Algeria starting lineup vs Argentina confirmed for FIFA World Cup 2026 match

The Desert Foxes face the defending champions in their World Cup opener tonight.

Algeria begin their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with a tough Group J clash against Argentina at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 16. The African giants are making their fifth appearance in the World Cup, looking to make a splash after missing out on qualification for the last two editions.

The Desert Foxes will look to repeat the trick from 12 years ago when they reached the Round of 16 in Brazil. Vladimir Petkovic has named a strong 26-player squad for this year’s expanded 48-team edition, and the team enter the tournament after topping their CAF qualifying group.

They have been unbeaten in their four warm-up friendlies, beating the Netherlands (1-0) and Bolivia (4-0) before jetting off to the United States. Drawn in a competitive group also containing Jordan and Austria, the North Africans will look to put in a shift tonight in what will be a tough test of their mettle.

Let’s look at the Algeria lineup for the FIFA World Cup 2026 match against Argentina:

Algeria (4-3-3): Luca Zidane; Rafik Belghali, Aissa Mandi (c), Ramy Bensebaini, Rayan Ait-Nouri; Hicham Boudaoui, Ibrahim Maza, Nabil Bentaleb; Anis Hadj Moussa, Amine Gouiri, Fares Chaibi.

Substitutes: Oussama Benbot (gk), Melvin Mastil (gk), Achref Abada, Mohamed Amoura, Houssem Aouar, Zineddine Belaid, Nadir Benbouali, Adil Boulbina, Samir Chergui, Fares Ghedjemis, Jaouen Hadjam, Riyad Mahrez, Yacine Titraoui, Mohamed Tougai, Ramiz Zerrouki.

Thoughts on the lineup

The Desert Foxes have one of the strongest attacks on the continent. Amine Gouiri scored 11 goals across all competitions for Marseille and leads the line for his country tonight. He is joined by Eintracht Frankfurt forward Fares Chaibi and Anis Hadj Moussa, who scored 14 goals for Feyenoord last season.

Petkovic made the surprising choice not to start with Wolfsburg’s Mohamed Amoura, who was the top scorer in the CAF qualifiers with 10 goals in 10 matches. Similarly, veteran winger Riyad Mahrez has also been dropped to the bench, with the captain’s armband going to Aissa Mandi.

Bayer Leverkusen prodigy Ibrahim Maza, who has 12 goal contributions for the Bundesliga side across all competitions this season, slots into the number 10 position. Alongside him are Nabil Bentaleb, who is somehow still 31, and Nice’s Hicham Boudaoui.

Although Ramy Bensebaini has struggled with an ankle injury recently, the Borussia Dortmund man is fit enough to start as centre-back. He is joined by Aissa Mandi, with Rafik Belghali and Manchester City’s Rayan Ait-Nouri starting as full-backs. Luca Zidane, son of a certain Zinedine Zidane, starts between the sticks.

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