Africa Cup of Nations record

Previous appearances in finals: (18) 1968, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019.

Best performance: Winners 1990, 2019

Drawn in Group E with Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone

Coach: Djamel Belmadi

The 45-year-old French-born coach led Algeria to the last Cup of Nations title and on an unbeaten run of 31 games, marking him out among the top performing African coaches since he took over in August 2018.

His managerial career began at club level in Qatar and he took charge of their national team for a year, but was fired after Qatar finished bottom of the group at the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.

As a player, he was a feisty midfielder on the books of Paris St Germain, Olympique Marseille, Manchester City and Southampton from 1995-2009 and captained Algeria at the 2004 Cup of Nations finals.

Key player: Riyad Mahrez. Age: 30. Winger

The 2016 African Footballer of the Year was born in Sarcelles, France but his father hailed from Algeria and he was invited to play for the North Africans at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

He has since participated at the last three Cup of Nations finals, leading Algeria to the title last time out.

He played a key role in Leicester City’s shock Premier League triumph in 2016 and has won two more league titles with Manchester City.

FIFA world ranking Dec 2021: 29

How they qualified: Top placed team in qualifying Group H, ahead of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Rais Mbolhi (Al Ittifaq), Alexandre Oukidja (Metz), Moustapha Zeghba (Damak)

Defenders: Youcef Atal (Nice), Abdelkader Bedrane (Esperance), Houcine Benayada (Etoile Sahel), Djamel Benlamri (Qatar SC), Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Ilyes Chetti (Esperance), Reda Halaimia (Beerschot), Aissa Mandi (Villarreal), Mehdi Tahrat (Al Gharafa), Mohamed Amine Tougai (Esperance)

Midfielders: Haris Belkebla (Stade Brest), Sofiane Bendebka (Al Fateh), Ismael Bennacer (AC Milan), Yacine Brahimi (Al Rayyan), Sofiane Feghouli (Galatasaray), Adam Ounas (Napoli), Ramiz Zerrouki (Twente Enschede), Adem Zorgane (Charleroi)

Forwards: Mohamed El Amine Amoura (FC Lugano), Youcef Belaili (unattached), Said Benrahma (West Ham United), Farid Boulaya (Metz), Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Sadd), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Islam Slimani (Olympique Lyonnais).