Algerian Radio
In the conference room of the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Baraki, the Bosnian coach will unveil his 26-man roster for the upcoming 2024 World Cup.
It is expected that Petković will explain the reasons behind the—unannounced—exclusion of veteran duo Baghdad Bounedjah and Ismaël Bennacer. The former Switzerland manager is also likely to provide clarifications regarding the status of goalkeeper Luca Zidane, as well as Rayan Cherki and Ramy Bensebaïni.
"Les Verts" are placed in Group J for the World Cup finals. Belghali and his teammates will begin their World Cup journey with a heavyweight clash against Argentine, the 2022 champions. The match will take place twenty days from now, kicking off at 3:00 AM Algiers time.
Group J consists of Argentine, Algeria, Jordanie, and Autriche. Riyad Mahrez and his teammates will play their first-round matches between Kansas City and the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States.
Following the match against the "Tango Dancers," the Greens will face Jordanie on June 23, starting at 5:00 AM Algiers time. This "Arab Summit" will take place in the San Francisco Bay Area, marking the first-ever World Cup encounter between the two brotherly nations. This match holds great significance as both teams will likely need the points to advance past the group stage.
In their third and final group stage match, the Greens will face a revenge mission against Autriche on June 28, starting at 4:00 AM in Kansas City. The Austrians come into the tournament having finished top of their European qualifying group.
This will be the second meeting between the two nations since the June 21, 1982 encounter, which ended 2-0 in favor of Austria. Next summer's match carries a revenge theme, 43 years after the "El Molinón" scandal against the teammates of star Lakhdar Belloumi. On that occasion, the Austrians struck a deal with the Germans, leading to the elimination of the Greens following Hrubesch's goal in the first fifteen minutes of the "disgraceful" match.
