Algeria

Nickname(s) Les Fennecs (The Desert Foxes) Association Fédération Algérienne de Football Confederation CAF (Africa) Head coach Rabah Saadane Asst coach Zoheir Djelloul Captain Yazid Mansouri Most caps Mahieddine Meftah (107) Top scorer Abdelhafid Tasfaout (36) Home stadium Stade 5 Juillet 1962 FIFA code ALG FIFA ranking 30 Highest FIFA ranking 26 (December 2009) Lowest FIFA ranking 103 (jun 2008) Elo ranking 71 Highest Elo ranking 16 (November 1967) Lowest Elo ranking 105 (July 2008) Home Colours Away Colours First international Tunisia 1–2 Algeria (Tunisia; 1 June 1957) Biggest win Algeria 15–1 South Yemen (Tripoli, Libya; 17 August 1973) Biggest defeat Germany 5–0 Algeria (Cottbus, Germany; 05 May 1980) World Cup Appearances 2 (First in 1982) Best result Round 1, 1982 and 1986 African Nations Cup Appearances 14 (First in 1968) Best result Winners, 1990

The Algeria national football team, nicknamed Les Fennecs (The Desert Foxes), is the national team of Algeria and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria managed to qualify to two consecutive World Cups in 1982 and 1986. Algeria also won the Africa Cup of Nations once in 1990 when they hosted the tournament. In November 2009, Algeria beat North African rivals Egypt in a World Cup qualification tiebreaker to secure a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. 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 qualify for another World Cup until 2010. Africa Cup of Nations 1990 In 1990, Algeria hosted the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations. 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. World Cup 2010 qualifiers Algeria fans at a friendly vs. Republic of Ireland in Dublin. 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. Prior to the game the Algerian team bus was attacked by violent hooligans leaving several team members injured. This led to a diplomatic row between the two countries, which resulted in Algeria halting gas exports to Egypt. Algeria unsurprisingly lost the game 2-0. Algeria won the resulting play off in Sudan 1-0. Algeria moved to the 29th position in FIFA ranking – one place behind Egypt in the October 2009 ranking. In November 2009, they beat fierce rivals Egypt in a playoff 2010 World Cup in South Africa and moved to the highest FIFA ranking ever reached by Algeria (26) in December 2009. They were drawn in Group C, where they will face England, the United States, and Slovenia Africa Cup of Nations 2010 The team put on a mixed performance in the tournament. Being drawn in Group A, with Angola, Malawi and Mali, Algeria started poorly by losing 3-0 to group outsiders Malawi. However, they improved in the following game against Mali, beating them 1-0 thanks to a Rafik Halliche header. In the last match, they drew 0-0 with Angola, which sent them to the second round, finishing with the same amount of points as Mali, but with a superior head-to-head record. Playing in Cabinda, Algeria faced Côte d'Ivoire in the quarterfinals, who were considered heavy favourites to qualify. But they got a historic win. After trailing 1-0, Karim Matmour equalized, but Keita gave the Ivorians the lead in the 89th minute, a goal which seemed sure to seal their victory. However, the Algerians equalized with Madjid Bougherra just 2 minutes later in added time, and Hameur Bouazza gave the Fennecs the lead in extra time. Algeria faced Egypt in the semi finals, Egypt, in their first meeting since theWorld Cup qualification play-off. Egypt won 4-0 which was the biggest defeat in the history of both teams meetings. Algeria lost 1-0 to Nigeria in the 3rd place game and finished fourth in the competition. Honours World Cups: African Competitions: 1 Time Champion of Africa Cup of Nations (Algeria 1990) 1 Time Runners-Up of Africa Cup of Nations (Nigeria 1980) 1 Time Gold Medalist at All-Africa Games (U-23) (Algeria 1978) 1 Time Champion of African Youth Championship (1979) 1 Time Runners-Up of African Under-17 Championship (Algeria 2009) Arab Competitions: 1 Time Bronze Medalist at the Pan Arab Games (Morocco 1985 ) Afro-Asian Cup of Nations : 1 Time Champion (1991) World Cup Record FIFA World Cup Appearances: 3 Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA 1930 to 1962 Did not enter - - - - - - - 1966 Withdrew - - - - - - - 1970 to 1978 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1982 Round 1 13 3 2 0 1 5 5 1986 Round 1 22 3 0 1 2 1 5 1990 to 2006 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 2010 Qualified - - - - - - - Total 3/19 2 First Rounds 6 2 1 3 6 10 Africa Cup of Nations Record African Cup of Nations Titles: 1 Appearances: 14 Year Position Year Position Year Position 1957 Did not enter 1976 Did not qualify 1994 Disqualified 1959 Did not enter 1978 Did not qualify 1996 Quarter-finals 1962 Did not enter 1980 Second place 1998 Round 1 1963 Did not enter 1982 Fourth place 2000 Quarter-finals 1965 Did not enter 1984 Third place 2002 Round 1 1968 Round 1 1986 Round 1 2004 Quarter-finals 1970 Did not qualify 1988 Third Place 2006 Did not qualify 1972 Did not qualify 1990 Winner 2008 Did not qualify 1974 Did not qualify 1992 Round 1 2010 Fourth place 2010 FIFA World Cup/Africa Cup of Nations Qualification Group C Team v • d • e 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  — 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 — Algeria and Egypt finished with identical overall and head-to-head records. Algeria won the tiebreaking play-off 1 – 0 to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Algeria, Egypt and Zambia qualified for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Group A Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Angola 3 1 2 0 6 4 +2 5  Algeria 3 1 1 1 1 3 –2 4  Mali 3 1 1 1 7 6 +1 4  Malawi 3 1 0 2 4 5 –1 3 Algeria finished ahead of Mali based on head-to-head record (see Tie-breaking criteria). 2010 FIFA World Cup Group C On 4 December 2009, Algeria were drawn in group C. They will play their first match against Slovenia on 13 June 2010, followed by England on 18 June 2010, and finally the United States of America on 23 June 2010. Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Algeria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 June 2010 13:30 Algeria v Slovenia Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane 18 June 2010 20:30 England v Algeria Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town 23 June 2010 16:00 United States v Algeria Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Tshwane/Pretoria Results and Fixtures 2009 & 2010 Algerian National Team Results and Fixtures. Results Date Location Home Team Score Away Team Occasion 11 February 2009 Blida Algeria 2 - 1 Benin Friendly match 28 March 2009 Kigali Rwanda 0 - 0 Algeria 2010 World Cup/2010 African Cup Qualifiers 6 June 2009 Blida Algeria 3 - 1 Egypt 2010 World Cup/2010 African Cup Qualifiers 20 June 2009 Chililabombwe Zambia 0 - 2 Algeria 2010 World Cup/2010 African Cup Qualifiers 12 August 2009 Algiers Algeria 1 - 0 Uruguay Friendly match 6 September 2009 Blida Algeria 1 - 0 Zambia 2010 World Cup/2010 African Cup Qualifiers 11 October 2009 Blida Algeria 3 - 1 Rwanda 2010 World Cup/2010 African Cup Qualifiers 14 November 2009 Cairo Egypt 2 - 0 Algeria 2010 World Cup/2010 African Cup Qualifiers 18 November 2009 Umm Durman Egypt 0 - 1 Algeria 2010 World Cup/2010 African Cup Qualifiers 11 January 2010 Luanda Malawi 3 - 0 Algeria 2010 Africa Cup of Nations - GS 14 January 2010 Luanda Mali 0 - 1 Algeria 2010 Africa Cup of Nations - GS 18 January 2010 Luanda Angola 0 - 0 Algeria 2010 Africa Cup of Nations - GS 24 January 2010 Cabinda Côte d'Ivoire 2 - 3 (AET) Algeria 2010 Africa Cup of Nations - QF 28 January 2010 Benguela Algeria 0 - 4 Egypt 2010 Africa Cup of Nations - SF 30 January 2010 Benguela Nigeria 1 - 0 Algeria 2010 Africa Cup of Nations - TPM 3 March 2010 Algiers Algeria 0 - 3 Serbia Friendly match 28 May 2010 Dublin Algeria 0 - 3 Ireland Friendly match 5 June 2010 Fürth Algeria 1 - 0 UAE Friendly match Fixtures Date Location Home Team Score Away Team Occasion 13 June 2010 Polokwane Algeria - Slovenia 2010 FIFA World Cup 18 June 2010 Cape Town England - Algeria 2010 FIFA World Cup 23 June 2010 Pretoria USA - Algeria 2010 FIFA World Cup 11 August 2010 Algiers Gabon - Algeria Friendly match 2012 African Cup of Nations (Qualification) Group D Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Algeria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Morocco 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Tanzania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  Central African Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3/4/5 September 2010 Algeria v Tanzania Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers 8/9/10 October 2010 Central African Republic v Algeria Barthelemy Boganda Stadium, Bangui 25/26/27 March 2011 Algeria v Morocco Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers 3/4/5 June 2011 Morocco v Algeria Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat 2/3/4 September 2011 Tanzania v Algeria Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar-es-Salaam 7/8/9 October 2011 Algeria v Central African Republic Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers Current squad The following 23 players were called up for the World Cup. Caps and goals as of 28 may 2010, subsequent to the friendly against Ireland. No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Lounès Gaouaoui September 28, 1977 (1977-09-28) (age 32) 48 0 ASO Chlef 16 GK Faouzi Chaouchi December 5, 1984 (1984-12-05) (age 25) 10 0 ES Sétif 23 GK Raïs M'Bohli April 25, 1986 (1986-04-25) (age 24) 1 0 Slavia Sofia 2 DF Madjid Bougherra October 7, 1982 (1982-10-07) (age 27) 41 3 Rangers 3 DF Nadir Belhadj June 18, 1982 (1982-06-18) (age 27) 45 5 Portsmouth 4 DF Antar Yahia March 21, 1982 (1982-03-21) (age 28) 44 5 Bochum 5 DF Rafik Halliche September 2, 1986 (1986-09-02) (age 23) 16 1 Nacional Madeira 12 DF Habib Bellaid March 28, 1986 (1986-03-28) (age 24) 1 0 Eintracht Frankfurt 14 DF Abdelkader Laïfaoui July 29, 1981 (1981-07-29) (age 28) 6 0 ES Sétif 18 DF Carl Medjani May 15, 1985 (1985-05-15) (age 25) 0 0 AC Ajaccio 20 DF Djamel Mesbah October 9, 1984 (1984-10-09) (age 25) 1 0 Lecce 6 MF Yazid Mansouri (captain) February 25, 1978 (1978-02-25) (age 32) 67 0 Lorient 7 MF Ryad Boudebouz February 19, 1990 (1990-02-19) (age 20) 2 0 FC Sochaux 8 MF Mehdi Lacen March 5, 1984 (1984-15-05) (age 25) 3 0 Racing Santander 15 MF Karim Ziani August 17, 1982 (1982-08-17) (age 27) 55 5 Wolfsburg 17 MF Adlène Guedioura November 12, 1985 (1985-11-12) (age 24) 2 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 19 MF Hassan Yebda April 14, 1984 (1984-04-14) (age 26) 9 0 S.L. Benfica 21 MF Foued Kadir December 5, 1983 (1983-12-05) (age 26) 2 0 Valenciennes FC 22 MF Djamel Abdoun February 14, 1986 (1986-02-14) (age 24) 7 0 Nantes 9 FW Abdelkader Ghezzal December 5, 1984 (1984-12-05) (age 25) 19 3 Siena 10 FW Rafik Saïfi February 7, 1975 (1975-02-07) (age 35) 60 18 Istres 11 FW Rafik Djebbour March 8, 1984 (1984-03-08) (age 26) 16 3 AEK Athens 13 FW Karim Matmour June 24, 1985 (1985-06-24) (age 24) 22 2 Borussia Monchengladbach Recent call-ups No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club DF Mohamed Meftah May 5, 1985 (1985-05-05) (age 25) 5 0 JS Kabylie DF Abderraouf Zarabi March 26, 1979 (1979-03-26) (age 31) 22 0 Nîmes DF Adel Maïza March 18, 1983 (1983-03-18) (age 27) 3 0 USM Annaba MF Hocine Achiou April 27, 1979 (1979-04-27) (age 31) 26 3 JS Kabylie MF Lamouri Djediat January 20, 1981 (1981-01-20) (age 29) 10 0 ES Sétif MF Lazhar Hadj Aïssa March 23, 1984 (1984-03-23) (age 26) 6 0 ES Sétif MF Khaled Lemmouchia May 29, 1981 (1981-05-29) (age 29) 13 0 ES Sétif MF Hameur Bouazza February 22, 1985 (1985-02-22) (age 25) 15 2 Blackpool MF Yacine Bezzaz July 10, 1981 (1981-07-10) (age 28) 21 3 Strasbourg FW Nabil Hemani September 1, 1979 (1979-09-01) (age 30) 4 0 ES Sétif FW Mohamed Seguer September 7, 1985 (1985-09-07) (age 24) 2 0 ES Sétif FW Kamel Ghilas March 9, 1984 (1984-03-09) (age 26) 16 3 Hull City FW Abdelmalek Ziaya January 24, 1984 (1984-01-24) (age 26) 3 0 Ittihad Jeddah . All-Time Record Against FIFA Recognized Nations Below is a record of all matches Algeria has played against FIFA recognized nations: Against Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD  % Won  Albania 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0%  Angola 9 2 6 1 11 10 +1 22.22%  Argentina 1 0 0 1 3 4 -1 0%  Austria 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0%  Belgium 2 0 