170 days left until the debut of the Argentine national team in the World Cup United States, Mexico and Canada 2026 which is due to be plowed on Tuesday, June 16th Algeria, Lionel Scaloni and the company are closely following the performance of the team led by Vladimir Petković in the African Cup of Nations. And Scaloneta’s first rival is proving to be a team to be taken seriously: it won its second game in a row in continental competition and reached the round of 16.
They beat Sudan 3-0 on Christmas Wednesday to celebrate again after 2,350 days in the Africa Cup of Nations since they were absent from the previous editions. And this Sunday they qualified for the next round with a 1-0 win against Burkina Faso.
Riyad Mahrez scored a penalty midway through the first half to give victory to Algeria, who needed no more to control the Stallions and secure their place in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Captains lead by example. Mahrez sends Algeria through. 🇩🇿#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 | #WePlayDifferent pic.twitter.com/1L8wUbFxCg
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 28, 2025
The team, led by Switzerland’s Vladimir Petkovic, added the victory against the Burkinabé team to the victory in the first game against Sudan, which had previously won its first victory in the group stage of the tournament with a 0-1 defeat against Equatorial Guinea.
With three goals in two games, the Saudi Al-Ahli player with a past at Manchester City is the big figure for the Desert Foxes and is currently leading the table of the tournament’s top scorers.
The Algerians, who will be Argentina’s first rivals at the 2026 World Cup, will qualify for the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2019, the year they became champions.
In the 2021 and 2023 editions, the Desert Foxes were one of the big disappointments as they were eliminated in the group stage.
Captains lead by example. Mahrez sends Algeria through. 🇩🇿#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 | #WePlayDifferent pic.twitter.com/1L8wUbFxCg
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 28, 2025
With Zinedine Zidane in the stands closely following the performance of his son, who is yet to concede a goal in Algeria’s goal, the team secured first place in Group E, third behind Egypt and Nigeria.
In the same Group E, Burkina Faso is level on 3 points with Sudan, which this Sunday beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0, the last and pointless Cinderella of the group.
On Wednesday of the third day, Burkinabe and Sudanese face each other in a decisive battle. A draw is enough for the Burkinabe team, which defeated Equatorial Guinea in their first game, to be mathematically eliminated.
Earlier, Sudan beat Equatorial Guinea 0-1 in the quartet’s other game. Thanks to an own goal from Saul Coco in the 74th minute, James Kwesi Appiah’s team secured victory at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca.
While Algeria is classified and scheduled on the last day with Equatorial Guinea, which has already been eliminated, on the last day, Wednesday, the other classifieds in the group will be determined between Sudan and Burkina Faso, both of which achieve a victory. Sudan must win. The Burkinabé team will qualify if they play at least a draw.
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