Immediately after the Algeria vs. Somalia match, which secured Mahrez and his teammates’ qualification for the World Cup finals, the national coach met with his players in the locker rooms, according to the “Win Win” website.

Petkovic made sure to congratulate the players on the deserved qualification, saying: “I want to congratulate you on this well-deserved qualification, you and all the players who participated in the qualifiers but could not be with us for various reasons,” adding: “The qualifiers were tough and lasted about two full years, and your efforts were not in vain.”

Algerian fans and followers praised Petkovic greatly when he insisted on congratulating all players who participated in the qualifiers during the press conference and then repeated it to his players, confirming, according to them, that he is a coach who values and respects all players and does not deny their efforts during the qualifying matches or even their presence during training camps.

The Swiss coach did not stop there; he sent a strong message to Riyad Mahrez’s teammates rejecting any idea of complacency or leniency in the upcoming match against Uganda on Tuesday at the Hussein Ait Ahmed Stadium in Tizi Ouzou, the final round of the qualifiers, emphasizing the necessity of winning.

Petkovic said: “Now we must focus directly on the Uganda match. We must continue positive results and deliver a strong performance,” insisting on winning to finish the qualifiers strongly and improve Algeria’s FIFA ranking before the 2026 World Cup draw.

The former Lazio coach also called on his players to double their efforts in the coming period to secure a place in his final squad, as the competition will be very fierce, noting that anyone who wants to be among his choices for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 World Cup must prove their worth on the pitch.

It is worth noting that the national team qualified for the World Cup for the fifth time in its history after defeating Somalia 3-0 at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran in the penultimate round of the African qualifiers, topping Group 7 with 22 points, four points ahead of Uganda.

The “Desert Warriors” returned to participate in the World Cup after a 12-year absence since the 2014 Brazil World Cup, which included two major failures in 2018 and 2022, with the biggest shock occurring in the Cameroon World Cup playoff when the “Indomitable Lions” snatched the qualification ticket from Algeria.