The Algerian national football team is set to confirm its status as the leader of Group E against the “Sparrowhawks” of Togo this Thursday evening at the 19-May 1956 Stadium in Annaba (20:00), as part of the third round of qualifications for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN-2025).
After securing victories in their first two qualifying matches against Equatorial Guinea in Oran (2-0) and Liberia away (3-0), the Greens are looking to maintain their winning momentum and clinch qualification against Togo, who has managed two draws: one against Liberia (1-1) in Lomé and the other against Equatorial Guinea (2-2) in Malabo.
“Togo has the quality to compete for the 2nd or 3rd place in the group. They caused a small upset by drawing against Equatorial Guinea (2-2), and they are a brave team with qualities. However, we do not have time to scrutinize everything about our opponents; I prefer to focus on the strengths of my team,” said national coach Vladimir Petkovic during the last press conference held last Thursday at the Nelson-Mandela Stadium in Baraki (Algiers).
Following Thursday’s match, Ramy Bensebaïni and his teammates will head to Lomé to face Togo again on Monday, October 14, at Kégué Stadium (17:00, Algerian time) for the fourth day of the qualifiers. Statistically, this will be the sixth official encounter between the two teams, with the Greens leading the series with three wins, one loss, and one draw. In friendly matches, the two nations have met twice, with Algeria recording one victory and one defeat.
The national coach has called up 26 players, including three new faces: goalkeeper Zakaria Bouhalfaya (CS Constantine), defender Saâdi Redouani (USM Alger), and attacking midfielder Ibrahim Maza (Hertha Berlin/Germany). However, the national team will be without the services of defender Youcef Atal (Al-Sadd SC/Qatar) and midfielder Ismaël Bennacer (AC Milan/Italy) due to injuries.
On the Togo side, coach Nibombé Daré has set his sights on victory: “The objective is to seize our chances fully in these two confrontations. We are playing to win. It’s still a football match; nothing is impossible. We want to secure six points from these next two matches,” he stated last Friday at a press conference.
The Sparrowhawks will have to compete without their first-choice goalkeeper Geoffrey Agbolossou (FC Balagne/France), who is out with a knee injury, replaced by Mahadiou Sama from ASKO de Kara (Togolese Div.1). In preparation for this first leg, the Togolese squad held a mini-training camp in Tunis to set up their tactical strategy to counter the Greens.
The Algeria-Togo match will be officiated by a Malian refereeing trio led by Boubou Traoré, assisted by compatriots Modibo Samaké (1st assistant) and Amadou Belly Guissé (2nd assistant), with the fourth official being Malian Richard Kamaté. The other match in Group E sees Equatorial Guinea facing Liberia at the Bata Stadium on Friday (14:00, Algerian time).
After the first two matchdays held in September, Algeria leads Group E with 6 points ahead of Togo (2 points), while Liberia and Equatorial Guinea are at the bottom with one point each. The two best teams from the 11 qualifying groups will qualify for the final phase of CAN 2025 (December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026), while only one nation will qualify for the final tournament in the group of the host country.
Technical-tactical training on the agenda for the Greens this Tuesday night
The Algerian national football team held another training session Tuesday night at the National Technical Center of Sidi Moussa (Algiers) in preparation for their match against Togo, this Thursday (20:00) at the 19-May 1956 Stadium in Annaba for the third matchday (Gr.E) of the CAN-2025 qualifiers, as announced by the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) on its official website.
This session started at 18:00 on one of the pitches of the national technical center of Sidi Moussa and was intense, focusing mainly on technical and tactical work, attended by all players except Jaouen Hadjam and Ibrahim Maza, who underwent specific work in the gym, pointed out the FAF. This second training session was preceded by a mixed zone where five players, namely: Ahmed Touba, Badredine Bouanani, Ibrahim Maza, Oussama Benbot, and Saâdi Radouani answered questions from numerous journalists present.
For Wednesday, the Greens will travel to Annaba late in the morning and hold a final training session starting at 18:00. This match will be overseen by a Malian refereeing trio led by Boubou Traoré, with Modibo Samaké (1st assistant) and Amadou Belly Guissé (2nd assistant) as assistants, while the fourth official is Malian Richard Kamaté.
The other match in this Group E sees Equatorial Guinea facing Liberia at the Bata Stadium on Friday (14:00, Algerian time). After the first two matchdays held in September, Algeria sits at the top of Group E with 6 points, ahead of Togo (2 points), while Liberia and Equatorial Guinea are at the bottom with one point each. The top two teams from the 11 groups will qualify for the final phase of CAN 2025 (December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026), while only one country will qualify for the final tournament in the host country’s group.
The last ten matches of Algeria before the match against Togo on Thursday at the 19-May 1956 Stadium in Annaba (20:00) for the third matchday (Gr.E) of the Africa Cup of Nations-2025 qualifiers:
January 23, 2024, in Bouaké (CAN-2023 Final Phase/Ivory Coast):
Algeria – Mauritania 0-1
January 20, 2024, in Bouaké (CAN-2023 Final Phase/Ivory Coast):
January 15, 2024, in Bouaké (CAN-2023/Ivory Coast):
Goalscorers: Bounedjah (5) – Benzia (3) – Aouar (2) – Gouiri (3) – Slimani (1) – Amoura (1) – Mahrez (1) – Mandi (1) – Brahimi (1) – Yasser Baldé ( 1 and) – Benrahma (1), Zorgane (1).
