Qualifying for a football world cup is usually followed by a party. When Peru qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the country celebrated with such gusto that an earthquake detector app mistook the celebrations for a tremor. But in Algeria, when Kabylia qualified for the 2018 Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) World Cup – a tournament for minorities and unrecognized nations – manager Axel Bellabbaci was arrested because of the existence of his team and questioned for hours.
Kabylia is a small, densely packed region on Algeria’s north coast with a population involved in a decades-long struggle for recognition. The story of its football team exemplifies the complex political tensions in the area.
