Algeria

Rank: 25   World Cup appearances: 3 tournaments Best result: Group Stages For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Top SCORERS Islam Slimani (5) Did you know? In the 1 982 World Cup, Algeria beat West Germany in the group stages. But fell victim to one of the darker passages of play when Austria met the Germans in the last match knowing exactly what they had to do to go through at Algeria's expense.

Two successive World Cup appearances would have seemed almost impossible a decade ago, but Algeria have made a swift return from the doldrums to again take a prominent role in African soccer.
They now have high hopes of getting past the group stage in Brazil, having set themselves the ambitious target of a place in the knockout round at the fourth attempt.
Drawn with Belgium, Russia and South Korea, their prospects might seem slim but are markedly better than four years ago when they failed to score a goal in South Africa and finished bottom of their group.
Their surprise progress to the 2010 finals, after upsetting heavily fancied Egypt in a qualifying play-off, marked a dramatic change of fortune on which they have succeeded in building a more settled and confident team.
Algeria have constructed their side around a swathe of French-born players, drawn from the massive migrant population in Europe. Many of them switched allegiance after playing for France at junior level.
While Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema slipped through their grasp, these days players with Algerian connections in top European leagues are actively courted in an attempt to strengthen the squad.
Among the new recruits is 19-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, who won his first cap in March in a friendly with Slovenia, having represented France once at under-19 level.
Coach Vahid Halilhodzic is under no illusions about Algeria's chances, but has said a place beyond the first round for the first time is a realistic target.

STRENGTH
Physical midfield

Algeria have a strong and burly midfield base that is able to provide cover for creative talents Sofiane Feghouli and Yacine Brahimi.

WEAKNESS
Gap in defence

Their physical presence in midfield takes focus away from their suspect defensive line, which is commonly all at sea and struggles under pressure.

Nabil Bentaleb: One of the youngest players in the tournament, it has been only 6 months since he was in the youth development squad of Tottenham.

ONE TO WATCH
Nabil Bentaleb

Few players at the World Cup in Brazil will have experienced a rise quite as meteoric as will be enjoyed by Algeria's teenage midfielder Nabil Bentaleb this season.
Less than six months ago he was playing in Tottenham Hotspur's youth development squad on windswept playing fields and in near-empty stadiums.
Bentaleb, 19, has been playing well in the Premier League since making a surprise first-team debut for Spurs in Tim Sherwood's first match in charge against Southampton in December, following the departure of Andre Villas-Boas.
Like many of the Algeria squad, Bentaleb, who was born in Lille, developed through the French system but his path was strewn with disappointment.
His time at Belgium's Mouscron ended when they were declared bankrupt and a spell at Dunkerque finished when they released him.
A trial with Birmingham City came to nothing before Spurs offered him a tryout and, impressed, signed him as a triallist in September 2011. They offered him a professional contract a year later.
Bentaleb made one appearance for France's Under-19s before switching his allegiance to Algeria via his parents, and he made his debut in a 2-0 win over Slovenia last month.
Sherwood, who was head of Spurs' youth development and watched Bentaleb's progress, had no qualms about giving him his debut. He has displayed flair, invention and strength in a side that has struggled following the sale of Gareth Bale, the arrival of seven signings and the sacking of Villas-Boas.

Coach: Vahid Halilhodzic

Vahid Halilhodzic was fired months before he was due to take Ivory Coast to the last World Cup finals and his current tenure with Algeria has followed a similarly rocky course.
But the Franco-Bosnian is expected to be in the dugout when Algeria play their opening Group H match against Belgium in Belo Horizonte on June 17, returning to the finals 32 years after playing for Yugoslavia at the 1982 tournament in Spain.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Rais Mbolhi (CSKA Sofia), Cedric Si Mohamed (CS Constantine), Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (USM Alger)
Defenders: Essaid Belkalem (Watford), Madjid Bougherra (Al Lekhwiya), Liassine Cadamuro (Mallorca), Faouzi Ghoulam (Naples), Rafik Halliche (Academica Coimbra), Aissa Mandi (Stade Reims), Carl Medjani (Valenciennes), Djamel Mesbah (Livorno), Mehdi Mostefa (Ajaccio)
Midfielders: Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham Hotspur), Yacine Brahimi (Granada), Abdelmoumene Djabou (Club Africain), Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), Mehdi Lacen (Getafe), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City), Saphir Taider (Inter Milan), Hassan Yebda (Udinese)
Forwards: Nabil Ghilas (Porto), Islam Slimani (Sporting Lisbon), El Arabi Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb)