Hemdani replaces Petkovic in Algeria hot-seat

Algeria have surprisingly named Ibrahim Hemdani as their new head coach. The former Marseille and Rangers midfielder has minimal experience in the dugout, but has impressed the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) since being named their U-20 and U-21 coach a couple of months ago. The 48-year-old led the latter side to gold at the 2026 Mediterranean Games, where they stunned hosts Italy 3-1 in the group stage, overcame Morocco on penalties in the semi-finals and beat Tunisia 2-0 in the final.

Hemdani succeeds Vladimir Petkovic, who left via mutual consent following the Desert Foxes’ Round-of-32 exit at the FIFA World Cup 2026™. There, after a Lionel Messi-inspired 3-0 loss to Argentina in their opener, Algeria beat Jordan 2-1 and drew 3-3 with Austria to reach the knockout phase, before falling 2-0 to Switzerland.

Hemdani was born in Colombes, a suburb of Paris, and held out hope of a France call-up. When it didn’t materialise, he switched allegiances and won two caps for Algeria.

Hemdani captained a Marseille side also comprising Fabien Barthez and Didier Drogba in the 2004 UEFA Cup final, which they lost 2-0 to Roberto Ayala, Ruben Baraja, Vicente and Valencia. Hemdani also lost in the same fixture by the same score four years later, this time representing Rangers against Zenit. He helped the Gers win four major titles, and reach the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time, during a four-year spell.

Algeria will begin CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifying later this month. They have Burundi, Togo and Zambia for company in Group I, with the top two reaching the finals, which will take place in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in June and July 2027. Algeria have conquered the continent twice, in 1990 and 2019.

Hemdani will be without national legends Riyad Mahrez and Aissa Mandi, who both retired from international football following the World Cup.

At his disposal, however, will be elite performers like Manchester City’s Rayan Ait-Nouri, Lille’s Nabil Bentaleb, Al Ittihad’s Houssem Aouar, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Fares Chaibi, Marseille’s Amine Gouiri, Nice’s Mohamed Amoura and 20-year-old Bayer Leverkusen prospect Ibrahim Maza.

Hemdani will have former Algeria centre-back Antar Yahia as his assistant, Nasreddine Berarma as his goalkeeping coach and Nasser Dainiche in charge of fitness.

Algeria are 29th on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. Nigeria (26th), Egypt (24th), Senegal (18th) and Morocco (6th) are the only African teams to their north.

Algeria have participated in five World Cups, reaching the knockout phase at their last two. They also impressed at their first global finals in 1982. Despite stunning West Germany 2-1 and beating Chile 3-2, Rabah Madjer and team-mates were very unlucky to go out at the group stage.