CORNERFLICK
Riyad Mahrez has said the 2026 World Cup could be his final tournament with Algeria, hinting that he may retire from international football after the competition.
The captain spoke to FIFA's official website 24 hours before Algeria's round-of-16 meeting with Switzerland. Algeria reached the knockout stage with four points and a third-place finish in Group D, then sealed their progress with a 3-3 draw against Austria, a game in which Mahrez scored twice.
"Maybe it's time to pass the torch to the next generation and say goodbye to international football for good," Mahrez said.
He added that this would definitely be his last World Cup, and said Algeria had already met their target by getting out of the group.
Mahrez also pointed to Algeria's poor knockout record at the tournament. The country has never won a World Cup knockout match, and he said the squad wanted to change that and make the win for their families and supporters.
Mahrez made his Algeria debut on 31 May 2014 and has gone on to earn 118 caps and score 40 goals. The 2026 tournament is his second World Cup, after a brief appearance at Brazil 2014. He has played in all three of Algeria's matches so far, scoring twice and setting up one goal.