Lakhdar Belloumi

Lakhdar Belloumi (; born on 29 December 1958) is an Algerian former football player and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he is widely considered the best Algerian player of all time and one of the best players in Africa. He is said to have invented the "Blind Pass". He was named the fourth-best African player of the century by IFFHS. He held the record as the most capped Algerian player with 100 national caps (147 caps not recognized by FIFA) and is also the third best goalscorer of the Algerian national team in all time with 28 goals (34 goals not recognized by FIFA).

Belloumi's goal against reigning European champions West Germany earned Algeria a stunning 2–1 victory in their World Cup debut in Spain '82.

Club career

Belloumi spent almost his entire career at home (apart from a brief spell in Qatar late in his career), most notably with his hometown club GC Mascara, as well as MC Oran. He played also with MC Alger for two years during his military service in Algiers. He won two domestic championships during his career in 1984 with GC Mascara and in 1988 with MC Oran. After returning for another spell in Mascara in 1994, he continued playing until retirement in 1999.

Belloumi had contact with various European clubs, including Barcelona, before Spain '82, but "the law did not allow us to leave the country before the age of 27". In 1985, he caught the eye of Juventus after shining in a friendly against them, only to miss out on a dream transfer after breaking his leg in the African Champions' Cup in Libya against Al-Ittihad. He was understandably disappointed "It was a real shame for me that I couldn't go".

Seven months before the 1982 World Cup, it was reported in European newspapers that Belloumi had died from a heart attack. After a few days, it turned out that it was his team-mate Hocine Benmiloudi who died.

During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, ahead of the group stage match between Algeria and Austria, Belloumi publicly called on the national team to secure a victory as a sporting revenge for the 1982 "Disgrace of Gijón" scandal. The highly anticipated match ultimately ended in a dramatic 3–3 draw.

Career statistics

Club

International Lakhdar Belloumi scored 28 goals in 100 games with the national team. He scored too six more goals with 47 more caps that are not recognized by FIFA because matches played and goals scored against clubs or against not a full national teams. He scored against Bałtyk Gdynia in 1979, Stade Brestois and Olympique Lyonnais in 1982, Racing Paris in 1983, FC Carl Zeiss Jena in 1984 and Videoton FC in 1987.

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Belloumi goal.

Honours

Player GC Mascara Algerian Championship: 1983–84

MC Oran Algerian Championship: 1987–88; Runner-up 1989–90 African Cup of Champions Clubs: Runner-up 1989 Arab Club Champions Cup: Runner-up 2001 (as a manager)

Algeria Mediterranean Games: Bronze medal 1979 Africa Cup of Nations: Runner-up 1980; Third 1984, 1988 Summer Olympics: Quarter final 1980 FIFA World Cup: Participation 1982, 1986

Individual Awards Mediterranean Games 3rd best player: 1979 Africa Cup of Nations best forward: 1980 African Footballer of the Year: 1981; Third 1982 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 1980, 1984 African Footballer of the 20th century: Fourth place IFFHS World Player of the Century: 62nd CAF Merit Award: 2008 (to his career excellence) Algerian Footballer of the 20th century: 2009 (with Rabah Madjer) Algerian Footballer of the Year: Several awards

Performances Algerian League goalscorer: 1978–79 with 11 goals Africa Cup of Nations goalscorer: 1988 (with R. Milla, A. Traoré & G. Abdelhamid) with 2 goals

Personal life Belloumi's son, Mohamed El Bachir, is also a professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Hull City.