page_title: Faouzi Ghoulam
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Faouzi Ghoulam / International career
caption_attribution_description: Algérie - Arménie - 20140531 - Faouzi Ghoulam
context_page_description: Faouzi Ghoulam is a professional footballer who plays as a left back for Serie A club Napoli and the Algerian national team.
context_section_description: On 18 December 2010, in an interview Algerian newspaper Le Buteur, Ghoulam said that his intentions were to represent Algeria in international competition despite being born in France. On 5 May 2011, Algerian under-23 coach Azzedine Aït Djoudi announced that Ghoulam was hesitant about joining the team, despite the fact that he was the one who contacted the Algerian Football Federation. On 6 October 2011, after being called up to the preliminary squad of the France under-21 team, Ghoulam said that he would be really proud to play for the team.
  On 23 November 2012, in an interview following a league game against Valenciennes, Ghoulam announced that he was going to represent Algeria at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. A few days later, the Algerian Football Federation confirmed the information through a press release on its website. Ghoulam was selected in the Algeria squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa but he did not participate in any games. On 26 March 2013, Ghoulam made his debut as a starter in a 3–1 win over Benin in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, providing the assist on the first Algerian goal.
  Ghoulam represented Algeria at the 2014 World Cup finals as les Fennecs reached the round of 16, where they were beaten by eventual champions Germany after extra time. He started in both the match against Germany and the 2–1 group stage loss to Belgium.
  In Algeria's opening match of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Ghoulam scored his first international goal to give the team a 2–1 lead in an eventual 3–1 victory over South Africa.
caption: Ghoulam with Algeria national team during a match against Armenia.
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