Algeria begins its 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign this afternoon. The Fennecs host Somalia, a weaker team on paper.
The always formidable and often cruel ordeal of the World Cup qualifiers begins today for Algeria. The Fennecs receive a seemingly inferior nation, Somalia, at 5 p.m. And they absolutely must start their qualifying campaign with a victory. Indeed, their group is rather tough: they will have to face Somalia, Botswana, Uganda and especially Guinea, which remains in two round of 16 matches in the African Cup of Nations.
However, only one direct ticket for the world championship is distributed in each group. Algeria must therefore finish at the top of its group: if it finishes in 2nd place, it is not even guaranteed to be qualified for the World Cup play-offs, because only the 4 best second places (out of 9 groups) will participate. . We would then have to win a semi-final then a play-off final, to then play a new qualifying match against a team from another continent.
To avoid this path of the cross, Algeria must start these qualifiers in the best possible way. For this gathering, Djamel Belmadi did not summon Badreddine Bouanani and Saïd Benrahma in particular. On the other hand, Baghdad Bounedjah and Adam Ounas are back in the 23. With a perilous trip to Mozambique in 3 days, Algeria could present themselves with a somewhat revised composition.
Djamel Belmadi also warned: “Somalia is weaker, yes, but we know the number of problems we can encounter with supposedly weaker teams. However, I have to manage my team with our schedule . You’ll see some pretty unusual choices in terms of coaching.”
The Algeria-Somalia meeting will kick off this Thursday, November 16 at 5:00 p.m. at the Nelson Mandela in Algiers.
The Algeria-Somalia match will be followed live streaming on the L’Equipe website, via Espace TV. The match will be broadcast on the L’Equipe live 3 channel.
The official lineups have not yet been announced, here are the probable lineups:
