Marseille’s Bennacer Reveals Sporting Reasons Behind Algeria National Team Choice

Born in France to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother, Ismaël Bennacer was on the radar of the French, Algerian, and Moroccan national teams. But he ended up choosing Algeria. "Was the choice subject to colossal family issues? No, we can’t say colossal because it’s still just football! My father is Moroccan, so am I. It was a sporting choice, even if behind it we represent a nation," he explained in an interview with La Provence. The former AC Milan midfielder assured that there was no family conflict or community pressure.

At the time, the Fennecs were performing better than the Atlas Lions. "I hesitated, I was already playing with the French youth team, but I wanted to represent one of my parents’ countries. Algeria, sportingly, was the best choice for me," he decided. Algeria was coming off two consecutive World Cup appearances (2010 and 2014), the latter of which particularly marked the youth of Ismaël’s generation, while Morocco, coached by Badou Zaki, had missed the 2015 AFCON final.

Recently, Nasser Larguet, former Technical Director of Morocco, commented on Bennacer’s change of sporting nationality. According to him, the young player had initially chosen Morocco, before turning his back following the refusal to guarantee him a starting position.