Mahieddine Khalef

Mahieddine Khalef was an Algerian football player and manager. Most notably he was the co-manager of the Algeria national team in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, together with Rachid Mekloufi, where Les Fennecs caused a sensation by defeating European reigning champions West Germany in their first World Cup appearance. Despite this achievement, Algeria went on to be eliminated at the end of the group stage, thanks to a convenient result for both West Germany and Austria in their fixture, in what is known as the Disgrace of Gijón. Austrian player Reinhold Hintermaier later admitted that that match was fixed. Khalef died in Algiers on 10 December 2024, at the age of 80.