World Cup 2010 profile: Algeria

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Algeria: Road to the World Cup Watch

World Cup History

Best Result: First round 1982, 1986

Algeria have only made the World Cup finals twice before in 1982 and 1986. While they bowed out of the 1986 tournament with barely a whimper, Algeria were at the centre of a major controversy at Spain 1982. Playing in a group consisting of West Germany, Austria and Chile, Algeria stunned West Germany in a 2-1 win, the first time an African side had beaten a European team at a World Cup.

Going down to Austria 2-0, Algeria then defeated Chile 3-2 to finish the group stage with two wins but a goal difference of zero. Playing the next day, West Germany merely needed a 1-0 win over Austria for both European teams to advance at Algeria's expense. The game that followed is known in Germany as the 'Non-aggression pact of Gijon', where Horst Hrubesch gave the Germans the lead ten minutes in, before both teams then just kicked the ball around without purpose for the next 80 minutes. In response, FIFA subsequently ruled that final group matches would be played at the same time, but this did not help Algeria.

Road to World Cup

Qualified as first in CAF Group C

Algeria were the last African team to qualify, although it came down to the wire as they battled bitter rivals Egypt. Both Egypt and Algeria were substantially better than their other Group C rivals Zambia and Rwanda, Algeria topping the group with four wins ahead of travelling to Cairo for the group's final game. Such was the closeness between the top pair, though, that a 2-0 win by Egypt would see both teams share 13 points apiece and an even number of goals scored and conceded throughout the six-game schedule.

Arriving in Cairo, the Algerian team bus was stoned by local youths and three players were injured, although the game was allowed to take place. Despite the distraction, Algeria held the Egyptians to a 1-0 lead for almost the entire match until Emad Meteab popped up in the fifth minute of added time to make it 2-0, forcing a play-off in neutral Sudan. In a tense encounter, Algeria's Antar Yahia fired home a cracking 39th-minute volley to send his team through, although reserve goalkeeper Fawzi Chaouchi, playing for suspended regular stopper Lounes Gaouaoui, did brilliantly to deny Meteab in the second half.

Star Men
Antar Yahia - Entered Algerian folklore with his sensational strike against Egypt from a tight angle, but the 27-year-olf VfL Bochum man is also an accomplished central defender, albeit one with a knack for scoring crucial goals.

Rafik Saifi - Currently playing for Al-Khor in Qatar, dangerous striker Saifi has learned his craft in the French Ligue 1, his best effort being a run of four goals in four consecutive games for FC Lorient to start 2007-08. Has scored 18 goals from 55 appearances for the national team and is able to cope with the pressure of a big occasion, having earned a place in the 2002 African Nations Cup Best XI.

Stranger than Fiction
Boasting one of the more fascinating football histories of all nations, the Algerian national team was first formed in secret by Mohamed Boumezrag in 1958. Algeria, then a French colony, had no official football team but Boumezrag, a section leader in the Front de Liberation Nationale, encouraged 30 French-based Algerian professionals to join him in Tunisia to compose a team in exile. They went on to play numerous matches over the next four years and encourage support for Algerian independence, achieved in 1962.