Ibrahim Maza is at the World Cup with Algeria after making the choice that shaped his international career. The Berlin-born midfielder, who came through Hertha BSC before moving to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga last year, has already played in a 0:3 defeat to Weltmeister Argentinien and is now part of Algeria’s campaign in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
That is why his name is drawing attention now. Algeria plays Jordan on Tuesday at 5.00 Uhr MESZ on ZDF and MagentaTV, and Maza’s path to that match runs through a decision he said was not easy. He chose Algeria, the country of his father, after playing in several German youth national teams and after saying he could have been in the squad of Julian Nagelsmann at the World Cup.
Maza’s route began in Berlin, where he grew up as the son of an Algerian father and a Vietnamese mother. He was trained by Hertha BSC, then moved to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga in the previous year, and by 2024 he was already making senior appearances for Algeria. His debut came in a 5:1 win against Togo, a first step he had been working toward for years.
The player has spoken often about how much work went into that rise. He said he wanted to play for a senior national team as early as possible and make as many professional matches as possible for the national team, and he described the extra training with his father as something that continued even when he was tired or it was already dark. He also said the work mattered because, in his words, a player who does not work is not worth much on the field.
That is the friction in his story. Germany remained open to him, and he was good enough that a place in Julian Nagelsmann’s squad was realistic, yet he chose Algeria instead. He has called it a decision for life, and he has said his father had a major influence on it. For Algeria, that choice has already delivered a young Bundesliga player on the World Cup stage; for Maza, it has turned a long personal answer into a public one.
The next test comes on Tuesday against Jordan, and it will show whether Maza’s World Cup role grows beyond the first appearance. The bigger answer, though, may already be clear: he did not wait for the perfect moment in Germany. He chose the path that matched his family, his work and the career he wanted to build.
