Exclusion ends Mahrez's journey with the "Greens."

Riyad Mahrez has drawn the curtain on his international career, immediately after the Algerian national team was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup held in North America, losing 0-2 in the Round of 32 against Switzerland on Thursday in Vancouver, Canada.

The 35-year-old said after the match, in which he participated from the start until the 71st minute, that "the match was within our reach... but we conceded two goals due to mistakes."

The Al Ahli Saudi player added: "Yes, this is my last match with the Algerian national team in the World Cup, and it is also my last participation with the national team altogether. It was my final match in the green jersey."

Mahrez continued: "I spent 12 years with the national team, and I am happy about that. It was an exceptional and wonderful journey. I gave everything I had to the Algerian national team, and it is time to leave and make way for a new generation to write its history."

The former Manchester City star bids farewell to his country after representing it in 119 matches, during which he scored 40 goals (including two in this World Cup), since his debut on May 31, 2014, in a friendly match against Armenia that was a preparation for the 2014 World Cup, where he and his country reached the Round of 16 for the first time, before missing the finals in 2018 and 2022.

Throughout his long career with the national team, which made him the second most capped player in its history behind his current teammate, center-back Aïssa Mandi (122), Mahrez won the Africa Cup of Nations title in 2019 in Cairo.

At the age of 35, the player aspired to end his international career on a high note after bitter failures, such as failing to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and being eliminated in the first round of the Africa Cup of Nations in the 2017, 2022, and 2024 editions, and from the quarter-finals in the most recent edition just a few months ago.

But the journey ended at the hands of Switzerland, which put an end to the Algerian achievement of qualifying for the knockout stages for only the second time in history, after the first in 2014.

The announcement of his international retirement was not surprising, as Mahrez had previously said after qualifying for the finals: "The 2030 World Cup? Impossible, 2026 will be the last for me!" adding with a broad smile: "I am not Cristiano," referring to the veteran Portuguese national team captain and Al Nassr player Ronaldo.