Luca Zidane, the son of France football legend Zinedine Zidane, spoke of his pride after he was selected for the Algeria squad for 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Somalia and Uganda.
The 27-year-old, who was born in France a few months before his father bagged a brace for France in the 1998 World Cup final win over Brazil, played for his native country at youth level.
But never having represented France at senior level, he was able to opt for Algeria via his paternal grandparents, who were born in North Africa.
"I'm very happy to be here with the Algeria team," said Zidane as the 26-man squad went through its final paces in Oran for Thursday night's Group G game against Somalia.
"It makes me proud and I will give everything at 100 percent to make the Algerian people proud."
Algeria, who lead the pool with 19 points after eight games, will qualify for next year's tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada as long as they match the results of second-placed Uganda and third-placed Mozambique, who each have 15 points.
"All my family are proud of me and back my choice," added Zidane, who turns out for the Spanish second-division side Granada.
"My grandfather is happy that I'm in Algeria and that I've made this decision."
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Son of a legend
Zinedine Zidane played 108 times for France, scoring 31 goals over 12 years. As a coach, he steered Real Madrid to 10 trophies between 2016 and 2021, including a hat trick of wins in the Champions League.
"My father had his journey, his career," said Luca Zidane. "As for me I have my journey, my career."
Though technically a "home" game for Somalia, Thursday's fixture will be played in Oran due to security concerns over staging matches in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
On Wednesday night, Egypt became the third side from Africa to reach the World Cup after a 3-0 victory over Djibouti.
Mohammed Salah nabbed a pair after Ibrahim Adel opened the scoring in the eighth minute of the game, which was played at Morocco's Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca because Djibouti lacks a stadium that meets the technical requirements of World Cup organisers Fifa.
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Cape Verde on verge of historic qualification
Elsewhere in African qualifiers on Wednesday night, Group D pacesetters Cape Verde scored two late goals in Tripoli to salvage a 3-3 draw against Libya and maintain pole position in the pool.
On Monday, Cape Verde take on bottom-of-the-table Eswatini and need to match the result of second-placed Cameroon's game against Angola to claim a place at the World Cup for the first time.
In Group I, Ghana thrashed the Central African Republic 5-0 to inch closer to a fifth appearance at world football's most prestigious national team tournament.
Ghana lead the pool with 22 points from their nine games. Madagascar, 2-1 winners on Wednesday night against Comoros, lie second on 19 points.
On Sunday, Ghana entertain Comoros and Madagascar play in Mali.
The nine group winners in African qualifiers will progress to the first World Cup to feature 48 teams.
The four best-ranked runners-up will enter African play-offs in November, from which the winners go to intercontinental play-offs in March.
