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ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic left forward Rafik Djebbour and midfielder Foued Kadir off his final 23-man squad named for the World Cup on Monday.
The 30-year-old Djebbour has struggled since joining Nottingham Forest from the Turkish team Sivasspor in January, scoring only once and playing mostly as a substitute.
Kadir will also miss out on the World Cup despite having a decent season for the French side, Rennes, scoring six goals.
The other five players cut from Algeria's provisional 30-man squad were midfielders Ryad Boudebouz, Amir Karaoui and Adlene Guedioura, goalkeeper Azzedine Doukha and defender Nacereddine Khoualed.
Halilhodzic will be looking to star midfielder Sofiane Feghouli, who plays for Valencia, and Tottenham's Nabil Bentaleb to create chances for them. And Sporting Lisbon's Islam Slimani and Dinamo Zagreb's Hilal Soudani will vie for a place at center-forward. Both have scored 10 international goals.
Algeria is drawn in Group H alongside Belgium, Russia and South Korea.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (USM Alger), Rais Mbolhi (CSKA Sofia), Cedric Si Mohamed (CS Constantine).
Defenders: Carl Medjani (Valenciennes), Aissa Mandi (Reims), Madjid Bougherra (Lekhwiya), Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli), Rafik Halliche (Academica),Essaid Belkalem (Watford), Liassine Cadamuro (Real Mallorca), Djamel Mesbah (Livorno), Mehdi Mostefa (Ajaccio).
Midfielders: Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), Saphir Taider (Inter Milan), Medhi Lacen (Getafe), Abdelmoumen Djabou (Club Africain), Yacine Brahimi (Grenada), Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham), Hassan Yebda (Udinese), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester).
Forwards: Islam Slimani (Sporting Lisbon), Hilal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb), Nabil Ghilas (Porto).
