It will be 24 hours before the start of the World Cup and the approval of the FIFA Medical Committee.
The Algerian Football Federation received a notification from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), specifying the controls for replacing players in the final rosters participating in the 2026 World Cup. This organizational step comes to put the dots on the letters regarding dealing with emergency injuries that may strike the ranks of the teams before the start of the global tournament scheduled to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer.
Like the other 48 participating teams, the Algerian national team is preparing to compete in the World Cup in a group that includes the teams of Belgium, Argentina, Jordan and Austria. The Greens will begin their journey with a confrontation against the Argentina team, which the legend Lionel Messi plays for, on June 17, then Jordan on June 23, and Austria on the 28 of the same month.
The new regulations impose strict medical supervision by FIFA to ensure the integrity of the substitutions and not tampering with the final lists under the pretext of fake injuries.
The regulations approved by the International Federation stipulate that any team has the right to replace any player who suffers a serious injury just 24 hours before the start of the team’s first match in the tournament.
To complete this step, FIFA requires the submission of a documented medical file conclusively proving the player’s inability to participate in any of the World Cup matches, provided that the report is subject to review and approval by the International Federation’s medical committee before allowing the inclusion of the replacement player.
The technical staff will have to submit an expanded preliminary list that includes a maximum of 55 players, before settling on the final list that will head towards the World Cup, which will include a maximum of 26 players by next May 30.
The rules stipulate that any substitute player called up in emergency situations must be previously registered in the expanded list, with an obligation to wear the same shirt number as the excluded player in order to preserve the administrative and digital organization of the tournament.
The national football team will face its Dutch counterpart on June 3 in Rotterdam (19:45 Algerian time), as part of the preparations for the 2026 World Cup finals (from June 11 to July 19). This match against the Dutch national team (ranked seventh in the world according to the latest FIFA ranking) was scheduled a few days before the national team travels to the United States of America to participate in the international date, awaiting confirmation of the second team that will play against the “Greens” before the World Cup in the States. United.