1 1 1 3 -2 0%  Benin 6 4 2 0 16 5 +11 66.66%  Brazil 4 0 0 4 0 8 -8 0%  Bulgaria 6 1 2 3 6 9 -3 16.66%  Burkina Faso 16 7 5 4 27 13 +14 43.75%  Burundi 4 3 1 0 6 2 +4 75%  Cameroon 7 1 3 3 9 8 +1 14.28%  Cape Verde 4 2 2 0 6 2 +4 50%  Chad 2 1 1 0 4 1 +3 50%  Chile 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 100%  China PR 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0%  Congo 2 1 1 0 4 1 +3 50%  Congo DR 5 2 3 0 7 3 +4 40%  Côte d'Ivoire 19 6 7 6 20 20 0 31.58%  Cuba 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0%  Denmark 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0%  Egypt 23 8 9 6 29 30 -1 34.78%  England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0%  Ethiopia 4 1 2 1 3 3 0 25%  Finland 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 100%  France 1 0 0 1 1 4 -3 0%  Gabon 6 1 2 3 6 10 -4 16.66%  Gambia 4 2 0 2 3 3 0 50%  Germany 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 100%  East Germanya 4 0 1 3 4 14 -10 0%  Ghana 9 3 2 4 10 11 -1 33.33%  Guinea 9 3 2 4 11 13 -2 33.33%  Guinea-Bissau 2 2 0 0 7 2 +5 100%  Hungary 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0%  Iran 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 50%  Iraq 8 0 4 4 3 11 -8 0%  Italy 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0%  Jordan 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%  Kenya 7 3 1 3 10 7 +3 42.85%  Korea Republic 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0%  Lebanon 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 0%  Liberia 5 2 3 0 10 4 +6 40%  Libya 14 10 2 2 21 7 +14 71.43%  Madagascar 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 100%  Malawi 5 2 1 2 8 6 +2 40%  Mali 14 7 1 6 18 17 +1 50%  Malta 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 66.67%  Mauritania 3 2 1 0 9 1 +8 66.67%  Mexico 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0%  Morocco 23 5 9 9 17 22 -5 21.74%  Mozambique 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2 50%  Namibia 4 4 0 0 7 0 +7 100%  Niger 4 3 0 1 11 1 +10 75%  Nigeria 16 6 4 6 20 22 -2 37.5%  Northern Ireland 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%  Oman 2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 100%  Qatar 3 3 0 0 7 0 +7 100%  Peru 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%  Poland 2 0 0 2 1 6 -5 0%  Republic of Ireland 2 1 0 1 2 0 -1 60%  Rwanda 4 2 2 0 5 2 +3 50%  Saudi Arabia 4 1 2 1 6 6 0 25%  Senegal 16 8 4 4 23 14 +9 50%  Sierra Leone 5 2 2 1 7 4 +3 40%  Slovakia 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%  Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0%  South Africa 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 0%  Spain 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0%  Russiab 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 0%  Sudan 5 2 2 1 5 4 +1 40%  Sweden 4 0 1 3 1 9 -8 0%  Switzerland 2 0 0 2 1 4 -3 0%  Syria 6 3 2 1 7 4 +3 50%  Tanzania 4 3 0 1 8 5 +3 75%  Togo 3 1 1 1 4 1 +3 33.33%  Tunisia 37 14 12 11 38 32 +6 37.84  Turkey 3 2 0 1 2 4 -2 66.66%  Uganda 9 3 4 2 13 8 +5 33.33%  United Arab Emirates 4 1 2 1 2 3 -1 25%  United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0%  Uruguay 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 100%  South Yemena 1 1 0 0 4 1 +3 100%  Zambia 12 7 2 3 12 5 +7 58.33%  Zimbabwe 5 2 2 1 9 6 +3 40% Total 412 161 124 127 518 424 +94 39.07% (a) Denotes defunct national football team. (b) Includes games against USSR. (c) Includes games against Yugoslavia Player Records Top Goalscorers # Name Career Goals Goals per game Caps 1 Abdelhafid Tasfaout 1990–2002 36 0.40 88 2 Lakhdar Belloumi 1978–1989 34 0.38 89 3 Rabah Madjer 1978–1992 29 0.35 83 4 Djamel Menad 1982–1995 24 0.30 80 5 Tedj Bensaoula 1979–1986 22 0.46 48 6 Rafik Saifi 1999– 18 0.34 53 7 Salah Assad 1978–1988 13 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 34 3 Abdelhafid Tasfaout 1991–2002 88 36 4 Billel Dziri 1992–2005 87 9 5 Rabah Madjer 1978–1992 83 29 6 Djamel Menad 1980–1995 80 24 7 Mahmoud Guendouz 1977–1986 71 4 8 Salah Assad 1977–1989 67 13 9 Ali Fergani 1973-1986 66 6 10 Yazid Mansouri 2001- 67 0 The caps and goals for Algeria, As of 12 August. Source : wikipedia