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Algeria national football team

 
Wikipedia: Algeria national football team
Algeria national football team
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Les Fennecs
(The Desert Foxes)
Association Fédération Algérienne de Football
Confederation CAF (Africa)
Head coach Algeria Rabah Saadane
Asst coach Algeria Zoheir Djelloul
Captain Yazid Mansouri
Most caps Mahieddine Meftah (107)
Top scorer Abdelhafid Tasfaout (35)
Home stadium Stade 5 Juillet 1962
FIFA code ALG
FIFA ranking 28
Highest FIFA ranking 28 (October 2009)
Lowest FIFA ranking 103 (May 2008)
Elo ranking 56
Highest Elo ranking 16 (November 1967)
Lowest Elo ranking 105 (July 2008)
Home colours
Away colours
First international
Tunisia Tunisia 1–2 Algeria Algeria
(Tunisia; 1 June 1957)
Biggest win
Algeria Algeria 15–1 South Yemen People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
(Libya; 17 August 1973)
Biggest defeat
East Germany East Germany 5–0 Algeria Algeria
(Cottbus, East Germany; 21 April 1976)
World Cup
Appearances 3 (First in 1982)
Best result Round 1, 1982 and 1986
African Nations Cup
Appearances 13 (First in 1968)
Best result Winners, 1990

The Algeria national football team, nicknamed Les Fennecs (The Desert Foxes) and also moharibou essahra (desert warriors), is the national team of Algeria and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. It made two consecutive World Cups in 1982 and 1986 and lifted the African Nations Cup in 1990 as the host country. In November 2009, they beat fierce rivals Egypt in a playoff to secure a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Contents

History

1957: The Beginnings of Algerian football

The Algerian national team was formed in clandestine circumstances in 1958 when Mohamed Boumezrag, a leader of a section of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) of Algeria based in metropolitan France, returned from the 1957 World Youth Festival, in which a team representing Algeria, then a French colony, had taken part in an unofficial football tournament. Using the contacts he had made during the tournament, Boumezrag recruited 10, and eventually 30, of the best-known French-based Algerian professional players to secretly leave the country and go to Tunisia where the Algerian national team was formally established on 13 April. The world football governing body FIFA later announced after protest from the French Football Federation, that any team that played the Algerians would be expelled from the World Cup, while the French government succeeded in arresting other players who tried to leave the country to join the team. Despite these obstacles, the Algerian FLN team played 91 matches over the next four years and helped win international recognition for the Algerian struggle for independence.

After the nation gained independence in 1962, membership of FIFA and official international fixtures became possible, the first sanctioned match being against Bulgaria in January 1963, and the first competitive internationals were in the qualification tournament for the 1968 African Cup of Nations.

On 17 August 1971 in Libya, the national team recorded its largest victory in its history by beating South Yemen by a score of 15–1. However, on 21 April 1976 in Cottbus, Germany, the team recorded its largest defeat by a score of 5–0 against East Germany. From 1970–1978, the Algerian team did not qualify for any international competition. During this time. however, Algeria won the gold medal at the 1975 Mediterranean Games and 1978 All Africa Games

1980–1990: apogee of Algerian football

During the 1980 African Nations Cup, Algeria finished runner-up with the following results: after a draw against Ghana (0–0), it defeated both Morocco (1–0, with a goal by Lakhdar Belloumi) and Guinea (3–2, with goals by Hocine Benmiloudi and a double by Tedj Bensaoula). In the semi-finals, they beat Egypt in a penalty shoot-out (2–2, PK 4–2, with goals by Salah Assad and Hocine Benmiloudi). In the final, they were defeated by Nigeria by a score of 3–0. In the 1982 African Cup of Nations, Algeria finished fourth and qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

World Cup 1982

In El Molinón in Gijón, Spain, Lakhdar Belloumi scored the winner for Algeria against the champions of Europe, West Germany. The 1982 FIFA World Cup 1982 was littered with shocking results: Northern Ireland beat Spain, Cameroon beat Italy, Poland and Peru drawed, and Belgium beat Argentina in the opening game. But nothing beat the majesty of Algeria beating West Germany.

