AFCON Fantasy Team Preview – Algeria

AFCON Fantasy is here and the FPL Manual shares his thoughts on Algeria’s national football team, their best players to consider, and the predicted XI for AFCON 2024.

Team Profile

• Name – Algeria
• Nickname – Les Guerriers du Désert (The Desert Warriors)/Les Fennecs (The Fennec Fox)
• Current World ranking – 30th (4th in Africa)

Algeria hosted the African Cup of Nations once in 1990 when they also won the tournament in addition to the 2019 edition.

AFCON 2021 Moments

After securing their second AFCON victory in 2019, The Desert Warriors entered AFCON 2021 as defending CAN champions 🏆

However, that AFCON success faced challenges. The 3-1 defeat to Ivory Coast was a significant setback, and Algeria finished bottom of Group E with one point.

Algeria’s Road to AFCON

Algeria’s journey to AFCON 2023 began in June 2022 with a 2-0 home win against Uganda. On the 27th of March 2023, Algeria secured their ticket to Cote D’Ivoire and went on to dominate Group F with five wins and one draw, scoring nine goals and conceding only two goals.

Algeria’s Top AFCON Qualifier Performers

Top scorers during the AFCON qualifiers

• Mohamed Amoura – 3 goals
• Aissa Mandi, Youcef Belaili, R Besbaini, R Alhassane, Mahrez, B Bounedjah – 1 goal each

Recent form – In the last 10 games, Algeria had seven wins and three draws in 2023.

Mahrez is the designated pen taker for Algeria.

Algeria Team News

Official Algeria team list going to Cote D’Ivoire

Dropped players: Adem Zorgane, Adi-rais Mbolhi, Rachid Ghezzal, Faouzi Ghulam, Yacine Brahimi, and Aimen Mahious are only but a few names who will miss out.

قائمة المنتخب الوطني الخاصة بكأس أمم إفريقيا كوتديفوار 2023 #DesertWarriors #123VivalAlgerie🇩🇿 pic.twitter.com/Z7x7aRkVsT

— Équipe d’Algérie de football (@LesVerts) December 29, 2023

Amine Ghouiri who was once called up has been dropped out due to injury. Djamel Belmadi also made the decision to include goalkeeper Mustafa Zaghba as the 26th player.

The selection raised a few eyebrows among Algerians, as many expected Ghouiri to be replaced with a forward like Benrahma, but this seems to be a cautionary move.

Algeria Probable Lineup AFCON 2024

Long-serving manager Djamel Belmadi has used a 3-5-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation in the past. However, the most prominent formation seems to be a 4-3-3 system. Here is how Algeria could line up going forward (at least for matchday 1):

Before I reel out the fantasy picks, an Algerian supporter @AlgerianFooty shared his thoughts with me on the Algerian Team

🔹 Concerning nailed players – “Mandrea, Ait-Nouri, Bensebaini, Mahrez, and Atal are the only people I can tell you 100% start the first game.”

🔹 Concerning who plays as the striker upfront – “Well it’s gonna be Amoura, He’s the top scorer in Belgium. The only problem is he’s suspended for game 1.” “I can’t tell you who is nailed in the striker position in game one, Belaili – Slimani – Mahrez is my guess.”

Best Algeria AFCON Fantasy Assets

Nailed Players

Atal 5m, Ait-Nouri 4.5m, Mahrez 11m, Besbaini 6m, Mandrea 5.5m

Fairly Nailed: (play 70 mins or play 2/3 group games)

Chaibi 8m, Bennacer 5.5m

@AlgerianFooty tips Amoura (5.5m) could be an absolute bargain when he returns for Matchday 2.

Summary

Despite a poor CAN title defence, Algeria have significantly improved in form and are ready to show more passion this coming AFCON. Starting the first game against Group D rivals Angola, one of Ait-Nouri, Atal, or Mahrez would be essential for Matchday 1.

You can find additional AFCON 2024 Fantasy resources here.

TheFPLManual

Hello everyone, I’m a Podcaster who recently discovered a new urge for writing new content on all things fantasy football with focus on #FPL, #UCLFantasy and #AfricaFantasy (Afcon Fantasy)

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