Algeria's men's team made quite an impression at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazi, where they reached the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
Subsequently, the U - 23 side qualified for the Men's Olympic Football Tournament, 34 years after the North African nation's last appearance at that level. Algerian football fans celebrated this double success in style, but the women's players were unable to properly join in the party, having failed to qualify for the 2016 CAF Africa Women Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The gifted Rayan Brahimi is one such player, having graduated from Algeria's U - 17 and U - 23 teams to the senior women's side in 2013. "Women's football has had many ups and downs in Algeria, " she told FIFA. com. "Things are gradually improving, though, and the sport is really developing here. There's been a lot of progress over the past few years, but we have to keep working hard to catch up with other nations. We also have to improve our grassroots training and adopt a long - term strategy which will guarantee a future for women's football in our country. "