Algeria manager Brahim Hemdani has called up Adil Bourabaa to replace the injured Nabil Bentaleb for the national team’s upcoming fixtures.
Bentaleb, who has won 63 caps and scored six goals for Algeria, was expected to join the squad on Monday but has been ruled out after suffering an injury while playing in the French league.
The Lille midfielder will miss Algeria’s Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifying matches against Zambia on 25 September in Tizi Ouzou and Burundi on 29 September in Bujumbura. He will also be unavailable for the friendly against Niger in Tizi Ouzou on 6 October.
The Algerian Football Federation (FAF) confirmed that Bentaleb’s replacement would be 21-year-old Adil Bourabaa, who has made an impressive start to the season with Le Mans.
Bourabaa has scored three goals and provided two assists in five matches, making him the most decisive player in Ligue 1 alongside fellow Algeria international Amine Gouiri of OM, Lassine Sinayoko of Paris FC, Kamory Doumbia of Brest and Florian Thauvin of RC Lens.
This is the first time Bourabaa has been selected for the Algeria senior team. He had previously been included by Rafik Saifi in the squad for the Algeria U23 gathering, but his early-season performances have now earned him a step up to the senior side.
The versatile midfielder’s selection completes a rapid rise that began only a year ago, when he was playing in Ligue 3 for AS Beauvais.
He moved to Pays de la Loire in early February to continue his career in Ligue 2 before helping secure promotion to the top flight at the end of last season. His form for Le Mans at the start of the current campaign has now brought him into Hemdani’s plans.
Bourabaa will join a squad preparing for three matches in the space of 12 days. Algeria’s first fixture is against Zambia in Tizi Ouzou on 25 September, followed by the trip to Bujumbura to face Burundi four days later. The team will then return to Tizi Ouzou for the meeting with Niger on 6 October.