ABIDJAN - Factbox on Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers Algeria.
Africa Cup of Nations record:
Previous appearances in finals: (19) 1968, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021.
Best performance: Winners 1990, 2019
Drawn in Group D with Angola, Burkina Faso, Mauritania.
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Coach: Djamel Belmadi
The 47-year-old French-born coach led Algeria to the Cup of Nations title in 2019 and on an unbeaten run of 31 games that ended at the last Cup of Nations finals when they suffered a shock defeat to tiny Equatorial Guinea in early 2022. His managerial career began at club level in Qatar and he took charge of their national team for a year, but was fired after Qatar finished bottom of the group at the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia. As a player, he was a feisty midfielder on the books of Paris St Germain, Olympique de Marseille, Manchester City and Southampton and captained Algeria at the 2004 Cup of Nations finals.
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Key player: Riyad Mahrez. Age: 32. Winger
The 2016 African Footballer of the Year was born in Sarcelles, France, but his father hailed from Algeria and he was first invited to play for the north Africans at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He has since participated at the last four Cup of Nations finals, leading Algeria to the title in 2019. He was a significant contributor to Leicester City’s shock 2016 Premier League triumph and won more league titles with Manchester City before a move to Saudi Arabia last year.
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FIFA world ranking Dec 2023: 30
How they qualified: Top placed team in qualifying Group F, ahead of Tanzania, Uganda and Niger
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Oussama Benbot (USM Alger), Anthony Mandrea (Caen), Mustafa Zeghba (Damac)
Defenders: Rayan Ait Nouri (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Youcef Atal (Nice), Zineddine Belaid (USM Alger), Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Guitoun (Metz), Yasser Larouci (Sheffield United), Aissa Mandi (Villarreal), Ahmed Touba (Lecce), Mohamed Tougai (Esperance)
Midfielders: Houssem Aouar (AS Roma), Ismael Bennacer (AC Milan), Nabil Bentaleb (Lille), Hicham Boudaoui (Nice), Fares Chaibi (Eintracht Frankfurt), Sofiane Feghouli (Fatih Karagumruk), Ramiz Zerrouki (Feyenoord Rotterdam)
Forwards: Mohamed Amoura (Union Saint-Gilloise), Youcef Belaili (Mouloudia Alger), Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Sadd), Amine Gouiri (Stade Rennais), Riyad Mahrez (Al Ahli), Adam Ounas (Lille), Islam Slimani (Coritiba). REUTERS
