Vladimir Petkovic, coach of the Algerian national team, announced a list consisting of 27 players in preparation for the two friendly matches against Guatemala and Uruguay scheduled to be held in Italy at the end of this March. These matches come within the framework of the Algerian national team’s preparations for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and the roster included the presence of six new players.
The list witnessed the absence of 12 players, due to technical and injury-related reasons. Among the most prominent absentees, we find “Youssef Atal,” “Ismail Bennacer,” and “Baghdad Bounedjah.” On the other hand, Petkovic summoned six players for the first time: “Kylian Belazouk”, “Melvin Mastil”, “Ashraf Abada”, “Adel Aouchich”, “Fares Ghjamis”, and “Ahmed Nadhir Ben Bouali”. The list also witnessed the return of players who missed the African Cup of Nations, such as Houssem Aouar and Amine Gouiri.
Petkovic stressed the strength of the group in which the Algerian team was included in the World Cup qualifiers, which is “Group Ten,” which includes the teams of “Argentina (the defending champion),” “Austria,” and “Jordan.” He stressed the importance of going into the qualifiers with a mentality of winning and competing, in addition to the necessity of trying different game plans against various football schools, such as the Uruguayan national team.
