The world's most expensive Vietnamese star wins the right to attend the 2026 World Cup

(Dan Tri) - Vietnamese-American star Ibrahim Maza and the Algerian team qualified for the 2026 World Cup after a 3-0 victory over Somalia last night.

20 teams have early tickets to the World Cup

Host (3 teams): USA, Mexico, Canada

Asia (6 teams): Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan.

South America (6 teams): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Oceania (1 team): New Zealand

Africa (4 teams): Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria.

In the 9th match of Group G of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Africa, Algeria needed a victory against the weak team Somalia to qualify for the biggest festival on the planet. Finally, Algeria completed this task when defeating their opponent with a score of 3-0.

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

Star Riyad Mahrez was the hero of Algeria in this match when he had a hand in all 3 goals (scored 1 goal, assisted 2 goals). Thus, Algeria became the 4th team in Africa to participate in the 2026 World Cup after Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

Notably, the Algerian team has a player of Vietnamese origin, Ibrahim Maza. He becomes a rare player of Vietnamese blood to participate in the World Cup.

Ibrahim Maza has an Algerian father and a Vietnamese mother and grew up in German football. In the end, the midfielder born in 2005 decided to choose to play for the Algerian national team (instead of the Vietnamese or German national teams), even though in the past, he was a member of German youth teams.

Ibrahim Maza is the most expensive Vietnamese-origin player in the world at the moment, valued at 12 million euros (372 billion VND) by the transfer website Transfermarkt. Last summer, Ibrahim Maza moved from Hertha Berlin to Leverkusen for 14 million euros.

Ibrahim Maza plays for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and Champions League this season (Photo: Getty).

The Leverkusen midfielder started playing for the Algerian national team in October 2024. To date, he has played 5 matches for the North African team. Sharing the reason for choosing Algeria, Ibrahim Maza said: "I chose the Algerian national team for sporting reasons. My family advised me on this choice. This was not an easy decision as I have spent a lot of time with and accumulated experience in the German youth teams."

As of October 10, FIFA has determined the 20 teams participating in the 2026 World Cup to be the US, Canada, Mexico (host), Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria (Africa), Japan, Iran, Australia, Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan (Asia), New Zealand (Oceania), Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay (South America).

The 2026 World Cup will have a total of 48 participating teams, of which Asia has 8 direct slots and 1 play-in slot; Europe has 16 slots; Africa has 9 direct slots and 1 play-in slot; South America has 6 direct slots and 1 play-in slot; North, Central and South America and the Caribbean have 6 direct slots (including 3 co-host teams USA, Canada, Mexico) and 2 play-in slots; Oceania has 1 direct slot and 1 play-in slot.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/ngoi-sao-goc-viet-dat-gia-nhat-the-gioi-gianh-quyen-tham-du-world-cup-2026-20251010091524168.htm