After winning the 1990 African Cup of Nations and barely missing out in qualifying to the 1990 World Cup, Algerian football was still at its peak and seemed to be moving towards the right direction while dominating fellow African teams with their unique north African style of play, mixed with physical but very technical football. However, with Algeria being on the brink of a civil war in the early 90s, social and political unrest started having a negative impact in every domain in the country including football. Although Algeria qualified to the 1992 African Cup of Nations, the title holders were disappointing and were eliminated in the first round of the competition.