00:05After failing to qualify for the previous two World Cups,
00:09Algeria returned to football's greatest stage in North America.
00:15Qualification is a good thing.
00:18We have been waiting for this for 12 years.
00:21The last one was a big challenge for us.
00:24It was complicated for us.
00:26It was a difficult moment to get through.
00:29Since that day, it was time to bring Algeria back to the World Cup.
00:33We did the job.
00:35We have achieved our target.
00:39The Fenix cruised through their qualification group,
00:42losing just once along the way and scoring freely,
00:46thanks in no small part to Mohamed Amoura, who banged in ten goals.
00:52The 2026 World Cup represents an opportunity,
00:55probably a final one for a golden generation of Algerian talent.
01:02Six of the country's top ten cap winners are still available for selection,
01:07three of whom feature in the country's top four goal scorers.
01:13Riyad Mahrez is prominent in both lists.
01:16And the most successful Algerian footballer in history will captain his side in North America.
01:23The fans were amazing. It is an incredible feeling.
01:26We are always in need of our fans.
01:30We are proud to be Algerian. This is important.
01:36Mahrez has been proving his worth for a number of years.
01:39Most notably in 2019, when he helped Algeria secure only the second African title in their history.
01:46And first, away from home.
01:53Getting to the heart of it, we are African champions after 29 years.
01:57It is unbelievable, especially to be African champions away from our own country.
02:02The last one was in Algeria in 1990.
02:05African champions away is extraordinary.
02:10Prior to this,
02:12Algeria's greatest legacy on the biggest stage was being the victims of what became known as the disgrace of Guijon.
02:20On debut at the 1982 World Cup,
02:23the Fenix caused one of the great upsets with a 2-1 victory over reigning European champions, West Germany.
02:33But by the final match in the group between West Germany and Austria,
02:37with Algeria having already played their final group game the day before,
02:41the European teams knew that a West German win by one or two goals would qualify them both.
02:48After 10 minutes of all-out attack, West Germany scored.
02:52Then immediately afterwards, the two teams declined to attack for the rest of the match.
03:00Algeria protested to FIFA, who ruled that the result be allowed to stand.
03:05Then later introduced a revised system in which the final two games in each group had to be played simultaneously.
03:16Coach for much of the Mahrez era of modern Algerian football, including the 2019 AFCON triumph, was Jalmel Belmadi.
03:23But in 2024, he was replaced by Serbian Vladimir Petkovic, who built his reputation during an impressive seven-year spell
03:33in charge of Switzerland.
03:36Of course, we achieved success with Jalmel Belmadi. Football has successes and failures. It's impossible for any coach to always
03:44be successful throughout his career.
03:47There will be losses and wins. That's football. It's part of the game.
03:51We went through a period with Jalmel Belmadi when we were happy. We got upset. We cried. That's football.
03:58Now we have a new coach, who has a high level, and he's doing a great job with the players.
04:03We wish the national team all the best, and we wish the coach success.
04:09As Algerians, we love the national team. We don't love just the names. We love the Algerian team. We love
04:16our flag, and we want to see Algeria always at the top, God willing.
04:23As well as captain and star Mahrez now playing his trade in the Saudi Pro League and the potent Amora,
04:30Petkovic is also able to call on the likes of Manchester City's Rayan Aitnuri and a host of younger players
04:36emerging in the Bundesliga.
04:44Adredin Bouanani is impressed at Stuttgart, Ibrahim Maza at Hertha and Bayer Leverkusen, and Ferez Chaibi at Eintracht Frankfurt.
04:59Tantalizingly, Algeria may even line up in North America with one of the World Cup's most significant family names among
05:05their ranks.
05:07Lucas Zidane, son of French legend Zinedine, nominated for Algeria in 2025.
05:14It's my country, where I come from, where my parents come from too. I'm proud to be here. I will
05:21give my all for Algeria. It's my country, I'm proud to be here.
05:27Understandably, when he fronted the media as an Algerian international, after previously representing France at age group level,
05:34there was plenty of interest in Luka's World Cup-winning father.
05:39Yes, all my family are proud and behind me in all my choices. He had his own path and career.
05:45I have my own path and my career.
05:49I'm proud to be here. As I said, I will give 100% to make the Algerian people proud.
05:59Consistently ranked around the mid-30s by FIFA,
06:02Algeria will head to the 2026 World Cup hopeful of progressing beyond the group phase for only the second time
06:09in their history.
06:12But such is the momentum behind football in North Africa. And with the example set by neighboring Morocco in Qatar,
06:19who knows how far the desert warriors might progress.
06:22lotta men
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