Algeria v Niger friendly moved to earlier kick-off time

Algeria’s friendly against Niger on Tuesday, 6 October, has been brought forward to 18:00 at the Hocine-Aït-Ahmed Stadium in Tizi Ouzou, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) has confirmed.

The match was originally scheduled to begin at 20:30 but will now kick off two and a half hours earlier.

The fixture will bring Algeria’s current international break to an end and conclude the first training camp led by Brahim Hemdani.

The change comes as Hemdani prepares to lead Algeria into their final match of the window with several players unavailable.

The Greens began their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a 3-1 victory over Zambia before drawing 2-2 with Burundi.

Algeria had fallen 2-0 behind against Burundi before recovering to claim a point. The meeting with Niger will now provide Hemdani and his coaching staff with one final opportunity during the camp to assess the squad and make adjustments.

However, the coach will have to manage a number of absences before the friendly.

Amine Gouiri, Anis Hadj Moussa and Adem Zorgane have all been released from the squad after suffering injuries.

Rayan Aït-Nouri has also left the training camp for disciplinary reasons, while Nabil Bentaleb withdrew before the start of the camp.

There is also uncertainty over the availability of Himad Abdelli.

The midfielder was injured during the draw with Burundi and was subsequently seen using crutches. Since the team resumed training, Abdelli has only been able to work indoors.

His participation against Niger has not been completely ruled out, but his fitness remains a concern ahead of the final game of the camp.

The friendly will therefore give Hemdani another opportunity to assess his remaining options after the Greens’ opening two matches of the international window.

Algeria will be looking to finish the camp positively after taking four points from their two 2027 AFCON qualifying matches.

The 3-1 win over Zambia gave the team a strong start to the qualifying campaign, while the 2-2 draw with Burundi followed a difficult opening in which Algeria conceded twice.

Niger will now provide the final test of the camp, with the earlier 18:00 kick-off confirmed for Tuesday at the Hocine-Aït-Ahmed Stadium.

Hemdani will have to make his plans around the players available to him as Algeria prepare to close the international window with a number of first-team options missing.