Mahrez Announces International Retirement After Algeria Eliminates from World Cup
July 4, 2026 · Global
Riyad Mahrez has announced his retirement from international football following Algeria's defeat to Switzerland in the World Cup, marking the end of his international career.
Riyad Mahrez announced his retirement from international football following Algeria's 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in the World Cup. Goals from Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye in each half were enough to seal victory for Switzerland in Vancouver, sending them through to the last 16 to face either Colombia or Ghana. This result broke a streak of seven knockout matches without a win in the tournament (D1 L6), with their last win in the knockout phase coming in 1938 (4-2 against Germany). It was the first time Switzerland had won three games at one edition of the World Cup, while Algeria failed to match their best ever finish in the competition, having crashed out in the last 16 in 2014.
At 35 years and 131 days, Mahrez became the second oldest African player to start a World Cup knockout round match, after Senegal's Idrissa Gueye (36 years, 278 days) against Belgium the day before. However, he was unable to inspire his team to victory and, after racking up 119 caps and 40 goals for Algeria, he has played his final game on the international stage.
"Our goal is to qualify for the next round, and I think this is a match we can win," Mahrez said after the match. "But we conceded two goals through mistakes and, at this level, you can't profit from that. There are a lot of positives to take; we managed to get out of the group stage, but we conceded too many goals to expect more. This is my last game with Algeria."
Switzerland really deserved this victory, after collecting 2.52 expected goals (xG) from 11 shots, compared to Algeria's xG of only 0.73 from eight attempts. Their head coach, Murat Yakin, said: "It was a very good defensive performance. In every phase of the game, we defended solidly. We didn't let any chances go. I want to praise my whole team, because they had to suffer, and I think they scored at the right moment. I think we really deserved to go on to the next round of this tournament. It was important to score at that moment – it was a lucky stroke, but after that, I think we dominated on the pitch, and I'm very happy with our overall performance because we played against very individual players strong."
When asked if he had any preferences regarding Switzerland's next opponents, Yakin added: "There are no easy opponents. Everything has to go perfectly for us, tactically, in the game of football, and the intensity also has to be in every detail. At the moment, we are just very happy with this moment.