CAF Sends Message to Riyad Mahrez After Announcing His Retirement From International Football

• CAF has sent a message to Riyad Mahrez after the Algerian winter announced his retirement from international football
• Mahrez confirmed after Algeria’s AFCON 2025 elimination by Nigeria that he will retire after the 2026 FIFA World Cup
• True to his words, the former Manchester City winger has bowed out as one of the greatest African players of all time

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Riyad Mahrez has confirmed that he has retired from international football after Algeria’s elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the Round of 32.

Switzerland defeated the Desert Foxes 2-0 in the Round of 32 to end their adventure in their first tournament after a 12-year absence.

The North Africans had a performance to be proud of, qualifying out of the group, which had Argentina, Austria and Jordan, to reach the knockout stage.

As noted by CAF, they showed bravery against Switzerland and stuck to their attacking style of play until the final whistle despite losing.

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CAF sends message to Mahrez

Riyad Mahrez confirmed his retirement from international football after the 2-0 loss to Switzerland ended Algeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign.

Mahrez, who had earlier announced during AFCON 2025 that the World Cup would be his last appearance for the national team, confirmed it after the loss to Switzerland.

“It’s my last appearance even with the national team. It was my last game,” Mahrez told Bein Sport.

CAF shared two posts on their official X page appreciating Mahrez for his career with the national team after confirming his international retirement.

The winger made his mark on African football at large and is best remembered for leading the country to AFCON 2019, including that famous free kick against Nigeria in the semi-final.

He made 120 appearances and scored 40 goals, ranking second on the all-time lists for Les Fennecs in both categories after 12 years with the national team.

The Al-Ahli star admitted that too many errors leading to goals cost Algeria against Switzerland as their wait for a knockout stage win continues.

“Our aim was to go through, and I think it was a game we could have won. But we conceded twice on mistakes and at this level, you can’t get away with it,” he told FIFA.

However, he took positives in reaching the knockout stage in their first appearance since 2014 and reiterated that they made too many errors to get more out of the tournament.

“There are always positives to take away from matches: we did manage to get out of the group stage, but we conceded too many goals to aspire to more.”

Ronaldo to retire from international football

Legit.ng previously reported that Cristiano Ronaldo is set to retire from international football after the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to his sister.

Katia Aveiro made these claims before Portugal’s 2-1 win over Croatia in the Round of 16, and the 41-year-old did not confirm or deny after the match.