Algeria will begin the campaign to defend its title in the African Nations Cup in Cameroon on Tuesday, chasing the record for the longest unbeaten game record for a national team.
Algeria will start its campaign in Group E against Sierra Leone in Douala, after playing 34 consecutive international matches without defeat, to come close to equaling Italy's record set last year (37 matches).
Algeria has not lost since the defeat against Benin in the 2019 African Nations Cup qualifiers, which Algeria won the title.
This record does not include participation in the African Championship for local players, in which Algeria plays in the second team, as it did in the Arab Cup in Qatar last month.
⚽️ The first training session for our national team at Jaboma Stadium in Douala in preparation for the Sierra Leone match 🇸🇱 #LesVerts #teamdz 🇩🇿👊🏼 #123vivalAlgérie #LesFennecs #TotalEnergiesAFCON pic.twitter.com/PvVtIT6EID
— FAF-Fédération Algérienne de Football (@LesVerts) January 9, 2022
The Algerian team, under the leadership of coach Djamel Belmadi, has achieved 26 victories and 8 draws since its last loss in October 2018, and will compete in the African Nations in Cameroon as one of the most prominent candidates for the title.
Belmadi said at the start of the tournament in Cameroon that his defending champion team will compete with great ambition to make the Algerian people happy.
However, he admitted that Algeria, which is in a group that also includes Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast, will be a target for the rest of the teams.
"When we went to the last Nations Cup in Egypt, some people looked at the team as not having a great chance, but we won the title, everything went differently and the respect was clear. We are aware of this and we want to fly high, we want to be the best." ".
📌 Some photos from the meeting of players and members of the national team this morning with the officials of the Confederation of African Football "CAF".#LesVerts #teamdz 🇩🇿👊🏼 #123vivalAlgérie #LesFennecs #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/StIPyPeMSf
— FAF-Fédération Algérienne de Football (@LesVerts) January 9, 2022
He continued, "There is no easy path in the Nations Cup. We will start from the second round in difficult confrontations, and we may face Mali, Nigeria, Tunisia or Egypt, which will be like a final match."
He said that the Algerian national team will deal seriously with all the teams, and refused to underestimate the capabilities of the Sierra Leone team, which will face it in the opening process of the championship. Sierra Leone is here today because it achieved good results in the qualifiers, so you have to be careful of it, there is no small team in Africa, teams like Sierra Leone are constantly developing."