Algeria clinched their spot in the Africa Cup of Nations last 16 after a penalty from Riyad Mahrez led them to a 1-0 win against Burkina Faso on Sunday.
Captain Mahrez scored from the penalty spot midway through the first half at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat, and Algeria managed to secure victory in a tough match against a resilient Burkina team.
Algeria, the African champions of 1990 and 2019, hold the full six points after two matches in Group E and have not allowed a single goal, with Vladimir Petkovic’s team fulfilling their status as one of the top contenders before the tournament.
Burkina Faso and Sudan follow with three points each, but they face off in the last group match on Wednesday—this ensures that Algeria secures a top-two spot even if they lose their final game against the currently pointless Equatorial Guinea.
Algeria needed to recover from a two-goal deficit to level the match 2-2 against the Stallions during the last AFCON in Ivory Coast, a result that led to their exit from the group stage.
On this occasion, they secured all three points, thanks to the penalty that determined the match, given when Rayan Ait-Nouri of Manchester City was pushed down.
Mahrez scored confidently from the spot in the 23rd minute, adding to his two goals in the initial 3-0 loss to Sudan, bringing his total in this Cup of Nations to three goals.
The ex-Leicester City and Manchester City winger, making his sixth AFCON appearance, now holds nine goals in the tournament, a record for Algeria.
The match took place in a lively setting within a stadium filled with 18,522 Algerian supporters.
French icon Zinedine Zidane was in attendance to see his son Luca as he played goalkeeper for the Desert Foxes—he also witnessed the victory over Sudan.
Hearts striker Pierre Landry Kabore nearly leveled the score for Burkina Faso with a header from a corner, then Mahrez assisted Mohamed Amoura for a shot that was saved by goalkeeper Herve Koffi during an Algerian counterattack in first-half stoppage time.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza missed two good chances in the second half, while substitute Georgi Minoungou shot just above the target as Burkina Faso sought unsuccessfully for an equalizer.
