AFCON: Petkovic says Algeria favourites against Sudan

Algeria national team coach Vladimir Petkovic has discussed their opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) against Sudan on December.

The Desert Foxes have been drawn in Group E alongside Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Equatorial Guinea. Their opening fixture will be against the East African nation at Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat.

🚨𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗘𝗟 | 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 🏆🇲🇦

La liste des joueur sélectionnés par Vladimir Petkovic pour la Coupe d’Afrique des nations 2025 est désormais connue.

Vos avis ? 💭 pic.twitter.com/tW24PN2aAh

— La Vague Verte ⭐️🇩🇿⭐️ (@la_vagueverte) December 13, 2025

Ahead of the fixture, coach Petkovic has admitted to being worried of Sudan, a side he said was capable of making a lot of sacrifices to win a game.

Algeria must prove on the pitch against Sudan

“If we talk about Sudan, it’s a very compact team capable of making a lot of sacrifices. They capitalise on their speed in counter-attacks. We can imagine their motivation will be even higher after the Arab Cup,” said Petkovic as quoted by Foot Africa.

“We’re favorites, but we have to prove it on the pitch. We’re arriving in Morocco on Friday the 19th. We’ll train in Morocco in the morning.”

Algeria have appeared in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on twenty occasions. The side’s first participation was in 1968 in Ethiopia. Algeria has won the cup twice: the first time was when they hosted the tournament in 1990, and they won a second title in the 2019 edition, held in Egypt.

Algeria also finished second in the 1980 edition, held in Nigeria, and third in the 1984 and 1988 editions, held in Ivory Coast and Morocco respectively. Algeria will head to Morocco hoping a rebalanced squad can restore their status as one of Africa’s most formidable sides.

Full Algeria squad for AFCON 2025;

Goalkeepers
• Oussama Benbot (USM Alger)
• Luca Zidane (Granada)
• Anthony Mandrea (Caen)

Defenders
• Ryan Aït-Nouri (Manchester City)
• Youcef Atal (Al Sadd)
• Zineddine Belaid (JS Kabylie)
• Rafik Belghani (Hellas Verona)
• Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Dortmund)
• Samir Chergui (Paris FC)
• Mehdi Dorval (Bari)
• Jaouen Hadjam (Young Boys Berne)
• Aïssa Mandi (Lille)
• Mohamed Amine Tougai (Esperance)

Midfielders
• Houssem Aouar (Al Ittihad)
• Ismaël Bennacer (Dinamo Zagreb)
• Hicham Boudaoui (Nice)
• Fares Chaibi (Eintracht Frankfurt)
• Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen)
• Ramiz Zerrouki (Twente)
• Adem Zorgane (Union Saint-Gilloise)

Forwards
• Mohamed Amoura (Werder Bremen)
• Monsef Bakrar (Dinamo Zagreb)
• Redouane Berkane (Al Wakrah)
• Adel Boulbina (Al Duhail)
• Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Shamal)
• Anis Hadj-Moussa (Feyenoord)
• Ilan Kebbal (Paris FC)
• Riyad Mahrez (Al Ahli)