The Germans were in the midst of an imperious run that would see them reach three straight finals, while bowling all before them with a clinical, meticulous brand of football. Jupp Derwall – only West Germany's third coach in 40 years – famously said he would jump into the Mediterranean Sea if Algeria won. They did, and he never ended up jumping. This win was overshadowed by a later result in the same group, arguably almost as shocking.

On the brink of becoming the first African team to reach the second-phase of the World Cup, Algeria were robbed by the infamous game between Austria and the same West Germans. That game saw the Germans "beat" the non-trying Austrians 1–0, eliminating Algeria, and forcing FIFA to change the order games were played in. No longer would matches take place at different times, yet that was no comfort to Algeria. [1]

World Cup 1986

In 1984, Algeria took third place in the 1984 African Nations Cup in Côte d'Ivoire. During the 1986 African Nations Cup, 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 managed to score during this competition: Djamel Zidane. From thereon, Algeria failed to to qualify another World Cup until 2010.

African Nations Cup 1990

In 1990, Algeria hosted the 1990 African Nations Cup. 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), Côte d'Ivoire (3–0, with goals by Djamel Menad, Tahar Cherif El Ouazzani, and Cherif Oudjani) and Egypt (2–0, with goals by Djamel Amani and Moussa Saib). In the semi-finals, Algeria beat Senegal 2–1 (goals by Djamel Menad and Djamel Amani in front of 85,000 fans in the Stade 5 Juillet 1962.

In the final against Nigeria, in front of 200,000 fans in the same stadium, Cherif Oudjani, in the 38th minute, enabled Algeria to win the African Nations Cup for the first time. Djamel Menad was crowned top scorer of the competition with four goals.

1990–2008: The walk through the desert

Having won an African Nations Cup title, the Algerian team, however, had not managed to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. In 1991, the national team won the Afro-Asian Cup of Nations against Iran. As title holders, Algeria disappointed at the 1992 African Nations Cup in Senegal, recording a loss against Côte d'Ivoire (3–0) and a draw against Congo (1–1, with a goal by Nacer Bouiche). In 1994, Algeria was disqualified from the 1994 African Nations Cup in Tunisia due to the use of an ineligible player and failed during the 1994 World Cup qualifiying.

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. In the 2000 African Cup of Nations, the Fennecs managed to pass to the first round only to lose to Cameroon (2–1). Algeria once more failed to pass the first round in the African competition in 2002 but managed to get to the quarter-finals in 2004; however, they were eliminated by Morocco by a score of 3–1 after extra-time (the lone Algerian goal was scored by Abdelmalek Cherrad. Algeria failed to qualify for the following two Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2008.

The road to South Africa

On 11 October 2008, Algeria returned to the top 20 African teams by finishing first in their group ahead of Senegal, Gambia, and Liberia for the second round on 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 July 2009, Algeria made their return amongst the world's top fifty after a 3–1 win against the double African champions Egypt and a 2–0 away win against Zambia. Beating Zambia in Blida 1–0 followed by a 3–1 win against Rwanda, Algeria ensured that the qualification for the World Cup would go down to the wire with a final encounter against Egypt in Cairo, where nothing less than a loss by three goals would stop the Fennecs from going to South Africa. This run of results also saw Algeria move to their highest FIFA ranking (29) – one place behind Egypt in the October 2009 ranking. In November 2009, they beat fierce rivals Egypt in a playoff to secure a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.[1] [2]

Algerian football achievements

World Cups:

No history

African Competitions:
Arab Competitions:
Afro-Asian Cup of Nations :
  • 1 Time Champion (1991)

Competitive record

World Cup record

World Cup
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
Uruguay 1930 to Chile 1962 Did not enter - - - - - - -
England 1966 Withdrew - - - - - - -
Mexico 1970 to Argentina 1978 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Spain 1982 Round 1 13 3 2 0 1 5 5
Mexico 1986 Round 1 22 3 0 1 2 1 5
Italy 1990 to Germany 2006 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
South Africa 2010 Qualified - - - - - - -
Total 3/19 2 First Rounds 6 2 1 3 6 10

