Austria & Argentina’s opponents
©IMAGO
One day before the end of the registration period, Algeria published its World Cup squad. National coach Vladimir Petkovic has called four Bundesliga professionals into his 26-player squad for the tournament in North America, which will include the Austrian selection.
Ibrahim Maza is there from Bayer Leverkusen, Farès Chaïbi (23) is allowed to travel from Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg are sending Ramy Bensebaini (31) and Mohamed Amoura (26). Schalke newcomer Adil Aouchiche (23) is not there. In March, the attacking midfielder was nominated for the international matches against Guatemala and Uruguay and celebrated his debut as a joker.
The former Berliner Maza has already made 15 international appearances. The Leverkusen youngster is currently the most valuable Algerian footballer ever with a market value of 45 million euros. In the national rankings, Rayan Aït-Nouri (40 million) from Manchester City, Amine Gouiri (28 million) from Olympique Marseille and Anis Hadj Moussa (23 million) follow, ahead of Wolfsburg’s Amoura (23 million) and Frankfurt’s Chaïbi (15 million). The most valuable Algerian who did not receive a World Cup ticket is Ilan Kebbal (12 million) from Paris FC, who missed the last two international matches due to injury.
At the age of 35, icon striker Riyad Mahrez will experience his second World Cup. While Leverkusen’s Maza is the youngest Algerian to travel to the World Cup, the attacker, who has been playing for Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia since 2023, will be the oldest professional in the squad. He is followed by Aïssa Mandi (34, LOSC), the only colleague who is ahead of the former Man City top scorer in Algeria’s record player ranking. Mandi has played 116 international matches, Mahrez currently has 113, in which he scored 38 goals – again the second most by an Algerian footballer.
Algeria will compete in Group J at the World Cup against Argentina, Austria and Jordan. The first matchday will not take place there until June 17th with Algeria’s opener against Argentina. On June 23rd Jordan is waiting, and on June 28th. The ÖFB team meets the Algerians at 4 a.m. Central European time.
