FLN, A Sacrifice for History

Overview

In 1958, in the midst of the Algerian War and two months before the World Cup, the French Football Federation (FFF) discovered on April 15th that nine of its players of Algerian origin had secretly left France to join the headquarters of the National Liberation Front (FLN) in Tunis, where the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) was based. They chose to leave everything behind—careers, fame, money—to support the FLN cause: the independence of the Algerian people. Their daring escape was worthy of a thriller and made headlines across the international press. For four years, the FLN team toured the world and became the standard-bearer for a people. FIFA refused to recognize the team and threatened federations that played against it with sanctions. Nevertheless, the team made a lasting impression with 57 wins, 14 draws, and 12 losses in 83 matches. Ferhat Abbas, president of the GPRA, told them, "You have gained ten years for the cause of independent Algeria."

Keywords

Cast

Mohamed Boumezrag

Self (archive footage)

Mokhtar Arribi

Self (archive footage)

Mohamed Allam

Self (archive footage)

Rachid Mekhloufi

Self

Mustapha Zitouni

Self (archive footage)

Abdelaziz Ben Tifour

Self (archive footage)

Kaddour Bekhloufi

Self (archive footage)

Abderrahmane Boubekeur

Self (archive footage)

Abdelhamid Kermali

Self (archive footage)

Abdelhamid Bouchouk

Self (archive footage)