Riyad Mahrez, 35, returns to World Cup with Algeria after 12-year wait | OneFootball

Riyad Mahrez, Algeria’s captain, returns to the World Cup at 35, 12 years after Brazil 2014. The Fennecs are set to face Argentina in Kansas City overnight on Tuesday, three am French time.

According to L'Équipe, this will be his second and final World Cup. He has 115 caps and 38 goals, and is one of only three in Vladimir Petkovic’s 26-man squad with World Cup experience, alongside Aïssa Mandi and Nabil Bentaleb. In 2014 he started in the 1-2 defeat to Belgium in Belo Horizonte, playing 72 minutes.

That campaign ended in the last 16, Algeria losing 1-2 to Germany after extra time. Uncapped before the tournament, Mahrez was a surprise gamble by Vahid Halilhodzic, who said he liked his risk-taking at Leicester despite fitness doubts, and stood by the call amid criticism.

The misses of 2018 and 2022 still hurt. Algeria finished bottom in 2018 qualifying, then fell to Cameroon in March 2022, winning 1-0 then losing 1-2 after extra time. A close associate said Mahrez viewed that as a trauma because the finals were in Qatar, an Arab country the squad wanted to play in.

Now with Al-Ahli since 2023, he is coming off an AFCON with three goals, and has four goals and nine assists in 27 matches, remaining competitive as a two-time Asian Champions League winner. He looks used to the heat. He has called this his last global tournament, with Jordan and Austria in Algeria’s group, while Anis Hadj Moussa, 24, pushes him on the right.

Source: L'Équipe