Algeria selection for AFCON 2025: Zidane’s son Luca likely to start in goal after injury against Guendouz

Algerian goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of French World Cup winner Zinedine, looks likely to start at this month’s Africa Cup of Nations after injured Alexis Guendouz was left out of the squad announced on Saturday.

Guendouz injured his knee in the Algerian competition on Monday and did not make the 28-man squad for the tournament in neighboring Morocco, leaving Zidane next in line.

The 27-year-old second son of Zinedine Zidane, who plays for Spanish side Granada, made his debut for Algeria in a World Cup qualifier in October after switching international allegiances having played for France at junior level.

Zidane’s grandparents are from the Kabylie region of Algeria and it is expected that he will be ahead of Oussama Benbot and former first-choice goalkeeper Anthony Mandrea in the pecking order for the final in Morocco, where Algeria will compete in Group E against Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan.

Mandrea won a surprise recall after being dropped when coach Vladimir Petkovic said he did not want to pick a goalkeeper who would play in the third tier of French football. Mandrea’s club Caen was relegated from Ligue 2 at the end of last season.

Algeria’s squad also includes striker Baghdad Bounedjah, who scored the winner in the Cup of Nations final against Senegal in Cairo in 2019.

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The notable absentee is Olympique de Marseille striker Amine Gouiri, who had to undergo shoulder surgery after the World Cup qualifier against Uganda in October and is not expected to return to action until February. An injury ruled him out of the last Cup of Nations final in Ivory Coast two years ago.

Published on December 13, 2025