Sport in Algeria dates back to antiquity. In the

Aurès Mountains The Aures Mountains (, known in antiquity as ) are a subrange of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria. The mountain range gives its name to the mountainous natural and historical region of the Aurès. Geography The Aures mountains are the ...

, people played games such as El Kherdba or El khergueba (a

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

variant). Playing cards,

checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), is a group of Abstract strategy game, strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game ...

and chess games are part of Algerian culture. Horse racing (

fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...

) and

rifle shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

are among the recreational traditions of Algeria. The first Algerian, Arab, and African gold medalist was Boughera El Ouafi in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

at the 1928 Olympics of Amsterdam. The second Algerian medalist was marathon runner

Alain Mimoun Alain Mimoun, born Ali Mimoun Ould Kacha (1 January 1921 – 27 June 2013), was a French long-distance runner who competed in track running, track events, cross-country running and the marathon. He was the 1956 Summer Olympics, 1956 Olympic champ ...

, who won the marathon at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. The

Ministry of Youth and Sports A ministry of sports or ministry of youth and sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. It is led by the minister of s ...

in Algeria manages sport-related activities.

Popular sports

Football

The most convenient and the most popular sport in Algeria is

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. During the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, the FLN football team (Le Onze de l'indépendance), consisting of players who later joined the National Liberation Front (FLN) (an Algerian independence movement), participated in several tournaments and sports events. The

Algerian Football Federation The Algerian Football Federation (AFF); () is the governing body of Association football, football in Algeria. Formed in 1962 and was based in the capital Algiers. It has jurisdiction on the Algerian football league system and is in charge of th ...

(AFF) is an association of Algerian football clubs that organizes national competitions and international matches for the

Algeria national football team The Algeria national football team () represents Algeria in men's international Association football, football, and is governed by the Algerian Football Federation. The team plays their home matches at the Stade du 5 Juillet, 5 July Stadium in ...

. The AFF organized the meetings of the Algeria Championship of football, a professional league of 16 clubs, the

Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup () also known the Republic Cup (), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after independence, and has been played yearly since then apart ...

, and is also a member of the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...

. Notable Algerian players in the history of the sport include:

Lakhdar Belloumi Lakhdar Belloumi (; born on 29 December 1958) is an Algerian former football player and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he is widely considered the best Algerian player of all time and one of the best players in Africa. He is said to hav ...

Rachid Mekhloufi Rachid Mekhloufi (; 12 August 1936 – 8 November 2024) was an Algerian footballer who played as a striker. He later became a manager and coached the Algeria national team. International career In the middle of the Algerian War, on 13 April ...

, Hassen Lalmas,

Rabah Madjer Rabah Mustapha Madjer (; born 15 December 1958) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He reached stardom as a Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Po ...

Salah Assad Salah Assad (; born 13 March 1958) is an Algerian former football player and manager who played as a forward. Assad was born in Larbaâ Nath Irathen. He played for RC Kouba, where he won an Algerian championship in 1981, and in France for FC Mu ...

and

Djamel Zidane Djamel Zidane (born 28 April 1955) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He appeared for the Algeria national team at the 1982 World Cup and the 1986 World Cup, in which he scored one goal, a free kick against N ...

. The Algerian national team qualified for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and most recently

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In 1982, the national team came close to progressing into the second round, but was eliminated after Germany beat Austria in the so-called " non-aggression pact of Gijón". In 2014 Algeria proceeded to the

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

for the first time after finishing in second place in

Group H Group H may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing * One of eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group H ** 2018 FIFA World Cup Group H ** 2014 FIFA World ...

. Additionally, several football clubs have won continental and international trophies, such as the clubs

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne (), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional association football, football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in 1958 and its colours are bl ...

and JS Kabylia.

Handball

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

is the second most popular spectator and participation sport in Algeria. Algeria's national handball team has seven titles at the Men's African Championship, four gold medals at the

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

and many other titles with many participations in the

World Men's Handball Championship The IHF Men's Handball World Championship has been organized indoor by the International Handball Federation since 1938. In the twenty-nine tournaments held, twelve national teams have won the title. France is the most successful team with six ...

and in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. The national clubs are also strong and win many international titles. Algeria, along with Tunisia, is one of the best African male

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

teams. The men's national handball team has won several titles including in the African Championship in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1996 and 2014. The women's national handball team has also triumphed in the tournaments of the African Championship and the Pan Arab games.

Athletics

Algeria has a strong reputation in

middle-distance running Middle-distance running events are Track and field#Running, track races longer than Sprint (running), sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres m ...

