ROTTERDAM: Anis Hadj Moussa struck on familiar turf as Algeria stunned the Netherlands 1-0 in a World Cup warm-up international on Wednesday, while the Democratic Republic of Congo played out a goalless draw against Denmark and South Korea edged El Salvador in their final preparations for the tournament.
Hadj Moussa, who plays his club football for Feyenoord, scored his first international goal four minutes from time to hand Algeria a deserved victory at De Kuip.
The winger cut in from the right flank before unleashing a powerful strike into the far corner, silencing the home crowd but delighting a large contingent of travelling Algerian supporters who had roared their side on throughout a strong second-half display.
The defeat spoiled the Dutch team’s farewell match before departing for New York on Thursday.
“This is not what you want in your farewell match,” Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk told NOS television. “If you look at the game, we should have been at least 2-0 up. Hopefully, our sharpness will return quickly and we’ll finish our chances properly from now on.”
The Dutch created enough opportunities to take control but lacked a cutting edge in front of goal. Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, wearing a protective mask after suffering facial injuries in April, produced a series of fine saves to preserve the clean sheet and ease concerns surrounding the team’s goalkeeping position.
The Netherlands face Uzbekistan in New York on Monday before beginning their World Cup campaign against Japan in Group ‘F’ on June 14 in Dallas.
Algeria, meanwhile, will take confidence from the result ahead of their Group ‘J’ opener against defending champions Argentina in Kansas City on June 16. They face Bolivia in another warm-up fixture next week.
Elsewhere, World Cup debutants DR Congo were held to a 0-0 draw by Denmark in Liege.
The Congolese, preparing in Belgium for their first World Cup appearance in more than 50 years, were unable to find a breakthrough but showed defensive resilience against the Europeans.
Denmark came closest to scoring, hitting the woodwork twice. Joakim Maehle struck the post with a curling effort in the 33rd minute, while captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg rattled the corner of the crossbar with a long-range strike shortly after the break.
DR Congo’s best chance fell to Cedric Bakambu in the 24th minute, but the striker fired straight at goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen. The Danish keeper later denied Joris Kayembe with a sharp save from the final effort of the match.
The draw came after the cancellation of a planned friendly against Chile in Spain, meaning Wednesday’s encounter could prove to be DR Congo’s only preparation match before they open their Group ‘K’ campaign against Portugal on June 17.
In Provo, South Korea maintained their positive momentum with a 1-0 victory over El Salvador in their final warm-up fixture before the World Cup.
Lee Dong-gyeong scored the only goal 10 minutes into the second half, curling home a free-kick to secure a second successive friendly win for the Koreans following last week’s 5-0 rout of Trinidad and Tobago.
Captain Son Heung-min started on the bench before entering the contest five minutes after Lee’s strike. The 33-year-old forward, who scored twice in the previous friendly, is now only two goals shy of Cha Bum-kun’s South Korean record of 58 international goals.
South Korea begin their Group ‘A’ campaign against the Czech Republic in Guadalajara on June 11 before facing South Africa and co-hosts Mexico.
Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2026