The Algerian Football Federation (Faf) have appointed Djamel Belmadi as new coach, taking over from Rabah Madjer who was fired in June.
According to Faf, Belmadi has agreed to a four year contract that will run until the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
He joins Algeria from Qatari side Al-Duhail whom he guided to two league titles and becomes Algeria’s sixth coach inside two years.
A 13-month stint as coach of the Qatar senior national team is Belmadi’s only previous experience at the helm of a national team.
Interestingly, the France-born tactician has never worked outside Qatar since becoming a coach eight years ago.
Algeria's chopping and changing of coaches in the past two years has reflected in their failure to qualify for the 2018 Fifa World Cup after featuring at the 2010 and 2014 tournaments.
With qualification for the Qatar World Cup seemingly on top of Algeria’s priorities, his immediate focus will be on helping Algeria qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
A former Algerian international who managed 20 caps between 2000 and 2004, Belmadi inherits a team that positively started their Afcon qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win over Togo.
The Desert Foxes’ bid to claim a ticket to Cameroon 2019 continues with September’s trip to Gambia in what would be Belmadi's first competitive match in charge.