(800m, 1500m, 5000m); it has had many winners in the

IAAF World Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

and gold medals in the

. Several men and women have been champions in athletics since the 1990s including

Noureddine Morceli Noureddine Morceli (, ''Nūr ud-Dīn Mursilī''; born February 28, 1970) is a retired Algerian middle-distance runner. The winner of the 1500 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Morceli won three straight gold medals at that distance at the Wor ...

, Hassiba Boulmerka,

Nouria Mérah-Benida Nouria Merah-Benida () (born 19 October 1970 in Algiers) is a former Algerian middle-distance runner. At the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg, Merah-Benida won silver medals in both 800 metres and 1,500 metres. At the 2000 Summer Olympics i ...

, and

Taoufik Makhloufi Taoufik Makhloufi (; born 29 April 1988) is an Algerian athlete who specialises in middle-distance running. He became the 1500 metres Olympic champion at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. In 2016, Makhloufi took the silver medal in th ...

— all specialists in middle-distance running.

Boxing

Algeria has had many African and world champions in boxing, and has won many medals in boxing at the

. The country's boxing champions have included

Mustapha Moussa Mustapha Moussa (; 2 February 1962 – 3 August 2024) was an Algerian boxer who fought in the light heavyweight division. He won the first-ever Olympic medal for Algeria, winning a bronze at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He shared the ...

Mohamed Bouchiche Mohamed Bouchiche (; born February 24, 1962, in Oran) is an Algerian former boxer who fought in the heavyweight division. He participated for two times at the olympic games 1980 and 1984. He won many national and international titles. Career Moh ...

, Mohamed Benguesmia,

Loucif Hamani Loucif Hamani (15 May 1950 – 9 November 2021) was an Algerian boxer who competed at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in the light-middleweight event where he reached the quarter finals before losing to Alan Minter of Great Britain. Earlier, Haman ...

, and

Hocine Soltani Hocine Soltani (December 1972 – March 2002) was an Algerian boxer, who won two Olympic medals. In 1992, the southpaw placed third in the featherweight division (54–57 kg), and at the 1996 Summer Olympics he won the gold medal in the l ...

, the Olympic champion in Atlanta 1996.

Cycling

Notable cyclists from Algeria have included Abdelkader Merabet,

Hichem Chaabane Hichem Chaabane (; born 10 August 1988 in Blida) is an Algerian former professional road cyclist. He represented his nation Algeria at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Career Riding for , Chaabane qualified for the Algerian squad, as a 19-year-old, in ...

, Redouane Chabaane, Abdel Basset Hannachi,

Azzedine Lagab Azzedine Lagab (born 18 September 1986) is an Algerian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . During his career, he has won medals in Algerian national championships, in African and Arab cycling championships as well ...

Eddy Lembo Eddy Lembo (born 10 November 1980) is a French-Algerian former professional road cyclist. Major results ;1997 : 2nd Road race, French National Junior Road Championships ;1998 : 1st Overall Tour de Lorraine ;2001 : 1st Tour du Doubs : 3rd Tro-Bro ...

and

Youcef Reguigui Youcef Reguigui (born 9 January 1990) is an Algerian road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . He began his professional career with the African team in 2013. His first professional win came in 2014 at the 2.1-ranked T ...

Martial arts

Algeria has had tens of thousands of

Vovinam Vovinam (short for ''Võ Việt Nam'', meaning "Vietnamese Martial Arts"), officially known as Việt Võ Đạo (越武道, meaning "Vietnamese Way of Martial Arts") is a Vietnamese martial art founded in 1938 by Nguyễn Lộc. It is based o ...

practitioners, some of whom competed in the World Championship of 2011 in

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. In judo,

Amar Benikhlef Amar Benikhlef (born 11 January 1982) is an Algerian judoka who competed in the middleweight division. He won the silver medal at the Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 90 kg, 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In September 2021, Benikhle ...

and

Ali Idir Ali Idir (born 22 December 1966) is an Algerian judoka. He competed in the men's extra-lightweight event at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul ...

have won the

African Judo Championships African Judo Championships is a continental judo championship organized by the African Judo Union. The Judo at the 1965 All-Africa Games, 1965, Judo at the 1987 All-Africa Games, 1987, Judo at the 1991 All-Africa Games, 1991, Judo at the 1995 Al ...

several times in their categories. Several women including

Soraya Haddad Soraya Haddad (born 30 September 1984) is an Algerian judoka. She won a bronze medal in the 52 kg weight class at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She has been the African champion five times: 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2012, and also a bronze m ...

and

Salima Souakri Salima Souakri (born 6 December 1974) is an Algerian judoka who competed at four Olympic Games. Career She finished in joint fifth place in the extra-lightweight (48 kg) division at the 1996 Summer Olympics, having lost the bronze medal ma ...

have won medals at the African Championship of Nations of Women's Judo and at the Olympic Games.

