The world's most expensive Vietnamese-born player is set to participate in the 2026 World Cup.

Ibrahim Maza (19 years old) has an Algerian father and a Vietnamese mother. He was born in Germany. Therefore, this young talent had the opportunity to play for three national teams: Germany, Algeria, and Vietnam. Ultimately, the striker, born in 2005, decided to represent the Algerian national team.

Ibrahim Maza in the Algerian national team jersey (Photo: Getty).

The Algerian national team has a great opportunity to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as they top the African qualifying group. After 6 matches in Group G, Algeria leads with 15 points (5 wins, 1 loss), scoring 16 goals, with a goal difference of +10, 3 points ahead of second-placed Mozambique (12 points). Most recently, Algeria just won 5-1 against Mozambique.

This gives Algeria a great opportunity to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. According to FIFA's allocation, Africa has 9 direct qualification spots and 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-off round. The top 9 teams from the 9 groups will qualify directly. Algeria only needs to win 3 out of their remaining 4 matches to secure their World Cup spot.

This means that Ibrahim Maza is highly likely to compete in the 2026 World Cup. To date, the young talent, who plays for Hertha Berlin (Germany), has made two appearances for the Algerian national team. The first was in the match against Togo in October 2024. Most recently, Ibrahim Maza appeared in the match against Mozambique on March 25th.

Ibrahim Maza wearing the Hertha Berlin jersey (Photo: Getty).

It's worth remembering that Ibrahim Maza was once among the top 10 youngest players to score in the five major European leagues. The striker scored against Wolfsburg when he was just 17 years, 6 months, and 3 days old in the Bundesliga. Unfortunately, this season Ibrahim Maza has been relegated to the German second division along with Hertha Berlin.

After 26 appearances for Hertha Berlin this season, Ibrahim Maza has scored 5 goals and provided 5 assists. The striker is currently valued at €12 million by the transfer website Transfermarkt, making him the most expensive player of Vietnamese origin at the moment.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/cau-thu-viet-kieu-dat-gia-nhat-the-gioi-sap-tham-du-world-cup-2026-20250330190948941.htm