Group C contenders
England
USA
Algeria
Slovenia

Route to the finals
Algeria were the last of the five African representatives to qualify for South Africa 2010 after they had to endure an unexpected play-off with Egypt.

Having topped the Second Round group stage with three wins, one draw and two losses, they progressed to the Third Round group to face Egypt, Zambia and Rwanda.

Winning all of their home fixtures, as well as an away tie in Zambia, the Algerians finished their campaign on exactly the same points and goal difference as rivals Egypt and a one-off play-off was required to determine who would claim the finals berth.

The fixture was played on neutral territory in Sudan and it was Algeria who triumphed, running out 1-0 winners and reaching their first World Cup in 24 years. 

Manager
Rabah Saadane has been involved in the management of the Algeria national side, on and off, for almost 30 years.

He was on the coaching staff when the Desert Foxes first qualified for the World Cup in 1982 and had complete control when they appeared again at Mexico ’86.

He had further stints in 1999 and then from 2003-2004, and began his current tenure in 2007. For ‘Cheik’ (The Elder), as the 64-year-old is known, this may be his last opportunity to take his country beyond the Group Stage.

Player watch
Algeria certainly have youth on their side. Of the 30 players selected by Rabah Saadane for his provisional World Cup squad only three were over the age of 30.

Captain Yazid Mansouri, 32, is one of the oldest and most experienced members of the group and he will need to show all his powers of leadership against the likes of England and USA.

Another seasoned campaigner is Anther Yahia, the man who scored the decisive goal in the Desert Foxes play-off victory over Egypt, and his defensive nous is sure to be needed against some of the world’s best forwards.

Competition History
First appearance: 1982
No. of appearances (inc 2010): 3
Best result: Group Stage
Matches against England: 0

Squad

	Player	Club
Goalkeepers
1	Lounés Gaouaoui	ASO Chlef, ALG
16	Fawzi Chaouchi	ES Sétif, ALG
23	Raïs M'Bohli	Slavia Sofia, BUL
Defenders
2	Madjid Bougherra	Rangers, SCO
3	Nadir Belhadj	Portsmouth, ENG
4	Anthar Yahia	VfL Bochum, GER
5	Rafik Halliche	CD Nacional, POR
12	Habib Bellaid	Boulogne-sur-Mer, FRA
14	Carl Medjani	Ajaccio AC, FRA
15	Karim Ziani	VfL Wolfsburg, GER
18	Abdelkader Laifaoui	ES Sétif, ALG
Midfielders
6	Yazid Mansouri	FC Lorient, FRA
7	Ryad Boudebouz	FC Sochaux, FRA
8	Medhí Lacen	Racing Santander, ESP
17	Adlène Guédioura	Wolverhampton Wanderers, ENG
19	Hassan Yebda	Portsmouth, ENG
20	Djamel Mesbah	Lecce, ITA
21	Foued Kadir	Valenciennes, FRA
22	Djamel Abdoun	FC Nantes, FRA
Forwards
9	Abdelkader Ghezzal	Siena, ITA
10	Rafik Saïfi	FC Istres, FRA
11	Rafik Djebbour	AEK Athinai, GRE
13	Karim Matmour	Borussia Mönchengladbach, GER