Saïd Benrahma earned his 24th Algeria cap on Thursday night as the Fennec Foxes thrashed Cape Verde 5-1 in an international friendly.
Benrahma came off the bench in the second half as Algeria’s preparations for their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers – and January’s Africa Cup of Nations finals – stepped up a gear.
Algeria were in unstoppable form at the Stade Chahid Hamlaoui in Constantine, moving into a three-goal lead by half-time.
Union Saint-Gilloise winger Mohamed Amoura got the goalscoring started in the 12th minute, before a double from A.S. Roma’s Houssem Aouar had the hosts firmly in control.
Although Cape Verde pulled one back early in the second half through one-time Manchester United forward Bebé, Algeria did not let up, with Feyenoord midfielder Ramiz Zerrouki adding a fourth.
Benrahma was then introduced to the action and former Leicester City striker Islam Slimani completed the rout from the spot in the final minute.
In Europe, Tomáš Souček and Vladimír Coufal suffered the disappointment of a 3-0 defeat for Czech Republic in Albania, as their hopes of qualifying for UEFA Euro 2024 took a knock.
The Hammers duo started in Tirana, as a red card for Mojmir Chytil, with the score at 1-0 in the first half, left the Czechs with an uphill battle.
Despite Coufal and Souček’s side enjoying 65 per cent possession and registering 13 shots to Albania’s seven, it was the home side who ran out comfortable winners.
Defeat leaves Czech Republic third in Group E, a point behind second place Poland and five shy of leaders Albania. The Czechs do have a game in hand on both however, and face the Faroe Islands on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a number of Academy players have also been involved in age-group internationals across the last two days.
On Wednesday evening, Sean Moore started as the Republic of Ireland U19s beat Scotland U19s 2-0 at the Pintar Arena in Spain, with the winger featuring for just under an hour.
A day later, Michael Forbes and Patrick Kelly featured for Northern Ireland U21s.
Forbes played the full match as his side beat Azerbaijan U21 1-0 with ten men, while Kelly, another starter, was substituted 13 minutes from time as Northern Ireland gained their first win in qualifying for the 2025 UEFA Under-21 European Championship finals.
