"La France, c'est vous." Translated as 'France, is you', that was what French president Charles de Gaulle told footballer Rachid Mekhloufi in 1968. Mekhloufi had just led his Saint-Etienne side to the double, and the reward was an audience with the most powerful man in the country. For Mekhloufi, this sentence brought things full circle. Now he was both Algerian and French; 10 years earlier, he had – in a sense – been neither.
Superstar in the making
At the beginning of 1958, the situation in France's colony of Algeria came to a head. After years of foreign rule, the Front de la Liberation Nationale (FLN) was pushing ever more vehemently for the independence of their country. The French military responded brutally – while at the same time, the French national team eagerly awaited the upcoming World Cup in Sweden. Two players of Algerian descent were entrenched in the squad: Mustapha Zitouni from Monaco and Mekhloufi, the superstar of reigning champions Saint-Etienne.
Like so many young football talents, Mekhloufi had once crossed the Mediterranean in the hope of a great career in Ligue 1. At the age of 17, he arrived in Saint-Etienne for a trial. "Anyone who knows anything about football can see Rachid's class from his first touch of the ball," coach Jean Snella is said to have remarked afterwards.
Mekhloufi scored three goals in his first game. From then on, the prolific playmaker became an indispensable part of the up-and-coming team. At the age of 20, he became a France international and led Saint-Etienne to the first championship title in the club's history. But at 21, he threw away his promising career and a place at the World Cup to fight for his country's independence.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesEscaping in secret
The FLN pulled out all the stops: It was no longer just soldiers who were required to fight, but also footballers – at least symbolically. Their idea was to use an Algerian national team in exile to promote independence. FLN co-founder Ahmed Ben Bella knew only too well about the power of football, having once played for Marseille himself.
In 1958, a total of 33 players of Algerian origin were under contract in Ligue 1. Organiser Mohamed Boumezra approached them on a secret mission with the question: Are you prepared to end your career in France to tour the world with an FLN selection? Many said yes, including the two most famous: Zitouni and Mekhloufi.
"It was a continuation of the struggle of the Algerians who lived under French colonial rule. It was the most effective way to show that there was a war going on in Algeria. Due to censorship in the French media, the world did not know what was happening in our country. Our action, our departure from France, showed that there was indeed a movement and that war was raging," Mekhloufi recalled decades later in an interview with GOAL, explaining his motivation for joining the FLN team.
The players' secret departure was planned for April 13 and 14, but there were complications. Mekhloufi, of all people, injured himself in what would likely to be his last game for Saint-Etienne and had to spend a night in hospital. Still in his pyjamas, he was picked up the next day and taken with three colleagues to the French-Swiss border. Instead of asking critical questions, the border police only asked for one thing: autographs.
However, it didn't take long for suspicions to arise in France. "Nine Algerian footballers missing," read the headline in April 15. Hacene Chabri and Mohamed Maouche, meanwhile, were arrested on departure and were only able to leave France at a much later date. Meanwhile, their team-mates gradually arrives at the meeting point in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, where the provisional Algerian government was based.
Travelling the world
Clubs terminated the contracts of the players involved, the French Football Federation banned them and FIFA rejected an application for membership from the FLN team and also threatened potential international opponents with consequences. Despite these complications, Mekhloufi's team played 83 matches in 14 countries over the next four years against clubs, city teams, junior sides and senior national teams, mainly from the Arab and Asian regions as well as the Communist bloc.
In sporting terms, the high-calibre team was able to take on almost any opponent. They started with victories against their recently independent neighbours Morocco and Tunisia, with the longest trips taking them to Vietnam and China. New players of Algerian origin from France joined the team over time, too.
"We were professional players fighting a political battle. We were rebels," Mekhloufi told GOAL. "Contact with heads of state, revolutionaries, citizens and journalists opened my eyes. Before that, I was an idiot! I played football with my friends. We laughed, chased girls and went to the cinema. That was it."
Getty ImagesTriumphant return
Meanwhile, Mekhloufi's former France team-mates chased the title in vain at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden as they were eliminated in the semi-finals. But what might have been possible with the two lost stars?
"I've always said that this team was wonderful and played beautiful football. Yes, we could have become world champions. Of course, it's all hypothetical, but this team was very strong – both in terms of football and politics," Mekhloufi told GOAL. And indeed, there was no resentment towards the rebels; Raymond Kopa of Real Madrid, top scorer Just Fontaine and the rest of the France team even sent their rebellious friends a postcard from Sweden.
From the outset, there was understanding in France for the Algerians' behaviour, and gradually, more and more members of the public rejected the bloody war. In 1962, Algeria finally gained independence through the Evian ceasefire agreement. The FLN selection became the official national team – and many players returned to their previous clubs in France.
Mekhloufi's Saint-Etienne had meanwhile been relegated to Ligue 2. However, with their 25-year-old superstar back in the line up, they managed to bounce straight back up before winning the championship title the following season and later two more, culminating in the double in 1968.
Upon his retirement, Mekhloufi returned to Algeria, where he remained a key figure within football, serving as both national team coach and president of the football federation. He was assistant coach by the time Algeria made their first World Cup appearance in 1982, where they famously beat Germany, only to become the victims of the 'Disgrace of Gijon' as Germany and Austria played out a mutually beneficial game that knocked their African rivals out.
Mekhloufi died in the autumn of 2024 at the age of 88, but he will forever remain a face of the independence movement.