Despite arriving at the final tournament with plenty of confidence and with the emergence of young stars Islam Slimani and El Arbi Hillel Soudani, as well as the addition to the squad of talented Valencia winger Sofiane Feghouli, Algeria finished bottom of their group, losing their opening two matches to Tunisia and Togo without scoring a single goal. Although the result was widely regarded as a disappointment, the Algerian Football Federation decided to keep Halilhodžić in charge and allow the team to gain more experience.