Nesrine Bahlouli is set to switch her international allegiance to Algeria and join the women’s national team ahead of the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder, who plays for Al-Nassr, previously represented France from under-19 level through to the under-23s and had also trained with the senior France squad, according to La Gazette du Fennec.
Bahlouli is the sister of Fares and Mohamed Bahlouli, who both play for US Biskra, the newly promoted Ligue 1 Mobilis club. She was born in Lyon and developed at OL Lyonnes before spells with AC Milan and Girondins de Bordeaux.
Able to operate as a number nine and a half as well as in midfield, Bahlouli is expected to add technical quality to the Algeria squad managed by Farid Benstiti. The team are preparing for the Women’s World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Brazil from 24 June to 25 July 2027.
She follows defender Celina Ould Hocine in choosing Algeria. The 24-year-old Paris FC player, who previously captained France Women’s Under-23s, changed her sporting nationality in favour of Algeria in mid-September.
Ould Hocine came through the Paris Saint-Germain academy before joining Paris FC in the summer of 2020. She was part of the side that secured the club’s historic qualification for the Women’s Champions League in 2023.
Both players are expected to be included in Farid Benstiti’s next squad.
Algeria seal historic World Cup qualification
Algeria secured their place at the 2027 Women’s World Cup by beating Cote d’Ivoire 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on 8 August in Casablanca, Morocco.
The Vertes recovered from conceding the opening goal in the 29th minute, with Ines Khiri and Amira Ould Braham completing the comeback.
The result represented another landmark for an Algeria side that had reached the quarter-finals of the continental tournament for the first time the previous year, also in Morocco.
Their latest success means the team will compete at the Women’s World Cup, while Bahlouli and Ould Hocine are poised to strengthen Benstiti’s options as preparations continue.