African Nations Cup Record

African Cup of Nations
Titles: 1
Appearances: 13
Year Position Year Position Year Position
Sudan 1957 Did not qualify Ethiopia 1976 Did not qualify Tunisia 1994 Disqualified
Egypt 1959 Did not qualify Ghana 1978 Did not qualify South Africa 1996 Quarter-finals
Ethiopia 1962 Did not qualify Nigeria 1980 Second place Burkina Faso 1998 Round 1
Ghana 1963 Did not qualify Libya 1982 Fourth place GhanaNigeria 2000 Quarter-finals
Tunisia 1965 Did not qualify Côte d'Ivoire 1984 Third place Mali 2002 Round 1
Ethiopia 1968 Round 1 Egypt 1986 Round 1 Tunisia 2004 Quarter-finals
Sudan 1970 Did not qualify Morocco 1988 Third Place Egypt 2006 Did not qualify
Cameroon 1972 Did not qualify Algeria 1990 Champions Ghana 2008 Did not qualify
Egypt 1974 Did not qualify Senegal 1992 Round 1 Angola 2010 Qualified

For Angola 2010, see 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

1st Round

2nd Round

  • Algeria was drawn in Group 6 along with Senegal, the Gambia and Liberia. In this 2nd Round of qualifying, the group winners and the 8 best runners-up progress to the second qualifying round.
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Algeria 6 3 1 2 7 4 +3 10
 Gambia 6 2 3 1 6 3 +3 9
 Senegal 6 2 3 1 9 7 +2 9
 Liberia 6 0 3 3 4 12 −8 3
  Algeria The Gambia Liberia Senegal
Algeria  1 – 0 3 – 0 3 – 2
Gambia  1 – 0 3 – 0 0 – 0
Liberia  0 – 0 1 – 1 2 – 2
Senegal  1 – 0 1 – 1 3 – 1

Fixtures and Results

May 31, 2008
Senegal  1 – 0  Algeria Stade Leopold Senghor, Dakar
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Kotey (Ghana)
Faye Goal 80' Report

June 6, 2008
Algeria  3 – 0  Liberia Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Ould Lemghambodj (Mauritania)
Djebbour Goal 15'
Ziani Goal 20', Goal 48' pen.
Report

June 13, 2008
Gambia  1 – 0  Algeria Independence Stadium, Bakau
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: Coulibaly (Mali)
Jaiteh Goal 19' pen. Report

June 20, 2008
Algeria  1 – 0  Gambia Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Ndume (Gabon)
Yahia Goal 15' Report

September 5, 2008
Algeria  3 – 2  Senegal Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: Maillet (Seychelles)
Bezzaz Goal 60'
Saifi Goal 67'
Yahia Goal 73'
Report Dia Goal 53'
Sougou Goal 90'

October 10, 2008
Liberia  0 – 0  Algeria National Complex, Monrovia
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Auda (Egypt)
Report

3rd Round

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Algeria 6 4 1 1 9 4 +5 13
 Egypt 6 4 1 1 9 4 +5 13
 Zambia 6 1 2 3 2 5 −3 5
 Rwanda 6 0 2 4 1 8 −7 2
  Algeria Egypt Rwanda Zambia
Algeria  3 – 1 3 – 1 1 – 0
Egypt  2 – 0 3 – 0 1 – 1
Rwanda  0 – 0 0 – 1 0 – 0
Zambia  0 – 2 0 – 1 1 – 0


Fixtures and Results

March 28, 2009
Rwanda  0 – 0  Algeria Stade Amahoro, Kigali
Attendance: 22,000
Referee: Codjia (Benin)
Report

June 6, 2009
Algeria  3 – 1  Egypt Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida
Attendance: 26,500
Referee: Bennett (South Africa)
Matmour Goal 60'
Ghezzal Goal 64'
Djebbour Goal 77'
Report Aboutrika Goal 87'

June 20, 2009
Zambia  0 – 2  Algeria Konkola Stadium, Chililabombwe
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Evehe (Cameroon)
Report Bougherra Goal 21'
Saifi Goal 66'

September 6, 2009
Algeria  1 – 0  Zambia Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Seechurn (Mauritius)
Saifi Goal 59' Report

