Rayan Aït-Nouri excluded from Algeria national team

Rayan Aït-Nouri, the Manchester City defender, has been excluded from the Algeria national team camp following a disciplinary incident during a match against Zambia. The Algerian Football Federation confirmed that head coach Brahim Hemdani made the decision to release the 25-year-old player from the current training camp, sending him back to his club in England.

The conflict reportedly began after Aït-Nouri expressed dissatisfaction with being named on the bench instead of starting. During the match, which Algeria won 3-1, the player was instructed to warm up for a substitution but was later told to return to the bench after tactical changes. This led to a heated verbal altercation between the player and members of the technical staff, including assistant coach Anthar Yahia and general manager Moussa Saïb.

Aït-Nouri’s representatives have indicated that the player intends to release an official statement following the international break to clarify the situation and offer apologies to the fans and the federation. The incident marks a significant disciplinary test for the new head coach, Hemdani, as the team prepares for upcoming AFCON 2027 qualifiers.