Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team represents Algeria in men's international football, and is governed by the Algerian Football Federation. The team plays their home matches at the 5 July Stadium in Algiers and Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran. Algeria joined FIFA on 1 January 1964, a year and a half after gaining independence.
The North African team has qualified for five FIFA World Cups, in 1982, 1986, 2010, 2014, and 2026. Algeria has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice, as hosts in 1990, and again in Egypt in 2019. They were also champions of the men's football tournament of the 1975 Mediterranean Games, the men's football tournament of the 1978 All-Africa Games, the 1991 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, and the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup.
Algeria has rivalries with Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, while competitive matches have been played against Nigeria, especially in the 1980s, and Mali due to sharing a common border and a long-standing competitive rivalry, and against Senegal. For the Algerians, their biggest victory on the world stage was their 2–1 win against West Germany during the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and in 2014, Algeria became the first African team to score at least four goals in a match at a World Cup, doing so against South Korea.
History
1957–1958: ALN
In 1956, in Tunis, Tunisia, the first team representing Algeria was formed, the Armée de Libération Nationale team led by Ahmed Benelfoul and Habib Draoua. The team was approved by the FLN in May 1957 and was managed by Salah Saidou, with Abdelkader Zerrar the captain. The first game was played on 1 June 1957 against Tunisia in the Stade Chedly Zouiten. In April 1958, the team was dissolved and was replaced by the FLN team.1958–1962: FLN
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, 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.1962–1980
Football in Algeria was established in the 1930s 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. 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. After the Algerian national football team was officially recognized by FIFA in 1963, the team qualified to the 1968 Africa Cup of Nations and failed to qualify for the next five editions of the AFCON until 1980.1980s
1982 FIFA World Cup
Algeria caused one of the greatest World Cup upsets on the first day of the tournament with a 2–1 victory over defending European champions West Germany.In the final match in the group between West Germany and Austria, with Algeria and Chile having already played their final group game the day before, the European teams knew that a West German win by one or two 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, with the two teams kicking the ball around aimlessly after. Chants of "Fuera, fuera" 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.
1986 FIFA World Cup
In 1984, Algeria finished in third place in the AFCON in Ivory Coast. During the 1986 AFCON, Algeria recorded two defeats and one draw, being eliminated in the first round. In Mexico, at the 1986 World Cup, the Algerians were unable to pass the first round once again in a group that included Northern Ireland, Brazil, and Spain. Only one Algerian scored during this competition, Djamel Zidane. Algeria then failed to qualify for another World Cup until 2010.1990–2008
Algeria hosted the 1990 AFCON, being drawn into Group A, with Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Egypt, before reaching a final that had a crowd of 105,302 fans at Chérif Oudjani. In a rematch against Nigeria, Algeria won the AFCON for the first time.After winning the AFCON, Algeria barely missed out in qualifying to the 1990 World Cup, and the country was on the brink of a civil war. Although Algeria qualified to the 1992 African Cup of Nations, the title holders 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. Algeria returned to the 1996 African Cup of Nations, but were eliminated by hosts South Africa in the quarter-finals. Two years later, Algeria finished last in its group with three defeats and was eliminated in the group stage.
In 2000, the Fennecs passed the first round only to lose to 2–1 to eventual champions Cameroon in the quarter-finals. They then were eliminated in the first round in 2002, before losing to hosts Tunisia in the 2004 final. They then failed to qualify for either the AFCON or World Cup in 2006, and missed the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
2008–2014
2010 AFCON and 2010 World Cup
On 11 October 2008, Algeria returned to the top 20 in the FIFA World Rankings 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 qualification rounds. In the third and final round of the qualifiers, Algeria was joined by Zambia, Rwanda, and Egypt in group C.A playoff game was played in Sudan in November 2009 with the winner qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa. Algeria won 1–0 after a stunning goal from Anthar Yahia and qualified for the finals for the third time in their history.
After qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa, Algeria finished fourth in the 2010 African Cup of Nations.
Algeria was drawn in Group C with England, the United States, and 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, with Slovenia's captain Robert Koren scoring in the 79th minute after Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off for his second yellow card. In their second group game, Algeria drew with England leading to massive celebrations throughout the world's Algerian communities. 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.
2010–13
After the World Cup, Algeria suffered a 2–1 home loss to Guinea in a friendly and a 1–1 draw at home to Tanzania, leading to veteran managerRabah Saâdane resigning and being replaced by 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.
After new coach Vahid Halilhodžić was appointed, Algeria began their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. 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. Eventually, the team qualified for the World Cup after being eliminated from the 2013 AFCON after two matches by defeating Burkina Faso on an aggregate play-off.