Khaberni - Goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of French football legend Zinedine Zidane, is preparing along with 3 new defenders to join the Algerian national team, which hopes to secure its qualification for the 2026 World Cup finals when they meet the host team, the Somali national team, on October 9th in the city of Oran in western Algeria, as part of the penultimate ninth round of the qualifiers.
The team, known as "Desert Warriors," which leads Group Seven with 19 points, four points ahead of its pursuers Uganda and Mozambique, will meet its guest, the Ugandan national team on October 14 in the Hussein Ait Ahmed stadium in Tizi Ouzou, near the Algerian capital, as part of the tenth and final round of the African qualifiers.
At a press conference on Thursday, Vladimir Petkovic, the technical director of the Algerian national team, revealed a list of 26 players in preparation for the two matches, including goalkeepers Osama Benbout (Union Algiers) and Alexis Kandouz (Mouloudia Algiers) from the Algerian league only.
In addition to Luca Zidane, goalkeeper for Granada Spanish, Petkovic also called up Rafiq Belghali, defender for Italy's Villas Hierona, Samir Sharqi, defender for Paris FC of France, and Mehdi Dorval, defender for Italy's Bari for the first time. However, exited from the list are Zakaria Bouhalfaya, goalkeeper for CS Constantine, Noufel Khassaf, defender for Shabab Belouizdad, Youcef Atal, defender for Qatar's Al-Sadd, and Ahmed Toubas, defender for Panathinaikos of Greece.
On the other hand, Petkovic reinstated Adam Zorgane, midfielder for Belgium's Saint Gilloise, Badr Benoun, forward for Germany's Stuttgart, and Amin Shayakha, forward for Denmark's Vejle. However, this time he did not renew confidence in Ramiz Zerrouqi, midfielder for Twente of the Netherlands, Houssem Aouar, midfielder for Saudi's Al-Ittihad, and Said Benrahma, forward for Saudi's Neom Club.