October 11, 2009
Algeria  2–1  Rwanda Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida
Attendance: 30,000
Ghezzal Goal 22'
Belhadj Goal 45' Ziani Goal 90+4'
3 1 Mutesa Goal 20'

November 14, 2009
Egypt  2–0  Algeria Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
Attendance: 74,000
Zaki Goal 2'
Moteab Goal 90'

Arab Nations Cup 2009 (Qualification)

Friendlies

  • List of fixtures and results for the year 2008-2009. [2]
March 26, 2008
Algeria  1 - 1  Congo DR Stade Maurice Bacquet, Goussainville
Ghilas Goal 90' pen. Mbokani Goal 24'

August 20, 2008
Algeria  1 - 0  United Arab Emirates Stade Ferdi Petit, Le Touquet
Bezzaz Goal 9'.

November 18, 2008
Algeria  1 - 1  Mali Stade Robert Diochon, Rouen
Abdeslam Goal 90'. N'Diaye Goal 10'

February 11, 2009
Algeria  2 - 1  Benin Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida
Ghezzal Goal 36'
Ghilas Goal 42'
Maiga Goal 85'

August 12, 2009
Algeria  1 - 0  Uruguay Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers
Djebbour Goal 79'

Current Squad

The following players were called up for the World Cup qualification tiebreaker match against Egypt on 18 November 2009 in Umm Durmān.

Caps and goals as of 18 November 2009, subsequent to the World Cup qualification tiebreaker against Egypt.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
16 GK Faouzi Chaouchi December 5, 1984 (1984-12-05) (age 24) 3 0 Algeria Sétif
22 GK Mohamed Ousserir February 5, 1978 (1978-02-05) (age 31) 5 0 Algeria Belouizdad
1 GK Lounès Gaouaoui September 28, 1977 (1977-09-28) (age 32) 47 0 Algeria ASO Chlef
2 DF Madjid Bougherra October 7, 1982 (1982-10-07) (age 27) 34 2 Scotland Rangers
3 DF Nadir Belhadj June 18, 1982 (1982-06-18) (age 27) 37 4 England Portsmouth
4 DF Anthar Yahia March 21, 1982 (1982-03-21) (age 27) 40 5 Germany Bochum
5 DF Rafik Halliche September 2, 1986 (1986-09-02) (age 23) 9 1 Portugal Nacional
14 DF Abdelkader Laïfaoui July 9, 1981 (1981-07-09) (age 28) 2 0 Algeria Sétif
17 DF Samir Zaoui June 6, 1976 (1976-06-06) (age 33) 21 0 Algeria ASO Chlef
11 DF Slimane Raho October 20, 1975 (1975-10-20) (age 34) 45 0 Algeria Sétif
20 DF Réda Babouche July 3, 1979 (1979-07-03) (age 30) 1 0 Algeria Algiers
6 MF Yazid Mansouri Captain sports.svg February 25, 1978 (1978-02-25) (age 31) 58 0 France Lorient
7 MF Yacine Bezzaz July 10, 1981 (1981-07-10) (age 28) 19 3 France Strasbourg
12 MF Hassan Yebda April 14, 1984 (1984-04-14) (age 25) 2 0 England Portsmouth
13 MF Karim Matmour June 25, 1985 (1985-06-25) (age 24) 16 1 Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach
15 MF Karim Ziani August 17, 1982 (1982-08-17) (age 27) 46 4 Germany Wolfsburg
18 MF Mourad Meghni April 16, 1984 (1984-04-16) (age 25) 5 0 Italy Lazio
8 MF Khaled Lemmouchia December 6, 1981 (1981-12-06) (age 27) 13 0 Algeria Sétif
24 MF Hameur Bouazza February 22, 1985 (1985-02-22) (age 24) 10 1 England Blackpool
MF Djamel Abdoun February 14, 1986 (1986-02-14) (age 23) 0 0 France Nantes
12 FW Rafik Djebbour March 8, 1984 (1984-03-08) (age 25) 13 3 Greece AEK Athens
9 FW Abdelkader Ghezzal December 5, 1984 (1984-12-05) (age 24) 10 3 Italy Siena
10 FW Rafik Saïfi February 7, 1975 (1975-02-07) (age 34) 55 18 Qatar Al-Khor
14 FW Kamel Ghilas March 9, 1984 (1984-03-09) (age 25) 16 3 England Hull City


Recent call-ups

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
GK Samir Hadjaoui February 16, 1979 (1979-02-16) (age 30) 3 0 Algeria Kabylie
GK Mohamed Benhamou December 17, 1979 (1979-12-17) (age 29) 7 0 Algeria Oran
DF Mohamed Rabie Meftah May 5, 1985 (1985-05-05) (age 24) 5 0 Algeria Kabylie
DF Abderraouf Zarabi March 26, 1979 (1979-03-26) (age 30) 22 0 France Nîmes
DF Ismaël Bouzid July 21, 1983 (1983-07-21) (age 26) 7 0 Scotland Hearts
DF Adel Maïza March 18, 1983 (1983-03-18) (age 26) 3 0 Algeria USM Annaba
DF Féthi Harek October 21, 1982 (1982-10-21) (age 27) 1 0 France Bastia
MF Hocine Achiou April 27, 1979 (1979-04-27) (age 30) 26 3 Algeria Kabylie
MF Chérif Abdeslam September 1, 1979 (1979-09-01) (age 30) 8 1 Algeria Kabylie
MF Lamouri Djediat January 20, 1981 (1981-01-20) (age 28) 10 0 Algeria Sétif
MF Lazhar Hadj Aïssa March 23, 1984 (1984-03-23) (age 25) 6 0 Algeria Sétif
MF Salim Arrache July 14, 1982 (1982-07-14) (age 27) 13 1 France Stade Reims
FW Chadli Amri December 14, 1984 (1984-12-14) (age 24) 9 0 Germany Mainz
FW Noureddine Daham November 15, 1977 (1977-11-15) (age 32) 7 2 Germany TuS Koblenz
FW Hamza Yacef August 25, 1979 (1979-08-25) (age 30) 8 1 Algeria Algiers
FW Nabil Hemani September 1, 1979 (1979-09-01) (age 30) 4 0 Algeria Sétif
FW Mohamed Seguer September 7, 1985 (1985-09-07) (age 24) 2 0 Algeria Sétif
FW Cheikh Hamidi April 6, 1983 (1983-04-06) (age 26) 1 0 Algeria USM Annaba

Kit Supplier

Manager History


Player Records

Top Goalscorers

# Name Career Goals Goals per game Caps
1 Abdelhafid Tasfaout 1982–2002 35 0.40 88
2 Rabah Madjer 1980–1992 28 0.34 83
3 Lakhdar Belloumi 1978–1989 24 0.27 89
4 Djamel Menad 1982–1995 25 0.31 80
5 Tedj Bensaoula 1978–1986 22 ? ?
6 Rafik Saifi 1999– 18 0.34 53
7 Salah Assad 1978–1988 14 0.21 67
8 Hacène Lalmas 1964–1974 12 0.35 34
9 Ali Mecabih 1995–2003 10 0.40 25
10 Billel Dziri 1993–2002 9 0.10 87

Bold denotes players still playing or available for selection.

Most Capped

# Player Career Caps Goals
1 Mahieddine Meftah 1989 - 2002 107 4
2 Lakhdar Belloumi 1978 - 1989 89 24
3 Abdelhafid Tasfaout 1991 - 2002 88 35
4 Billel Dziri 1992 - 2005 87 9
5 Rabah Madjer 1978 - 1992 83 28
6 Djamel Menad 1980 - 1995 80 25
7 Mahmoud Guendouz 1977 - 1986 71 4
8 Salah Assad 1977 - 1989 67 14
9 Ali Fergani 1973 - 1986 66 6

The caps and goals for Algeria, As of 12 August.

World Cup Squads

Algeria all time record against all nations

Titles

Preceded by
1988 Cameroon 
Africa Cup of Nations
1990
Succeeded by
1992 Côte d'Ivoire 
Preceded by
1988 Korea Republic 
Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
1991
Succeeded by
1993 Japan 

See also

References

External links


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