Algeria and Austria turned the 2026 World Cup draw into a 3-3 finish, and Riyad Mahrez’s 93rd-minute goal changed Algeria’s place in the knockout bracket. Both teams advanced, and Algeria avoided the round of 32 path that would have sent it against Switzerland.
Mahrez scored in stoppage time, then Sasa Kalajdzic answered in the 96th minute to force the final score. The draw completed the knockout-stage bracket and left Iran as the last team out.
Riyad Mahrez and Sasa Kalajdzic
Algeria and Austria entered with the same simple math: a draw would send both on, while a loss would end the run. The match sat at 2-2 after the second-half hydration break, and the late swings settled both the result and the bracket.
Mahrez’s finish in the 93rd minute changed Algeria’s route immediately. Without it, Algeria would have played Switzerland in the R32. With it, Spain is the opening-round opponent instead.
Algeria and Austria
Austria still found its equalizer with time running out, and Kalajdzic’s goal restored the tie before the whistle. That is what made the game unusual: both sides were playing for advancement, but the final minutes still reshaped where Algeria landed in the knockout round.
The draw also closed out the bracket picture for the knockout stage. Algeria moves on with a different first opponent, Austria moves on as well, and Iran is out after the final slot was decided.
Spain in the R32
For Algeria, the late goal did more than protect a point. It switched the opening-round assignment from Switzerland to Spain, a direct bracket change that came down to one stoppage-time touch from Mahrez.
What looked like a cautious finish became a moving target in the final seconds. Algeria seemed content to see out the game from midfield, yet Mahrez then scored in the 93rd minute, and that was enough to redraw the path ahead.
