Mahrez's Last World Cup Opens Against the Champions

The Short Version

Vladimir Petković named Algeria’s 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup on May 31 at the Nelson Mandela Stadium press hall in Baraki, ending speculation that had run since the May 12 provisional list. Riyad Mahrez (34, Al-Ahli) is on the squad and has confirmed this is his final World Cup. Algeria opens Group J against the defending champions Argentina on June 17 in Kansas City at 3 AM Algiers time — followed by Jordan on June 23 and Austria. It is Algeria’s first World Cup since 2014, when the Fennecs lost 2-1 in extra time to Germany in the Round of 16. Mohamed Amoura (Wolfsburg, World Cup qualifiers top scorer) and Anis Hadj-Moussa (Feyenoord, widely seen as Mahrez’s successor) headline a generational handover. Goalkeeper Anthony Mandrea (Caen, French third division) is the surprise inclusion after Alexis Guendouz’s injury. Two friendlies before the opener: June 3 vs Netherlands in Rotterdam, June 10 vs Bolivia in Kansas City.

Three Things at Once: Algeria Hasn’t Played a World Cup Since 2014. Mahrez Says This Is His Last. The Opening Match Is Against Argentina.

Most squad announcements have one storyline. Petković’s announcement on Sunday in Baraki had three layered into the same press conference, and they shape every other decision about the tournament:

The first is the twelve-year absence. Algeria last played a World Cup match in July 2014 in Porto Alegre, losing 2-1 to Germany in extra time in the Round of 16, a result Algerian football has cited ever since as the high point. The Fennecs missed Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, both in qualifying. Several of the squad announced today are too young to remember 2014 as fans, let alone as professionals. The squad is built for a generation that has only watched Algeria at a World Cup, never played in one.

The second is Mahrez’s farewell. The 34-year-old winger, formerly of Manchester City and Leicester, told reporters last year this would be his last World Cup, and Petković today included him in the 26 with the brassard on the line still unsettled. The structural decision the manager made underneath that headline is to put the next-generation wingers — Anis Hadj-Moussa at Feyenoord, Amine Gouiri at Marseille — around him rather than to start him as the sole creator.

The third is the opener against Argentina, the reigning world champions. Group J pits Algeria against Argentina in Kansas City on June 17, then Jordan on June 23 (3 AM Algiers time), then Austria. Mahrez’s farewell tournament begins, by draw, against the team that won the last one. The press in Algiers framed it as fitting; the dressing room reportedly reads it as a free shot at a giant — a posture more aggressive than the 2014 group, when Algeria approached Belgium, Russia, and South Korea as a team trying to qualify out, not to upset anyone.

The Squad, by Position

Petković named three goalkeepers, eight defenders, eight midfielders, and seven attackers, in line with the structure Algerian press tipped in the week leading up to the announcement.

The European spine remains: Lille, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille, Feyenoord, Wolfsburg, Nice. The domestic representation is thinner than 2014 — only USM Alger and JS Kabylie field a player each — reflecting how Algerian football’s pipeline has shifted toward early European emigration over the past decade.

The Goalkeeper Surprise

The most-discussed inclusion in the press hall was Anthony Mandrea, the goalkeeper at Caen in France’s third division. Mandrea had been absent from the recent training camps. Algerian outlets had assumed Petković would lean on Luca Zidane (yes, that Zidane — Zinedine’s son, who switched allegiance to Algeria last year and made his Fennecs debut at AFCON 2025) and a third-string keeper. Instead, Petković recalled Mandrea, citing him as a tactical fit for a side that wants to start moves from the back.

The forced part of the decision: Alexis Guendouz of MC Alger, who had been ahead of Zidane in the depth chart at AFCON, did not make the squad after a muscle injury described by Algerian press as four to six weeks. Petković’s options at goalkeeper were narrower than he wanted them.

This means Luca Zidane is now likely the starter against Argentina on June 17 — a 27-year-old playing his fourth senior international and his first World Cup match against a side coached by tactics his father once defined.

Mahrez and the Generation Coming Behind

Mahrez has not been Algeria’s leading creator in qualifying. That role went to Mohamed Amoura, who topped the World Cup qualifiers scoring chart with 9 goals across the African campaign and now arrives at Wolfsburg with a continental profile. Behind him is Anis Hadj-Moussa, the 23-year-old Feyenoord winger who has scored 7 league goals in the past Eredivisie season and has been described by Algerian press as Mahrez’s natural successor on the right.

Petković’s choice is to play the three together — Mahrez right, Hadj-Moussa or Gouiri left, Amoura central — rather than rotate the older man out. The friendly against the Netherlands on June 3 in Rotterdam will be the first time fans see whether this front three can run for the full 90 minutes against a press as aggressive as anything Group J will throw.

What this generational handover means concretely: Algeria’s attacking depth is the deepest it has been since 1986. Mahrez can be substituted off without losing the creative axis, an option Algeria did not have when Mahrez was a one-man attack in the 2014 squad.

Petković, Who Took Switzerland to the Round of 16 in 2018

Petković’s CV matters. The 62-year-old Bosnian-Croat is the former Switzerland manager who took the Nati to the Round of 16 in Russia 2018 and the quarterfinals at Euro 2020, including a famous penalty-shootout win over France. He took the Algeria job in 2024 after Algeria failed to qualify for AFCON, and his stamp on the team is functional rather than philosophical: a back four that plays narrow, a counterattack built around the wingers, a deliberate slowing of the tempo against teams with more individual talent.

