Algeria got its 2025 AFCON campaign off to a winning start after beating Sudan 3-0 with Riyad Mahrez scoring twice in the win. Sudan is coached by Black Stars legend James Kwasi Appiah.
By bagging a brace, the Algeria captain is one of the leading top goal scorers in the continental championship after the first round of games alongside Senegal forward Nicolas Jackson.
The win over Sudan was graced by the presence of football legend Zinedine Zidane whose son Luca Zidane manned the post for Algeria.
Luca, who plays for Granada in Spain, switched to play for Algeria from France earlier this year; Zidane is of Algerian descent.
Reflecting on the win, Mahrez stated how important it was for the Fennec Foxes to get off to a winning start stating to ESPN that,
“The most important thing was to start with a win. The last two AFCONs, we didn’t start good. Today, we really wanted to make it happen and we did.”
Algeria take on Burkina Faso next on Sunday, December 28; Burkina Faso beat Equatorial Guinea 2-1 in the first round.
