Riyad Mahrez Rewrites History Books! Becomes Algeria's Top Scorer At AFCON With...

Last Updated:December 24, 2025, 23:04 IST

Mahrez opened the scoring for Algeria to take his tally to 7 goals at the CAF event, making him the most prolific goal scorer for his nation at the AFCON, before added another.

Riyad Mahrez. (X)

Algerian superstar Riyad Mahrez scripted history on Wednesday by becoming his country’s top scorer at the African Cup Of Nation as he netted twice in their 3-0 win over Sudan.

Mahrez opened the scoring for Algeria to take his tally to 7 goals at the CAF event, making him the most prolific goal scorer for his nation at the AFCON, before he doubled down on his tally for the day to take his overall record to eight goals.

Mahrez scored the opening goal just 82 seconds into the game, delighting the Algerian fans who made up the majority of the 16,115 crowd at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat.

The former Manchester City winger, now with Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia, netted his and his team’s second goal just after the hour mark. Ibrahim Maza sealed the win late on as Algeria started their Group E campaign in the best possible manner.

Among the spectators in the Moroccan capital was French legend Zinedine Zidane, whose parents hail from Algeria and whose son Luca was starting in goal for the Desert Foxes.

His appearance on the big screens drew huge cheers from Algerian supporters, who were thrilled with their team’s convincing performance.

Algeria, who were eliminated in the first round without a win in the last two AFCON tournaments, wasted no time breaking the deadlock against the group outsiders.

Just over a minute into the match, Mohamed Amoura’s ball across the penalty box was met by a back-heel from Hicham Boudaoui to set up Mahrez, who took a touch before firing in.

Zidane then made a good save at the feet of Sudan’s Yaser Awad Boshara, but Algeria were clearly the better side.

Sudan’s chances of a comeback were severely hindered when Salaheldin Adil was sent off six minutes before the interval for a second booking for fouling Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Ramy Bensebaini had a goal disallowed for offside moments later, but Mahrez made it 2-0 at 61 minutes, connecting with a beautiful outside-of-the-boot assist from Amoura.

Making his sixth AFCON appearance, Mahrez now has eight goals in the tournament. He left the field to an ovation from the Algerian fans late on.

Substitute Maza, from Bayer Leverkusen, finished from Baghdad Bounedjah’s knockdown with five minutes left, scoring Algeria’s 100th AFCON goal and making it 3-0. Sudan have now won just once in 17 Cup of Nations matches since lifting the trophy in 1970.

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