Amine Gouiri, star of the Algerian national team, will be unable to participate with the Desert Warriors in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations due to a shoulder injury, according to an official statement from his club, Marseille.
Gouiri has suffered several shoulder dislocations in recent times, the most recent of which was during the Algeria-Uganda match in the final round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Therefore, the player wanted to put an end to this crisis once and for all.
Gouiri and Marseille agreed that the player would undergo shoulder surgery within the next few hours. He will need three months to recover and return to the field. Thus, his dreams of participating in the Africa Cup of Nations have been dashed for the second time in a row.
The 25-year-old Gouiri is considered one of the best Algerian players in Europe. Marseille paid €15 million to sign him from Rennes last summer. This season, he has participated in seven matches, scoring one goal and assisting another.
With the Algerian national team, Gouiri has 19 caps, scoring nine goals, but he missed the last CAN due to injury. He will now focus his efforts on recovering and making a strong comeback to secure a place on Vladimir Petkovic’s roster for the 2026 World Cup.