It is the same template he ran with Switzerland in 2018. The Swiss were not technically Switzerland’s most-talented squad of that decade — they were the most disciplined. Petković’s stated approach for the Argentina opener is similar: contain in the first half, frustrate Messi in transition, and find one moment in the second. The squad has been picked for that template, not for an open game.

What he gives Algeria that Algerians have been asking for since 2014: continuity. The previous three Algeria managers each averaged less than 18 months in the job; Petković has been there for nearly two years and the squad has been built around his system rather than improvised around an inherited group.

Group J: Argentina, Austria, Jordan

The full Group J schedule for Algeria, all kickoffs in Algerian local time:

• June 17 — Argentina (Kansas City Stadium), 3 AM — Mahrez’s last World Cup opener, against the reigning champions
• June 23 — Jordan (San Francisco Bay Area), 5 AM — Algeria’s most winnable group match on paper
• Late June — Austria — Date and venue per FIFA’s published schedule

The full breakdown is on FIFA’s Group J page. The matchups locate Algeria almost entirely on the US West Coast — Kansas City to San Francisco — rather than the East Coast or Mexico. This is fortunate for the European-based players’ jet lag (less time-zone disruption from Europe than the 2014 Brazil tournament, where Algeria played in the Amazonian heat of Porto Alegre).

The Jordan match is the one Algerian press has identified as the must-win, regardless of the Argentina result. Austria is a tougher problem — a top-15 ranked European side built around Bayern’s David Alaba and a Bundesliga-heavy spine — but the order of the matches lets Algeria settle into the tournament before facing them.

The Friendlies Will Show You the Frame

Two pre-World Cup friendlies have already been scheduled, and they were designed before the squad was finalised. They tell you Petković’s working assumptions:

• June 3 — vs Netherlands at De Kuip, Rotterdam. A test against an open, technically strong European side that will press high — a proxy for Austria more than for Argentina. Algeria will train at the same Feyenoord facility before the match.
• June 10 — vs Bolivia at Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City. An acclimation friendly at the same venue as the Argentina opener, against a CONMEBOL side with similar attacking shape to Argentina. The match is also Petković’s last live look at the back four against the kind of attack he is preparing for.

The Bolivia match is the more revealing of the two. It is the only public match before the tournament starts and the only one on US soil before the opener.

FAQ

Who is in Algeria’s 2026 World Cup squad? Vladimir Petković named 26 players on May 31: three goalkeepers (Anthony Mandrea, Luca Zidane, Oussama Benbot), eight defenders (Aïssa Mandi, Ramy Bensebaïni, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Mohamed Tougai, Zineddine Belaïd, Jaouen Hadjam, Ahmed Touba), eight midfielders (Houssem Aouar, Nabil Bentaleb, Fares Chaibi, Ibrahim Maza, Yacine Titraoui, Hicham Boudaoui, Adem Zorgane, Himad Abdelli), and seven forwards (Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Amoura, Anis Hadj-Moussa, Amine Gouiri, Saïd Benrahma, Adam Ounas).

Is Riyad Mahrez on Algeria’s World Cup squad? Yes. Mahrez (34, Al-Ahli SC) is on the squad and has stated this is his final World Cup. He is expected to start on the right wing in the opener against Argentina on June 17.

When does Algeria play Argentina at the 2026 World Cup? Algeria’s opening match in Group J is against Argentina on June 17, 2026, at Kansas City Stadium. Kickoff is 3 AM Algiers time. The match is the tournament’s most-watched opening fixture outside the US-Mexico opener at Estadio Azteca on June 11.

Who is Algeria’s manager at the 2026 World Cup? Vladimir Petković, the 62-year-old Bosnian-Croat who managed Switzerland to the Round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup and the quarterfinals at Euro 2020. He has been Algeria’s head coach since 2024.

Who is Algeria’s starting goalkeeper for the World Cup? Most likely Luca Zidane, son of Zinedine Zidane, who switched allegiance to Algeria in 2024 and debuted at AFCON 2025. Anthony Mandrea (Caen, French third division) is the surprise inclusion in the squad after Alexis Guendouz of MC Alger suffered a muscle injury that ruled him out.

Why is Algeria’s first World Cup since 2014 so significant? Algeria missed both Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, both in qualifying. The 2014 Round of 16 — when Algeria lost 2-1 in extra time to Germany — remains the high point of the country’s football. A successful 2026 campaign would be the first World Cup match Algeria has won since 2014 (the Fennecs won one group match against South Korea in 2014).

What group is Algeria in for the 2026 World Cup? Group J: Argentina (defending champions), Austria, Jordan, and Algeria.

Who is Mahrez’s likely successor in the Algeria squad? Anis Hadj-Moussa, the 23-year-old Feyenoord winger, has been widely described by Algerian press as Mahrez’s natural successor on the right. Mohamed Amoura (Wolfsburg, World Cup qualifiers top scorer) is the new central focal point.

Where is Algeria playing its pre-World Cup friendlies? Two friendlies: June 3 vs Netherlands at De Kuip in Rotterdam, then June 10 vs Bolivia at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. The Bolivia match is at the same venue as the June 17 Argentina opener.