As they say, you only start missing someone once they’re gone, and that will probably be the case for football fans the day Riyadh Mahrez sadly retires. With a trophy cabinet that’s probably strained under the weight of his numerous accolades, the Algerian star, who’s widely considered one of the best talents to have ever represented Africa, is confidently walking towards the continent’s hall of fame while snatching every title, decoration, and medal along the way.
The 32-year-old Manchester City winger is basically on the brink of completing football, having just won his fifth Premier League title in six years days before he is about to compete in his second UEFA Champions League final in three years, making him one of the most decorated players to have ever played on England’s muddy fields and solidifying his status as a true legend of the game.
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The French-born athlete is an icon in his own right, and is commonly referred to as a generational talent by some while hailed as a role model by most. When he’s not showcasing his flair on the pitch with Manchester City, the iconic number 26 can be found proudly leading his native Algeria— the winners of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and the holders of the second-longest unbeaten run in international football— to the highest spheres of the sport.
To celebrate the mile-long accomplishments of one of Africa’s greatest, below, seven times Algeria’s beloved footballer broke records throughout his career.
He helped Algeria win its second Africa Cup of Nations Cup title after 29 years
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The Algerian national team has only ever won the continental competition twice, once in 1990, and again in 2019, in which Mahrez played a significant role by notably scoring a last-minute howler in the tournament’s semi-final.
He’s the African player with the highest number of assists in Premier League history
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After a crushing 4-1 win against Liverpool in April, Mahrez bagged his 56th assist in the league, surpassing the previous record holder Didier Drogba for the most assists in England’s domestic competition.
He scored the first FA Cup semi-final hat-trick since 1958 and the first-ever at Wembley
In April, Mahrez scored the first-ever FA Cup semi-final hat-trick at Wembley Stadium as Manchester City defeated Sheffield United 3-0. The previous record holder was Alex Dawson, who played for Manchester City’s historical rivals, Manchester United.
He’s the first Algerian to play in two UCL finals
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Only two Algerians have played in the Champions League final. The first is Rabah Madjer, under Porto’s shirt in 1990, and the second is Mahrez, who played his first in 2021 and who is about to play his second in a handful of weeks.
He led Manchester City to the first European Cup final in the club’s history
Manchester City have only ever managed to reach the finals of Europe’s most prestigious tournament and both times, Mahrez played a key role in securing the much-coveted spot. Despite an unfortunate loss to Chelsea in 2021, the Algerian winger and his team have a second shot scheduled on June 10, 2023, against Inter Milan, to potentially put their hands on the club’s first-ever piece of European silverware.
He was a prolific member of the Leicester team that stunned the world by winning the English Premiere League in 2016
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In their second season since their promotion in England’s first division of football, Mahrez, at the time signed with Leicester FC, and his team, stunned the world by officially becoming one of seven teams to lift the English Premier League’s trophy since its launch in 1992. Used to stagnating in the lower halves of the table, the fairytale saw the first-time winners receive substantial international acclaim for an achievement that is still widely perceived as a miracle. That season, Mahrez simultaneously became the first Algerian to ever win a Premier League medal, the first Algerian to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, and the first African and Algerian to win an EPL Player of the Season. Not bad huh?
The first African player to complete an English domestic treble
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It was in the 2018-2019 season as Manchester City won the ELF Carabao Cup, the FA Cup, as well as the Premier League— also known as an English domestic treble— which was never done before by any first-senior division team.
