Having conquered Europe and Asia at club level and Africa with his country, Riyad Mahrez now has his sights set on cementing his global legacy at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ in North America. Can this proven winner inspire another remarkable run for Algeria?
Mahrez’s achievements and attributes
After leaving his boyhood club Sarcelles, on the outskirts of Paris, for a season-long stint at lower-league Quimper, Mahrez put pen to paper on his first professional contract at Le Havre in 2011. Having risen from the fourth to the second tier of French football, he then took a leap of faith in January 2014 by joining English Championship side Leicester City.
The playmaker’s technical ability and natural footballing intelligence proved pivotal to the Foxes’ Championship-winning campaign – form that did not go unnoticed by then Algeria boss Vahid Halilhodzic. On his international debut – a 3-1 defeat of Armenia on home soil in May 2014 – the silky showman chipped in with two assists, impressing to such an extent that he secured his spot in the squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.
Buoyed by his first foray on football’s biggest stage, he continued to be in fine form for his club, racking up 27 goal involvements – 17 goals and ten assists – in 37 matches as Leicester City stunned the football world by clinching the Premier League title in 2016. A marquee move to Manchester City followed two years later where, in the course of five sensational seasons, he amassed four league crowns, three English League Cups, two FA Cups and the Cityzens’ first-ever UEFA Champions League title, in addition to clinching what is now known as the FIFA Intercontinental Cup™ in 2023.
Over time, he has grown into a talismanic figure for Les Fennecs, captaining them to glory at the 2019 CAF Africa Cup of Nations. After missing out on the 2018 and 2022 editions of the FIFA World Cup, he has now led his countrymen back to the final tournament in North America. Mahrez currently plies his trade at Al Ahli, where he has emerged as one of Saudi football’s leading lights, adding to his honours with a second continental club title, this time in the 2024/25 AFC Champions League Elite.
Mahrez tributes
“He’s an exceptional player on the big stage, with the mentality to score a goal. I am so satisfied with Riyad because he loves to play football. He has given many things in these years and will give more in the future.”
Pep Guardiola, Mahrez’s coach at Manchester City
“I could watch Mahrez play all night… His ball feel is incredibly refined. He feels the ball and it’s impossible to know which direction he will go. A real nightmare for defenders!”
Gary Lineker, former Leicester City striker and England international
“He’s technically very talented; he almost never loses the ball. He can dribble, keep possession under pressure from two or three opponents, beat players, pick a pass and make assists. He has quite exceptional technical quality.”
Vahid Halilhodzic, Algeria coach at the 2014 FIFA World Cup
“He’s a talented player who offers something different. He’s technically strong, very direct and always a threat going forward. He’s also very quick with the ball.”
Zinedine Zidane, France legend and Mahrez’s idol
Mahrez trivia
When he was invited to show Quimper what he was made of in 2009, he could not afford to buy himself a train ticket and had to borrow money from his parents in exchange for a promise. “When Quimper offered me a trial, the train ticket cost EUR 160. I told my mum: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back, I’m going to make it.’ I’ve now finally repaid her properly,” Mahrez revealed to French sports publication L’Equipe in 2016.
The 35-year-old is the second player to have skippered Algeria to African glory, following in the footsteps of Rabah Madjer in 1990. Four years after his continental triumph with his country, Mahrez also became the second Algerian to win the UEFA Champions League after Madjer.
He had never heard of Leicester City before the English club approached him. “I thought it was a rugby club!” he later confessed.
His hometown of Sarcelles named a stadium after him, and the venue also features a commemorative plaque bearing the name of his father, who died when Mahrez was a teenager. “My dad used to live just opposite the ground,” he recounted at the unveiling. “I used to train there often. It’s incredible to think that this ground is now dedicated to me and my dad.”
Mahrez stats
Mahrez’s World Cup history
Although his international debut came less than a fortnight before the 2014 World Cup got under way, Mahrez still did enough not only to book a seat on the plane to Brazil but to earn a start in Les Fennecs’ curtain-raiser against Belgium. Despite posing a constant threat down the left flank, he was unable to prevent the Red Devils from snatching a 2-1 win.
That defeat marked his most recent World Cup appearance. Mahrez was an unused substitute in his side’s next two group games and again when the Algerians were ousted from the competition in a 2-1 round-of-16 defeat by Germany after extra time. Since then, the Clichy-born winger has gone from strength to strength, while Les Fennecs have struggled to find their way back to FIFA’s flagship men’s event.
Mahrez and Algeria’s World Cup 2026 hopes
Mahrez captains an ambitious Algeria team that dominated their CAF qualifying group with eight wins and one draw in ten matches, which they followed up with a run to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals. In March, the North Africans unleashed their attacking firepower, when a brace from Amine Gouiri and a Mahrez spot kick helped them to dismantle Guatemala 7-0. In a contrasting next outing, defensive discipline enabled them to hold Marcelo Bielsa’s stubborn Uruguay to a goalless stalemate.
In his sophomore showing in the global spotlight, Mahrez will be seeking to steer Vladimir Petkovic’s men out of Group J, where they will square off against Argentina, Austria and Jordan, and to do North African football proud on the grandest stage, inspired by Morocco’s historic run to the semi-finals at Qatar 2022.
