France, June 1 -- Born in France to an Algerian father and a mother with Algerian and Moroccan roots, Mahrez was not on a straightforward path to professional football.

He turned professional in 2009 with Quimper in Brittany, north-western France, before moving to Le Havre in 2010.

It was during Mahrez's time at the then English second division side Leicester City that he began representing Algeria.

He was named in the provisional Algeria squad for the World Cup in Brazil and performed well enough in his international debut in a friendly against Armenia to convince then head coach Vahid Halilhodžić to include him in the squad for the tournament.

World Cup debut

Mahrez played in the opening group game against Belgium but did...