Volleyball

Algeria's volleyball team qualified to the

2010 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship The 2010 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship was held in Italy from 25 September to 10 October 2010. The tournament featured 24 teams to determine the world champions in men's volleyball. In addition to 2006 champion Brazil and host nation I ...

. They have won titles in several international competitions in the past.

Basketball

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

is another important sport in Algeria; however, the country has won few international titles.

Other sports

Freestyle swimmer and African and Arabic champion

Salim Iles Salim Iles (born 14 May 1975, in Oran) is an Algerian swimmer who competes in the freestyle events. He was named ''Algerian Sportsman of the Year'' in 1998. He is a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program. Olympic achievement ...

competed in the 2004 Olympics. Another growing sport in Algeria is

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

. The Algeria national rugby team played their first official game on 18 December 2015 since the creation of the Algerian Rugby Federation. The match was played against the Tunisian rugby union team, to which they won 16–6. This was also the first international match played on Algerian soil (Oran), which was televised on the Algerian channel Canal Algérie in the country for the first time. Ice Hockey in Algeria is governed by

Hockey Algeria Hockey Algeria is the public name of the authority which governs both ice hockey, inline hockey and ball hockey in Algeria. Hockey Algeria was founded in 2008 by Karim Kerbouche, Harond Litim and Nassim Boulakdem and was later accepted into th ...

who became members of the

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey tourn ...

in 2019.

Major sport events hosted

* 1960 World Military Cup ''(

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

)'' *

1975 Mediterranean Games The 1975 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the VII Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Algiers 1975, were the 7th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Algiers, Algeria, from 23 August to 6 September 1975, where 2,444 athletes ...

1978 All-Africa Games The 3rd All-Africa Games (; ), alson known as Algiers 1978 () was a multi-sport event played from 13 to 28 July 1978, in Algiers, Algeria. 45 countries from 49 independent African countries participated in twelve sports. At the closing ceremoni ...

1990 African Cup of Nations The 1990 African Cup of Nations was the 17th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Algeria. Just like in 1988, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Algeria won i ...

2004 Pan Arab Games The 10th Arab Games was an international multi-sport event which took place in Algiers, Algeria, from 24 September to 10 October 2004. It witnessed the participation of all Arab League members for the first time – 22 countries participated in 26 ...

* 2005 Volleyball U19 World Championship * World Cup Vovinam VietVoDao 2006 *

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games (; ), also known as Algiers 2007 (), took place from 11 to 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers became the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were a ...

Vovinam World Championship 2015 The 2015 Vo Vietnam World Championship were the fourth edition of the Vovinam VietVoDao World Championship, and were held in Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many ...

2022 Mediterranean Games The 2022 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran 2022, was an international multi-sport event held from 25 June to 6 July 2022 in Oran, Algeria. Oran was announced as the host city at th ...

* 2022 Vocotruyen World Championship *

2022 African Nations Championship The 2022 African Nations Championship, known as the 2022 CHAN for short and the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes, was the 7th edition of the biennial association football tournament organ ...

2023 Arab Games The 2023 Arab Sports Games was the 13th edition of the Arab Games, an international multi-sport event which took place in Algeria, between 5 and 15 July 2023. The event included 22 sports with all 22 members of the Arab League participating. For ...

Best athletes of the year

Below the list of the Best Awards sounding of athletes of the year organized by the

Algeria Press Service Algeria Press Service (APS; , , ) is a news agency based in Algeria. Its first hand-typed news with the national flag's colours was then taken up by all the foreign media of the time. It is a member of the Federation of Arab News Agencies. Hist ...

(APS) since 1977, in collaboration with the national press.

Best athletes of the year

Below the list of the Best Awards sounding of athletes of the year organized by the ''Al Fadjr'' since 2020, in collaboration with the national press.

References

External links

Official website of the Ministry of Youth and Sport
{{Sports governing bodies in Algeria

Popular sports

Football

Handball

Athletics

Boxing

Cycling

Martial arts

Volleyball

Basketball

Other sports

Major sport events hosted

Best athletes of the year

Best athletes of the year

See also

References

External links