Algeria move Niger friendly kick-off forward by two and a half hours

The Algerian Football Federation (FAF) has moved the kick-off time for Algeria’s friendly against Niger on 6 October at Tizi-Ouzou.

The match was originally scheduled to begin at 20:30 local time in Algeria, or 21:30 in France. However, the FAF said in a statement on Saturday that the fixture will now start at 18:00 in Algeria, which is 19:00 in France.

The change comes after Algeria began their qualification campaign for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations with two matches in September.

The team defeated Zambia 3-1 in Tizi-Ouzou on 25 September before drawing 2-2 away to Burundi four days later. Ibrahim Maza, Anis Hadj Moussa, Mohamed Belloumi and Adil Boulbina all scored during those two fixtures.

Algeria have won each of their past seven meetings with Niger, a run stretching back to 2003. The friendly will give manager Brahim Hemdani the opportunity to assess further options in the squad.

Hemdani is expected to make several changes, with Amine Gouiri, Anis Hadj Moussa, Adem Zorgane and Nabil Bentaleb among the injured players unavailable. Rayan Ait-Nouri has also been sent home from the camp for disciplinary reasons.

Sohaib Nair, Zineddine Belaid, Abdelatif Ramdane and Adil Bourabaa are therefore strongly expected to receive playing time against Niger and will have the chance to demonstrate their ability.

The fixture will take place at Tizi-Ouzou, where Algeria played Zambia in their opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match. The revised schedule means the game will start two hours and 30 minutes earlier than originally planned.