In the absence of statistics and documentation by the Algerian Football Federation, it is likely that this athlete is the tallest player in the history of the national team, with his name also included in the list of tallest players in the world these days.
Great height may not be a necessary condition for football brilliance and creativity on the green rectangle, as evidenced by the presence of players with short stature who have dazzled football fans, such as the Argentines Diego Maradona (1.65 m) and Lionel Messi (1.70 m), the Frenchman Alain Geras (1.62 m), the German Thomas Hasler (1.66), and the Italian Gianfranco Zola (1.68 m). However, this does not prevent emphasizing the positive features of an athlete’s height in general, and a football player in particular.
On the eve of the start of the European Football Championship in England on June 8, 1996, one of the sports newspapers presented the Italian national team player Gianfranco Zola to its readers, with the title “The Charming Dwarf”! The word “magician,” which was also applied to Riyad Mahrez, has nothing to do with sorcery, but rather is synonymous in the Arabic language with the concept of a mesmerizing performer who takes the breath away.
The Algerian national team includes, in the training session that started last Monday evening, goalkeeper Rayan Yesly, who is very tall (2.03 metres). It is not unlikely that he would constitute an exception in the history of the “Desert Warriors.”
Wesley is 27 years old (pictured below) and was born in Tizi Ouzou Province. While he joined the Olympic Club last January, with a contract that expires in the summer of 2028.
With all reservation (due to the absence of official statistics), we present to you a list of the ten tallest players in the history of the “Greens”, and of course, after Ryan Wesley:
1- Defender Tariq Al-Azizi…….1.99 AD. (He won the 1990 African Cup of Nations).
2- Goalkeeper Hisham Mazayer……..1.94 AD.
3- Goalkeeper Fawzi Shawshi…….1.94 m.
4- Defender Mehdi Tahert…….1.93 AD.
5- Defender Nour al-Din Qureshi…….1.92 AD. (He participated in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups as a player and 2014 as an assistant coach).
6- Defender Omar Belatawi…….1.92 AD.
7- Striker Hamid Marrakchi…….1.92 AD. (May God have mercy on him).
8 – Goalkeeper Nassim Osrir…….1.92 AD.
9- Striker Muhammad Al-Amin Oudiyah…….1.92 AD.
10- Defender Ishaq Belfadil…….1.92 AD.
In the national championship for the current season, CS Belouizdad includes its main goalkeeper, Farid Chaal (1.96 m / 32 years).
Goalkeeper Shaal had previously attended some of the training sessions of the “Greens” leaders, but he had not played any international matches. On the contrary, he participated in several matches in the uniform of the local national team, and he also attended the Olympics in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in the summer of 2016.
Apart from Algeria, Danish goalkeeper Simon Black Jørgenson is the tallest footballer, at 2.10m. Note that he retired from playing football in the summer of 2022, and at that time he was 30 years old.
As for the Dutch goalkeeper, Kjell Wejerten, he is currently the tallest and active in a major tournament. He is 2.06 m tall, 26 years old, and wears the uniform of the English club Ipswich Town. He played 4 out of 10 matches in the 2026-2027 Premier League competition.
