FRANCE 24 delegate to Morocco - Algeria achieved a well-deserved victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Tuesday afternoon, at the Medina Stadium in Rabat, in the 2025 African Cup of Nations, with a score of 1-0, making its way to the quarter-finals and confirming its candidacy to enter the final race for the continental title. In the next round, it will face Nigeria in a fiery confrontation that will take place next Sunday in Marrakesh. The goal was scored by Boulbina in the 119th minute.

Published on: 01/06/2026 - 19:41 Last updated: 01/06/2026 - 20:10

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The 2025 African Cup of Nations match between the Algerian national team and its Democratic Republic of Congo, which took place on Tuesday afternoon in Rabat, and which undoubtedly gained the satisfaction of the audience of 19,000 people, ended with the victory of the “Greens” in a wonderful atmosphere created by the green and white fans in the stands.

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Algeria returned to Moulay Hassan Stadium with its usual starting lineup after the reserve team played its last match in the first round against Equatorial Guinea (3-1). It included, in particular, Zidane in goal (under the watchful eye of his father Zinedine), Ben Sabaini and Nadi in the heart of defence, Bennacer and Boudaoui in the midfield, and Mahrez and Ammoura in the attack, while Bosnian-Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic decided to include the young man Ibrahim Mazza in the attacking midfield.

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Petkovic said that the match was a "starting point," while his counterpart, Sebastien Desabre, stressed that his team was going into it "with great satisfaction after the players were comfortable after passing the group stage." The "Cheetahs" reached the semi-finals in the 2024 tournament in Ivory Coast.

Captain Chancel Mbemba's teammates played comfortably for five minutes before they were subjected to collective, structured, coordinated Algerian attacks in which both the front line and midfield participated. Mahrez and his teammates pressured their opponent and controlled the ball, leaving the impression that the opponent was planning to abandon the game and seek to exploit counterattacks.

Captain Mahrez had a chance in the sixth minute following a long pass from Ben Sabaini to mark the start, followed by a chance for Chaibi in the 11th minute, then a direct free kick from Mahrez in the 16th minute outside the goal, and a group shot in the twentieth minute that ended in a corner kick. Ait Nouri came close to scoring in the 24th minute, but Mazza almost scored the lead goal in the 42nd minute with a shot at the 18-meter line.

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As for the Democratic Republic of Congo, it gradually returned to the match and relied on high balls with the aim of surprising goalkeeper Zidane, so it created two prominent chances through Bakumbu, the Spanish Betis player, in the 25th and 40th minutes. When Egyptian referee Mohamed Mansour announced the end of the first stage after an additional time of one minute, the audience agreed that the result was logical and that the two teams had to do more if they wanted to achieve victory and qualify.

The Algerian coach was forced to make an emergency change in the 49th minute after Bennacer was injured, replacing Hammad Abdli, captain of the French club Angie. For his part, coach Sebastien Dusaber decided to change his team's plan to advance further on the field in order to contain the Algerian attacks.

The performance of the "Cheetahs" improved and they became relatively dominant, as the "Greens" continued their attacking campaign, and Mahrez's shot in the 69th minute almost resulted in the first goal, but it went over the crossbar. DR Congo responded with a shot from substitute Kayembe. Algeria responded with a shot by substitute Haj Moussa, who entered Mahrez's place. Ammora penetrated the defense in the 78th minute after he got rid of Mbemba and shot into the goalkeeper’s hands.

The play was rewarded after that and the two teams exchanged some “blows” that caused panic in both camps, but they were forced to resort to the extension time to determine the winner.

Substitute Adel Boulbena scored the winning goal in the 119th minute after a pass from Zerrougui.

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