Big win for Algeria as former France youth international dumps Les Bleus for Fennecs

Amine Gouiri has decided to play for Algeria instead of France | Imago

Big win for Algeria as former France youth international dumps Les Bleus for Fennecs

Ayoola Kelechi 23:57 - 26.09.2023

Algeria get a big boost ahead of the upcoming Africa Cup of Nation tournament and World Cup qualifiers after securing a top talent for the National team

Algeria’s attacking prowess just got bigger ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations set to hold in Ivory Coast after former France youth international Amine Gouiri pledged his allegiance to the North American nation.

Gouiri switches national teams

Gouiri, who has starred in Ligue 1 for Lyon, Nice and Rennes announced that he was switching international allegiances on his official X page confirming reports that he was indeed ready to dump his hopes of playing for the French national team.

The forward put out an announcement video with the caption: “With pride, I announce my decision to join the Algerian selection”

“I will defend the Fennecs jersey body and soul to carry the colors of our country high and help write the next pages of its rich history.”

Gouiri teams up with talented Algerian side

Before deciding to join the Algerian national team, Gouiri had played for France at six age grades from U-16 to U-21, and was even named Player of the Tournament at the 2017 UEFA U-17 championships.

He still represented France’s under-21 team as recently as July this year, but after failing to make the jump to the first team, has decided to take his talents to the birth place of his ancestors, Algeria.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.co.ke/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Gouiri’s defection to Algeria means that the Foxes now possess his talents alongside the like of Riyad Mahrez, Saïd Benrahma, and Houssem Aouar in their ranks ahead of the 2023 AFCON which is just months away.

Related content