage against weaker opponents (Sudan, Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea) but showed their physical and collective limits in the round of 16 against the DRC (1-0 victory in overtime following a stroke of genius from Adil Boulbina) then during the rout against Nigeria (2-0).
Aging executives Aïssa Mandi, Riyad Mahrez and Baghdad Bounedjah are really on their last legs as the 2026 World Cup approaches (from June 11 to July 19 in Canada, the United States and Mexico), Luca Zidane did not convince in the Algerian goals and the late madman Mohamed Amoura did not manage to take the game into his own hands. But young people have therefore emerged: the attacking midfielder Ibrahim Maza in the first place, the winger Anis Hadj Moussa (in addition to Boulbina), the stopper Zineddine Belaïd and the right side Rafik Belghali.
With Belghali, 23, who established himself at Hellas Verona after his training in Belgium (Lommel then Mechelen), Algeria has its leader on the right side. Samir Chergui, the Paris FC central defender capable of playing on the right, is a quality understudy. On the other hand, Youcef Atal will not be part of the equation for World Cup 26, he who was part of the group at CAN 2025 by only playing the 3rd group match against the Equatoguineans. His versatility could have been an asset.
Algeria will challenge Lionel Messi!
The right back who played for OGC Nice suffered a total rupture of his Achilles tendon during the final of the United Arab Emirates-Qatar Super Cup on Saturday afternoon. The Al-Sadd player injured himself at the end of the first period when he left the field in great pain. He will need a year before returning to competition. The Doha club led by Roberto Firmino, author of a double, won against Al-Ahli, a team from Dubai (3-2).
The Algerians are entitled to a shock entry into the World Cup against Lionel Messi’s Argentina on June 16 in Kansas City (3 a.m. in France), before facing Jordan and Austria to hope to reach the round of 16 of the tournament.
