Amine Gouiri on his decision to play for Algeria: “I have always loved their passion for football” | OneFootball

In an interview with L’Équipe, Stade Rennais forward Amine Gouiri (23) discussed his decision to play for Algeria instead of France internationally and some of the factors that weighed in his decision to play for The Fennece Foxes.

Gouiri was capped 74 times at youth level for France and even featured for the U21s at the most recent U21 EURO 2023 tournament. However, the Lyon academy graduate chose to represent Algeria at senior international level in September 2023. The former France U21 international has now made 1 appearance for the Algeria national team.

When asked about his decision to represent Algeria at senior international level, Gouiri said: “I thought about it a lot during the summer, with my agents, my friends, my entourage… I weighed the pros and cons and I came to this decision. There were many things that tipped the scales for Algeria. These are my origins, the country of my family… It’s a country that I know well since I have been there regularly since I was little. It’s also a team that I have followed a lot, and I have always loved their passion for football. I wanted to represent all of that.”

L’Équipe asked the Algerian international if the run of Morocco to the World Cup 2022 semi finals in Qatar had any influences on his decision to switch his international allegiances, the former Nice forward said, “It’s true that when I saw Morocco at the World Cup, it made me think. I said to myself: “Why not me with Algeria?” Africa is a continent that is progressing and I think it will get even better in the years to come. There is ambition and more simply for the African Cup of Nations, but also for the World Cup from now on.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith