ALGIERS (Reuters) - Riyad Mahrez was back among the goals for Algeria on Sunday as they completed their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a 5-1 home thrashing of Liberia on Sunday.
Mahrez had not scored for his country in his previous seven outings including their calamitous early exit from the last Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast at the start of the year.
But he contributed the second goal as Algeria fought back after conceding early to register an easy win and finish their Group E campaign with five wins and a draw for a runaway 16-point haul at the top of the standings.
They ended eight points ahead of Equatorial Guinea, who lost 3-0 to Togo at the same time but still qualify in second place.
The qualifiers for the 2025 finals, which Morocco is hosting from Dec. 21, 2025 to Jan. 18, 2026, will be completed on Monday and Tuesday.
There are five places up for grabs in the 24-team field with 19 countries already qualified for the tournament.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing Toby Davis)
