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Like most African countries, Algeria is a football crazy nation and as
such boasts its own national team. Known as Les Fennecs (The Desert
Foxes), the Algeria national football team falls under the
country's football governing body, the Fédération
Algérienne de Football. The first time it entered the FIFA World
Cup was in 1966, but ended up withdrawing. And although the team failed
to qualify for the next three World Cups, in 1982 it reached Round 1.
In a huge upset on day 1, Algeria unceremoniously dispatched defending
World Cup champions, West Germany, 2-1.
Meanwhile, the Algerian national football team was also making in-roads
in African football. In 1984 the squad finished third in the African
Nations Cup in the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire). However, in the
1986 African Nations Cup two defeats and a draw saw the team being
knocked out in the first round. Its bad luck continued in the 1986
World Cup in Mexico, where it was also knocked out in Round 1. In fact,
throughout that entire competition the Algeria national football team
only managed to score a single goal.
In 1990 the country hosted the Africa Cup of Nations, a tournament that
showcased the team's skills. The Algeria national football team beat
Nigeria 5–1, Ivory Coast 3–0 and Egypt 2–0. It then beat Senegal 2–1 in
the semi-finals and finally Nigeria 1-0 to win the competition. Between
1986 and the late 2000s Algeria failed to qualify for the World Cup.
But in November 2009, the squad secured a coveted spot in the 2010
World Cup in South Africa by defeating long-time North African rivals,
Egypt, in qualification tiebreaker. Rabah Saâdane is the head
coach of the Algerian national football squad, and has been since 2007.
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