Jordan v Algeria team news: Ait-Nouri + Mahrez start

Jun 23, 2026 5 min read views
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23 June 2026 1 comments
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After suffering round 1 defeats, both Jordan and Algeria are battling to stay in the competition.

Argentina sealed top spot in the group earlier on thanks to a 2-0 win over second-placed Austria.

Algeria should have the edge in this one, 29th in the FIFA rankings with Jordan in 68th. Certainly Algeria have the greater World Cup experience, this being their fifth appearance in FIFA’s showpiece competition while Jordan are making their debut.

Kick-off in San Francisco is at 04:00 BST.

TEAM NEWS

Former Manchester City player Riyad Mahrez ($6.5m) makes his first start at this year’s World Cup having come on as a sub in the defeat to Argentina.

He’s joined in the starting line-up by current Man City player Rayan Ait-Nouri ($4.9m).

Budget-friendly forward Ali Olwan ($4.2m) scored in the 3-1 reverse to Austria, adding to the nine goals he bagged during qualification.

And with the real Messi inspiring his country to back-to-back victories, the ‘Jordanian Messi’ – aka Mousa Al-Tamari ($5.6m) – could prove equally pivotal to Jordan’s own modest ambitions.

LINE-UPS

Jordan XI: Yazeed Abulaila, Abdallah Nasib, Yazan Al-Arab, Husam Abu Dahab, Ehsan Haddad, Nizar Al-Rashdan, Noor Al-Rawabdeh, Mohannad Abu Taha, Mahmoud Al-Mardi, Ali Olwan, Mousa Tamari

Algeria XI: Luca Zidane, Rafik Belghali, Aïssa Mandi, Ramy Bensebaini, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Hicham Boudaoui, Ramiz Zerrouki, Ibrahim Maza, Riyad Mahrez, Amine Gouiri, Farès Chaïbi