Once billed the 'next Benzema', Benzia bids to boost Algeria FIFA Arab Cup defence

If Algeria are to defend their FIFA Arab Cup title this month, they’ll do so with more than a little help from some Roshn Saudi League stars along the way.

Madjid Bougherra has named four RSL representatives in his 23-man squad, who kick off their bid to retain the trophy against Sudan at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Doha on Wednesday.

Al Fayha’s Yassine Benzia is one of that quartet.

The summer signing from Azerbaijan’s Qarabag looks set to play a key role for the Desert Warriors, who will also be using this tournament as important preparation ahead of both the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and next year’s 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Once labelled the “next Karim Benzema”, the RSL title-winning Al Ittihad star who is also of Algerian descent, Benzia appeared poised for stardom after his principal role for France at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2011.

Shining bright in Mexico, he scored five goals to earn his first professional contract, with Olympique Lyon, only a few years after Benzema had departed the French club for Real Madrid.

Making his debut aged 17, Benzia’s career never quite hit the heights many expected across stints with Lyon, Lille, Fenerbahce, Olympiacos, Dijon, Hatayspor and, most recently, Qarabag.

After switching allegiance from France to Algeria in 2016, the midfielder had a sporadic international career, with six caps across the past nine years.

In fact, Benzia went six years without an international appearance between 2018 and 2024, before marking his return against South Africa in March last year with a goal. Indeed, it was so good that it finished runner-up in the FIFA Puskas Award.

Perhaps buoyed by that, Benzia is now experiencing something of a rejuvenation in the past 12 months, firstly with Qarabag and now with Al Fayha. New to the RSL, his club form has been good enough to warrant a call-up for what could be an audition for next year’s FIFA World Cup in North America.

For a player who scored 28 goals in the past two seasons in Azerbaijan, a return of one in 10 games for Al Fayha might be considered an underwhelming output.

And, while there’s no doubt Benzia would be expecting to contribute more, goals and assists aren’t the only means of measuring a player’s influence.

At Qarabag, Benzia was employed as the No.10 in a 4-2-3-1 formation, acting as the creative fulcrum for the 12-time Azerbaijani champions.

At Al Fayha, he started in a slightly deeper midfield role, but in recent weeks has been deployed on the left of the midfield three in a 4-3-3. Thus, he is operating further from goal, which is why measuring his impact purely on goals wouldn’t be entirely representative.

As an example, Benzia is ranked third in the entire league for complete passes, and second at Al Fayha for tackles, which speaks to his role as the lynchpin in their midfield.

Clearly, he acts as the conduit between the backline and the attack while also being the first line of defence when teams look to go the other way.

It’s a different function to that which Benzia has undertaken in recent years, but one he seems to have embraced. And, last time out against Al Ettifaq, he broke his RSL duck by finding the net and thus showing he hasn’t lost any of his magic in front of goal.

The exquisitely taken first-time volley deserved more than being consolation in a 3-2 defeat, however it will give the 31-year-old massive confidence - not only heading into the FIFA Arab Cup but also for the remainder of the RSL season.

Attention for the next few weeks, though, is focused on national-team matters. And, while the objective is to bring the trophy back to Algeria, the champions’ attention is looking no further ahead than Sudan, where Benzia can once again expect to play a more advanced, attacking role.

"We are preparing with all our strength and focus," Benzia said this week. "And our goal is to make Algerian fans proud in our match against Sudan.”

With up to four players possible in their starting XI, Algeria’s pride is also the RSL’s.