Nickname: The Desert Foxes/Desert Warriors
Manager: Rabah Saadane
World Cup appearances: Two
Best finish: Round 1, 1982 and 1986
Key players:
Yazid Mansouri (captain)
Karim Ziani
Rafik Saifi
Never underestimate an Algerian football team.
Germany coach Jupp Derwall once did, back in 1982, and it nearly cost him dear. Before his side lost 1-0 to a Lakhdar Belloumi goal at the group stage in Spain, the Germany coach vowed that he would "jump in the Mediterranean" should Algeria win.
He failed to follow through on his promise after one of the great World Cup shocks, and Algeria were robbed of the opportunity to progress to the knockout rounds as Germany and Austria colluded to cook up the 1-1 scoreline, in the final match of the group, that saw them both safely through.
"Never again," vowed FIFA, and ever since football's governing body have ensured that such a set of circumstances cannot arise by playing the final two group games simultaneously. But it was too late to save the poor Algerians.
Four years later at the 1986 World Cup, and the Desert Foxes drew 1-1 with Northern Ireland first up, but could not muster an upset like they had in Spain: Brazil beat them 1-0 and Spain prevailed 3-0, and that was Algeria's last involvement in a World Cup - until South Africa in 2010.
Even the very formation of Algeria's football team was mired in controversy: the first Algeria team came together in Tunisia in 1957, when Algeria was still a French colony.
The 91 fixtures played by the unofficial Algeria team between 1957-'62, when the country split from France, arguably helped to make their case for independence.
1990 was another landmark year for Algerian football when they lifted the African Cup of Nations trophy, as hosts: ten years before that in 1980 they achieved a fine second-placed finish in Nigeria, losing out to the host nation in the final.
Fast forward to this renewal of the FIFA showpiece and in the second round of African qualifying, the Algerians were pitted against Senegal, the Gambia and Liberia in what proved a very tight group.
Rabah Saadane's side finished on 10 points, with Gambia and Senegal both breathing down their necks with nine points apiece, but it proved enough to seal their progress to a play-off.
Fierce rivals Egypt were their opponents in a tense, emotional two-legged play-off match, and Antar Yahia's goal proved the difference in the second leg.
Boss Saadane is currently enjoying his fifth stint as manager of the national side - so brings a fine pedigree of international managerial experience to the table.
On the field, Rafik Saifi is the current top-scorer in the squad - he'd harvested 18 goals from 55 games by the time of the Algerian's qualification.
Karim Ziani of Wolfsburg is a pivotal performer in the engine room of the Algeria midfield. Madjid Bougherra of Rangers, Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth, Kamel Ghilas of Hull City and Hameur Bouazza at Blackpool are all names well known to fans of British football.
Algeria are another side that proves top-level football is an international business these days: and the breadth of experience their team has gained as a result should stand them in good stead in 2010.
