Mahrez Penalty Sends Algeria into AFCON Last 16 with Win Over Burkina Faso

Algeria booked their place in the Round of 16 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after captain Riyad Mahrez scored a first-half penalty to seal a hard-fought 1–0 victory over Burkina Faso on Sunday.

The decisive moment came midway through the opening half at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat, where Mahrez calmly converted from the spot to settle a bruising Group E encounter.

With two wins from two matches, the Desert Foxes now sit top of the group on six points and have yet to concede a goal, underlining their status as one of the tournament favourites under coach Vladimir Petkovic.

Burkina Faso and Sudan are level on three points apiece and will face each other in the final round of group games on Wednesday. Algeria, having beaten both sides, are guaranteed top spot in the group regardless of the outcome of their final match against Equatorial Guinea and will contest their last-16 tie in Rabat on January 6.

“We expected a very tough game,” said man-of-the-match Ibrahim Maza after the final whistle. “The most important thing is that we won and qualified. We knew we had to fight hard and match their physicality, and we did that.”

The penalty was awarded in the 23rd minute after Rayan Ait-Nouri was brought down in the box. Mahrez made no mistake, taking his tally at the tournament to three goals following his brace in Algeria’s opening 3–0 win over Sudan.

The goal also marked Mahrez’s ninth AFCON strike overall, making him Algeria’s highest goalscorer in the competition’s history as he featured in his sixth Africa Cup of Nations.

The match was played in front of a vibrant crowd of 18,522 Algerian supporters, with former France star Zinedine Zidane among those in attendance to watch his son, Luca, in goal for Algeria.

Burkina Faso threatened an equaliser through Pierre Landry Kabore’s header from a corner, while Algeria went close on several occasions through Mohamed Amoura and Ibrahim Maza. Substitute Georgi Minoungou fired narrowly over late on as the Stallions pushed forward, but Algeria held firm to secure the win.