Algeria

Algeria qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, but its fans face an immediate obstacle: the US State Department added Algeria to its Visa Bond Pilot Programme, requiring nationals to post bonds of up to $15,000 per person simply to obtain a US visitor visa. The policy was in place before the tournament draw and was expanded to cover 50 countries on 2 April 2026, with no modelling of the economic or attendance impact.

Algeria's football history is woven through the continent's independence era. The national team, known as the Fennecs, won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 , their second title after 1990 , and have made multiple World Cup appearances. The country of 45 million people sits at the intersection of Arab and Berber cultures, with football its most popular sport and qualification generating enormous popular enthusiasm. The visa bond scheme operates independently of FIFA's access guarantees, leaving Algerian supporters relying on diplomatic channels to challenge the policy.

Algeria's situation illustrates the two-tier access problem that defines this World Cup: qualified nations whose fans face financial barriers that effectively exclude all but the wealthiest supporters. The State Department confirmed it has no estimate of how the bonds will affect attendance, meaning the policy was implemented without any assessment of the human cost. Algerian civil society and the Algerian Football Federation have raised the issue with FIFA, which has no binding mechanism to override US immigration policy.