Nadhir Benbouali

Nadhir Benbouali is an Algerian striker who plays in Hungary for ETO FC Gyor. At the 2026 World Cup on 22 June in Santa Clara, he came on as a substitute and headed Algeria's equaliser in the 69th minute against Jordan, glancing a Riyad Mahrez corner into the FAR corner of the net after the Jordanian goalkeeper was caught off his line. The goal began Algeria's comeback from 1-0 down and set up Amine Gouiri's 82nd-minute winner.

Benbouali has built a career largely in Hungary, where he established himself as a consistent scorer and won a league title with ETO FC Gyor. He has been a fringe member of the Algeria squad, called upon as depth cover at the 2026 World Cup, and his first senior World Cup goal came in the decisive moment of Algeria's most important group-stage match. His profile is that of a hard-working centre-forward more noted for club reliability than international prominence until this match.

His World Cup cameo resonated in Algeria as a story of the wider squad: a player outside the European elite leagues who delivered when The Nation needed it, contributing to Algeria's most promising World Cup campaign in over a decade.