Grand dossier
In 2010, the Algerian community in Montréal rallied around their national soccer team, which had qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1986.
Coupe du Monde 2010
Every four years, the World Cup stirs up excitement among many of the city’s immigrant communities. Months of lead-up precede the final tournament, and qualifying for the 2010 tournament ran from August 2007 to November 2009.
Algeria qualifies: A buzz of excitement
On November 18, 2009, Algeria faced Egypt in a World Cup qualifier in Khartoum, Sudan. North Africans from across Québec gathered on rue Jean-Talon between Saint-Michel and Pie-IX. Along this stretch, soccer fans packed into local establishments like Café Lina to watch the match on the big screen. When Algeria won the game and qualified for the FIFA World Cup, the entire Algerian community in Montréal celebrated. It was the first time since 1986 that Algeria would compete in the tournament. You could feel the excitement in the air. Soccer fans and local families came together, waving the blue-and-white Québec flag alongside Algeria’s green and white. Media reports estimated the crowds that thronged the streets of Little Maghreb at 5,000 to 8,000 people. When riot police were deployed in Saint-Michel to control the crowds, it was a surprise to many.
Algeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Coupe du Monde 2010
After the qualifying rounds, Algerian Montrealers were on the edge of their seats for the 2010 World Cup, held from June 11 to July 11 in South Africa. In neighbourhoods across the city, people were gearing up for the first FIFA World Cup held on African soil.
Little Maghreb was again hit with World Cup fever. Algeria lost to Slovenia in their first game, but held England to a draw in their second. On the eve of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Algeria faced the United States. Algerian flags flapped in the wind in the streets of Little Maghreb. Algeria lost 1–0, bringing their World Cup journey to an end. But for many Montrealers of Algerian descent, it remains a source of pride that their team qualified for the tournament.
For a community facing economic integration barriers, and which rarely received positive media coverage, the World Cup festivities showcased a lesser-known facet of Algerian culture. For a few days, the prejudices against its Muslim majority were sidelined. The 2010 World Cup will be remembered as an event that brought together the Algerian community in Montréal.
Written and researched in collaboration with Daisy Boustany.
Record of Algerian immigration to Canada dates back to the 1960s. Until the early 1980s, most immigrants from Algeria were men. The Algerian presence in Canada and Québec grew considerably beginning in 1990, because of the civil war and terrorism-related insecurity in the country. The vast majority of Algerian immigrants to Canada have settled in Québec, specifically in the Montréal area. In 1996, 5,920 Algerian-born immigrants lived in the Montréal census metropolitan area. In 2001, the number rose to 15,200 and then to 26,820 in 2006. Between 2001 and 2006, Algerian immigrants were the second-leading group of newcomers in Montréal, after immigrants from China.
CAMARASA-BELLAUBE, Marion. La Méditerranée sur les rives du Saint-Laurent. Une histoire des Algériens au Canada, Paris, Éditions Publibook, 2010, 244 p.
MANAI, Bochra. La ‟Mise en scène” de l’ethnicité maghrébine à Montréal, Thèse (Ph. D.), Montréal, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), 2015, 313 p.
VILLE DE MONTRÉAL. DIVISION DES AFFAIRES ÉCONOMIQUES ET INSTITUTIONNELLES. « Coup d’œil sur les immigrants nés en Algérie », [En ligne], Montréal, 2010.
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/page/mtl_stats_fr/media/docu...
