French Algerian Greatest All-Time Team
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| France vs Algeria in 2001 |
French Black Players
South France.
Players born in the Overeseas Department and former French Colonies
French Players Capped by Other National Teams
African American Players, German Americans/American Germans
German Turks
Hispanic/Latino American Players
Polish diaspora.
Black Portuguese Players
Afro-Brazilian Players
Surnamese-Dutch
Dutch-Indos/Indonesia-born Dutch All-Time Team
This is my selection of an All-Time Team for French-Algerians. It is a team made up of Algerian-born players who represented for France, French-born players who represented for Algeria or French players who were of Algerian ethnicity. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament.
The French conquest of Algeria took place between 1830 and 1847. The colonial rule lasted until 1962. As a result, many Algerians loved in France Today. As for the sport, As early as the first World Cup Finals in 1930, the French Algerians have represented the French national team. Zinedine Zidane is one of the greatest French players of all-time. Before Algeria's independence, the FLN football team, a team made up by Algerian players based in France was an unofficial national team for the colonial Algeria in its fight for independence. The team later became the basis of the first Algerian national team. Today, a large number of French-Algerians represent Algeria on the football stage.
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| Zidane vs Algeria |
GK: Raïs M'Bolhi (Algeria)
M'Bolhi was born in Paris, France to a Congolese father and Algerian mother. He started playing football (soccer) for RCF Paris. Then, he joined Olympique de Marseille, though he never made a league appearance before his release in January 2006. He played in Turkey, Bulgaria, the USA, Russia, etc. He was capped by France at the youth level before switching to Algeria. He played in both WC Finals in 2010 and 2014.
GK: Georges Lamia (France)
Born in Algeria, he played for Nice and Stade Rennais. He represented France at the 1960 European Championship.
GK: Mohamed Benhamou (Algeria)
Born in Paris, Benhamou began his career as a left-back at age 7 with Red Star Saint-Ouen. Benhamou joined after one season with AS Cannes in the French Championnat National (third division). Prior to signing with Cannes in the summer of 2006, he spent five seasons with Paris Saint-Germain. He has seven caps with the Algerian national team.
RB: Aïssa Mandi (Algeria)
Mandi started to play football at the age of 8 at Stade de Reims. On 20 August 2010, he made his professional debut as a starter for the club in a Ligue 2 match against Le Havre AC. Since 2016, he played for Real Betis.
CB/RB: Mustapha Zitouni(France/Algeria)
He was capped by France in the late 1950's. He was on France's 1952 Olympic team. He went on to represent the FLN football team, and then, Algeria. In France, he played for Cannes and Monaco.
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| Mustapha Zitouni (L) |
Bougherra began his professional football career with French club Gueugnon before having spells with English sides Crewe Alexandra, Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic. He moved to Rangers in 2008. Bougherra was a key part of the team that won the Scottish Premier League championship in seasons 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2010–11. He also played for Lekhwiya and Aris. An Algerian international since 2004, Bougherra won 64 international caps and scored 4 goals. He served as the team's captain for the 2014 World Cup.
CB: Christian Lopez (Algeria)
A member of Michel Platini's Saint Etiene that dominated French football in the 1970's. Liked his club mate Gerard Janvion, He went to the WC Finals in 1978 and 1982.
CB: Noureddine Kourichi (Algeria)
Born in France, he played with Valenciennes, Girondines Bordeaux and Lille in France. He played in the 1982 and 1986 World Cup Finals.
CB: Medhi Benatia (Morocco)
At the time of writing, he is considered one of the top center-backs in the world. He first made a name with Udinese and then, Roma, where he was a top defender in the Serie A. In the summer of 2014, he joined Bayern Munich. In 2016, he returned to Juventus.
LB: William Ayache (France)
Apache played for a number of clubs in France. He won two championship teams in France in 1980 and 1983 with FC Nantes. In 1984, he participated at the Summer Olympic Games on the French national team, winning the gold medal, and was also a member of the French team that finished third in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Altogether, he was capped 20 times for his country.
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| William Ayache |
LB: Abdelkader Ben Bouali (France)
Born in French Algeria, he was a substitute player for France at the 1937 WC Finals. For domestic club football, he played with Emmanuel Aznar, Mario Zatelli and Larbi Benbarek.
DM: Yazid Mansouri (Algeria)
Mansouri began his career at Tinqueux SC, a small team from Tinqueux who were playing in the sixth division. At age 17, he signed with Le Havre AC. He would slowly assert himself at the club and would eventually go on to make 134 appearances and scoring 2 goals in 6 seasons in both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. in 2003, Mansouri was loaned out for the season to English Championship side Coventry City F.C. In 2004, Mansouri signed with Ligue 2 side LB Châteauroux where he easily imposed himself in the middle of the park. In 2006, Mansouri joined with Ligue 1 side FC Lorient.
DM: Alexandre Villaplane (France)
Villaplane was the first ever player of Northern African origin to represent France. He captained France at the 1930 WC Finals. During the WW Two, he helped the Nazi Germans' occupation of France and was a SS officer. He was executed as a Nazi collaborator at the end of the War.
AM/CM: Ali Fergani (Algeria)
Fergani was capped 66 times. He was the playmaker for Algeria at WC 1982. He was the runner-up at the African Player of the Year award in 1981. Fergani played club football for NA Hussein Dey and JE Tizi-Ouzo.
AM: Karim Ziani (Algeria)
Ziani is considered to be a national hero by many Algerians, as it was his cross that led to the goal that put them into their first World Cup competition since 1986. He has participated in two continental tournaments 2004 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the latter in which Algeria finished fourth, and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Overall, he has 62 caps. For his club career, he played in France, Germany and Qatar.
AM: Zinedine Zidane (France)Born in French Algeria, he was a substitute player for France at the 1937 WC Finals. For domestic club football, he played with Emmanuel Aznar, Mario Zatelli and Larbi Benbarek.
DM: Yazid Mansouri (Algeria)
Mansouri began his career at Tinqueux SC, a small team from Tinqueux who were playing in the sixth division. At age 17, he signed with Le Havre AC. He would slowly assert himself at the club and would eventually go on to make 134 appearances and scoring 2 goals in 6 seasons in both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. in 2003, Mansouri was loaned out for the season to English Championship side Coventry City F.C. In 2004, Mansouri signed with Ligue 2 side LB Châteauroux where he easily imposed himself in the middle of the park. In 2006, Mansouri joined with Ligue 1 side FC Lorient.
DM: Alexandre Villaplane (France)
Villaplane was the first ever player of Northern African origin to represent France. He captained France at the 1930 WC Finals. During the WW Two, he helped the Nazi Germans' occupation of France and was a SS officer. He was executed as a Nazi collaborator at the end of the War.
AM/CM: Ali Fergani (Algeria)
Fergani was capped 66 times. He was the playmaker for Algeria at WC 1982. He was the runner-up at the African Player of the Year award in 1981. Fergani played club football for NA Hussein Dey and JE Tizi-Ouzo.
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| Ali Fergani |
Ziani is considered to be a national hero by many Algerians, as it was his cross that led to the goal that put them into their first World Cup competition since 1986. He has participated in two continental tournaments 2004 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the latter in which Algeria finished fourth, and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Overall, he has 62 caps. For his club career, he played in France, Germany and Qatar.
He was named the best European footballer of the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, and has been described as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He won the FIFA World Player of the Year award three times. He led France to victory at the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000. With Real Madrid, he also won the Champions League in 2002, where he scored one of the greatest goals in history at the Final.
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| Zinedine Zidane |
Often compared to Zidine due to his background. He started his his career with Marseille, and reached stardom in England with Arsenal and Manchester City. He was voted French Player of the Year in 2010. He played the European Championship in 2008 and 2012.
RW: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
He helped Leicester Town to win the Premiership in 2015-2016. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year, and was a member of the Premier League PFA Team of the Year as he helped Leicester City win the Premier League.
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| Riyad Mahrez |
Brahimi began his career with Rennes. While in the club's youth academy, he achieved several club honours. After spending the previous season there on loan, he moved to the La Liga club Granada CF in 2013, and then to Porto for €6.5 million one year later. An Algerian international, Brahimi is a former France youth international having represented the country at all youth levels. He played in 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations for Algeria.
FW: Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (France/Algeria)
He played for France at the 1954 World Cup Finals. He had a notable career in the French league, especially with Nice. He was one of the founding member of FLN Algeria national team. He played for Nice. He moved to Troyes AC after six seasons with Nice in 1954 and then signed for AS Monaco in 1956.ST: Rachid Mekhloufi (France/Algeria)
He is the all-time leading scorer for Saint-Etienne. He won 4 Ligue 1 titles with them in the 1960's. Liked many French-Algerian of his generation, he was capped by France. He later played for FLN Algeria national team and then, Algeria.
ST: Said Brahimi (France)
His club career was mainly with Toulouse. He had represented for France twice, but also with FLN Algerian national team.He is the all-time leading scorer for Saint-Etienne. He won 4 Ligue 1 titles with them in the 1960's. Liked many French-Algerian of his generation, he was capped by France. He later played for FLN Algeria national team and then, Algeria.
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| Rachid Mekhloufi |
ST: Karim Benzema (France)
Benzema was billed as one of the best young players in Europe when he played for Lyon. In 2009, he made a dream move to Real Madrid on the same summer that Kaka and Cristano Ronaldo joined the club. He won the Champions' League in 2014, where he formed the BBC line with Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. For the national team, he played in the 2014 WC Finals.
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| Karim Benzema |
Honorable Mention
Mario Zatelli, Cédric Si Mohamed, Nadir Belhadj, Antar Yahia, Yuri Berchiche, Carl Medjani, Sofiane Feghouli, Faouzi Ghoulam, Medhi Lacen.
Squad Explanation
-- I do not know the ethnicity of some of the players.
-- I am including Pieds-Noirs(Europeans who settled in French Algeria).
-- I included any Algerian-born players who represented France or French-born Algerians who played for Algeria.
-- Georges Lamia was born in Algeria and he is listed as a Pieds-Noir. I also included Christian Lopez who was also born in Algeria.
-- Cédric Si Mohamed would be the third keeper if Lamia is not selected.
-- I excluded a few Algerians who played in the French league because I do not know if they are considered to be French-Algerian. For example, Abdelhamid Kermali is an Algerian who played in the French league, but I do not know if he is eligible to play for France. I am opened to his inclusion later on.
-- Rachid Mekhloufi was capped by France, despite being born in Algeria.
-- I have several good left backs: Ghoulam and Nadir Belhadj, but I do not have a good rightback. So I took Aïssa Mandi.
-- Alexandre Villaplane was the captain of the French national team. Despite of his history, I selected him based on his football career.
-- Medhi Benatia played for Morocco, but he was born in France and his mother is Algerian.
-- Kylian Mbappé's mother is Algerian. At the time of writing, he is still too young to be considered, but I expected great things from him very soon.
Formation
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