Aïssa Mandi

Aïssa Mandi (عيسى ماندي; born 22 October 1991) is a professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Villarreal. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a right-back.

Mandi made his international debut for Algeria in March 2014. He was a member of the Algerian team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, as well as the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023, winning the 2019 tournament.

Reims
Mandi started to play football at the age of 8 at Reims. On 20 August 2010, he made his professional debut as a starter for the club in a Ligue 2 match against Le Havre. During the 2011–12 season, Mandi made 26 appearances as Reims gained promotion from Ligue 2.

On 5 April 2014, Mandi scored two own goals in a match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Real Betis
On 30 June 2016, Mandi signed a five-year deal with La Liga side Real Betis.

Villarreal
On 16 June 2021, Mandi signed a four-year contract with fellow La Liga side Villarreal, as his contract with Betis expired.

On 11 August 2021, he got his professional Villarreal debut against Chelsea in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup where he went on to miss a penalty in the penalty shoot-out.

International career
While he was also eligible to play for France, Mandi decided to play for Algeria and made his debut for them on 5 March 2014 in a 2–0 victory over Slovenia. He was one of the revelations of the Algerian national team during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Mandi scored his first goal for Algeria in a 3–3 away draw to Ethiopia during the qualifiers for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

In December 2023, he was named in Algeria's squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Personal life
Mandi was born in the town of Châlons-en-Champagne in Northern France to Algerian parents from Chlef.

International

 * Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mandi goal.

Honours
Algeria
 * Africa Cup of Nations: 2019