Luca Zidane, son of French football icon Zinedine Zidane, has expressed his pride after earning a call-up to the Algerian national team for their 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against Somalia and Uganda.
The 27-year-old goalkeeper, born in France just months before his father’s historic double in the 1998 World Cup final victory over Brazil, previously represented France at youth level.
However, having never played for the French senior team, Luca was eligible to represent Algeria through his paternal grandparents, who hail from North Africa.
“I’m very happy to be here with the Algeria team,” said Zidane as the 26-man squad went through its final paces in Oran for Thursday night’s Group G game against Somalia.
“It makes me proud and I will give everything at 100 percent to make the Algerian people proud.”
Algeria, who lead the pool with 19 points after eight games, will qualify for next year’s
in the United States, Mexico and Canada as long as they match the results of second-placed Uganda and third-placed Mozambique, who each have 15 points.
“All my family are proud of me and back my choice,” added Zidane, who turns out for the Spanish second-division side Granada.
“My grandfather is happy that I’m in Algeria and that I’ve made this decision.”
Mbappé and Kolo Muani sparkle as Deschamps hails Zidane as likely France coach Zinedine Zidane
played 108 times for France, scoring 31 goals over 12 years. As a coach, he steered Real Madrid to 10 trophies between
, including a hat trick of wins in the
.
“My father had his journey, his career,” said Luca Zidane. “As for me I have my journey, my career.”
Though technically a “home” game for Somalia, Thursday’s fixture will be played in Oran due to security concerns over staging matches in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
On Wednesday night, Egypt became the third side from Africa to reach the World Cup after a 3-0 victory over Djibouti.
Mohammed Salah nabbed a pair after Ibrahim Adel opened the scoring in the eighth minute of the game, which was played at Morocco’s Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca because Djibouti lacks a stadium that meets the technical requirements of World Cup organisers Fifa.
Ghana’s Black Stars get into the World Cup groove
Elsewhere
on Wednesday night, Group D pacesetters Cape Verde scored two late goals in Tripoli to salvage a 3-3 draw against Libya and maintain pole position in the pool.
On Monday, Cape Verde take on bottom-of-the-table Eswatini and need to match the result of second-placed Cameroon’s game against Angola to claim a place at the World Cup for the first time.
In Group I, Ghana thrashed the Central African Republic 5-0 to inch closer to a fifth appearance at world football’s most prestigious national team tournament.
Ghana lead the pool with 22 points from their nine games. Madagascar, 2-1 winners on Wednesday night against Comoros, lie second on 19 points.
On Sunday, Ghana will host Comoros, while Madagascar face Mali in their respective fixtures.
In the African qualifiers, only the nine group winners will secure direct qualification for the expanded 48-team World Cup.
Meanwhile, the four best runners-up will advance to the African play-offs in November, with the winners earning a spot in the intercontinental play-offs scheduled for March.
