Algeria and Rwanda will go head-to-head in an all-African international friendly matchup at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida on Thursday evening.

The home side are in scintillating form heading into this one, having not lost over the last year, while the away side will make the trip aiming to pick up their first victory of 2025.

Match preview

© Imago

Picking up right where they left off in their final outing of 2024, Algeria breezed past Botswana and Mozambique four days apart during the March international break, claiming 3-1 and 5-1 victories respectively.

Racking up five goals and an assist, Mohamed El Amine Amoura was undoubtedly the star of the show for Vladimir Petkovic's men as the Bosnian coach continued his fine start to life at the helm of affairs since replacing Djamel Belmadi last February.

Petkovic has won nine of his 12 matches with Algeria and secured qualification for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations with a near-perfect record during the qualifiers, which yielded 16 points from a possible 18.

The Fennec Foxes will now go in search of a fourth consecutive victory and an eighth in the last nine games, either side of a goalless stalemate against Equatorial Guinea—the only time Algeria have failed to score in the last 18 months.

Given their record against Thursday's opponents, whom they have beaten in three of the previous four meetings, the home side have undoubtedly enjoyed the better of this fixture, although it is worth noting that the most recent edition was in 2013.

Narrowly missing out on a place in the upcoming AFCON due to an inferior head-to-head record against Benin, Rwanda ended 2024 with huge disappointment despite claiming an impressive 2-1 away win at Nigeria to round things off.

Adel Amrouche's men turned their focus to World Cup qualifying duty on their return to action in March and fell to a 2-0 defeat against Nigeria on March 21, after which a 1-1 stalemate against Lesotho followed.

Nonetheless, the Amavubi continue to hold on to second place in a tightly contested Group C with eight points from six matches, albeit now five points behind runaway leaders South Africa at the top of the standings.

Rwanda are not in qualifying action until early September, but in the meantime, they will be keen on getting themselves back to winning ways against a side currently 94 places above them in the FIFA rankings.

Their record away from home also highlights how daunting of an assignment Thursday's clash is for the visitors, who have managed just five wins across all competitions on enemy territory over the last four years.

Team News

© Imago

Off the back of an impressive Bundesliga season with Wolfsburg, for whom he netted 10 league goals, Mohamed El Amine Amoura will be aiming to deliver the goods for Algeria here.

Twenty-seven-year-old midfielder Ramiz Zerrouki could be handed a starting role on his return to the international scene for the first time since November.

Aissa Mandi is still going strong after 105 caps for the home side and is on course to extend his narrow lead over Islam Slimani at the top of the all-time appearances chart.

Despite a large period of inactivity at Kaizer Chiefs, Fiacre Ntwari retains his place in the Rwanda setup and is expected to feature between the sticks once again.

Claude Kayibanda, Aly-Enzo Hamon and Darryl Nkulikiyimana have all been handed their respective maiden call-ups by the away side, and a debut is on the cards here.

Algeria possible starting lineup:
Guendouz; Ait Nouri, Bensebaini, Mandi, Hadjam; Chaibi, Bentaleb, Zerrouki; Mahrez, Gouiri, Amoura

Rwanda possible starting lineup:
Ntwari; Ombolenga, Mutsinzi, Manzi, Niyomugabo; Bizimana, Mugisha, Nshuti, Manishimwe; Kwizera, Kagere

© PA Photos

We say: Algeria 3-0 Rwanda

Given the gulf in quality between the teams, anything less than a comfortable win for Algeria would be deemed an underperformance, and we are backing the hosts to cruise to a routine win.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Adepoju Marvellous

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