USM Alger Football Club: The Red and Blacks of Algiers, Their Titles and African Kick Off Times

USM Alger are a football club from Algiers, founded on 5 July 1937, who play in red and black and are known across Africa as winners of the CAF Confederation Cup in 2023 and 2026. They play their home games at the Stade du 5 Juillet, and South African readers looking for the soccer club will usually see it shortened to USMA. The short form works the way Lagosians say Eko for Lagos, because it is quicker and warmer and everyone knows what you mean.

The name of the current USM Alger coach sits in the club details module above, which changes the day the club makes an appointment. What will not change is that Abdelhak Benchikha led the club to its first Confederation Cup in 2023. Below you will find what the name means and how USMA won two continental titles. You will also find the derbies that matter, and how to follow the club from Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Accra or Kampala.

Who Are USM Alger, the Red and Blacks of Algiers?

USM Alger stands for Union Sportive Musulmane Algéroise, the Muslim Sporting Union of Algiers, and the name says a great deal about where the club came from. Alger is the French word for Algiers. The red and black colours were adopted in tribute to members who died in the May 1945 demonstrations, which is why supporters see the shirt as a memorial and not only as a kit. So, USMA, USM Alger FC and the Red and Blacks are all the same club.

Where Is the Latest USM Alger News?

The latest USM Alger news is in the news module, which adds reports as they are published, so the page does not depend on a writer keeping up by hand. That suits this club well, because the questions readers ask most often (the coach and the signings above all) change from one transfer window to the next. Readers following USM Alger from outside North Africa can keep the results module open beside the news. A coaching story always makes more sense when you can see the run of matches that came before it. Kenyan and Nigerian readers searching for usm alger news will find both on the same screen.

How Do You Follow USM Alger Fixtures and Results From Africa?

The results, the Algerian Ligue 1 table and the upcoming dates are all in the data modules above, and the Usm Alger fixtures page lists every match in African kick off times. Algiers keeps the same clock as Lagos all year round. For a USMA fixture starting at 20:00 in Algiers, readers in Lagos tune in at 20:00 WAT; the equivalent clocks show 22:00 EAT for Nairobi and Kampala, 21:00 SAST for Johannesburg, and 19:00 GMT for Accra. USMA's distance from CAF qualification places deserves attention when checking the standings table (log in South Africa). Finishing high enough to enter CAF competition is what puts USMA in front of fans across the continent.

How Is the USM Alger Squad Set Out?

The USM Alger squad module lists the current players by position, with shirt numbers, ages and nationalities, and it updates as the club registers its signings. It is worth reading the list from the back. The goalkeepers and centre backs show you how the coach wants to defend, and the number of wide players usually shows you how the side means to attack. Captain Zinedine Belaid scored the penalty that won the 2023 Super Cup. Readers in Nigeria can use the squad list to see which players come from the Super Eagles pool.

What Have USM Alger Won?

USM Alger have won two CAF Confederation Cups, in 2023 and 2026, and those two titles sit at the top of the honours list. The 2023 win made them the first Algerian club to lift the trophy, after they beat Tanzania's Young Africans on away goals. On 15 September that year they also won the CAF Super Cup, beating Champions League holders Al Ahly 1-0. The 2026 final brought USMA their second Confederation Cup title. USMA won the first leg 1-0 in Algiers and then beat Zamalek 8-7 on penalties in front of a Cairo crowd. The penalty shootout in Cairo settled the 2026 final.

Next on the list is the 2015 CAF Champions League, where USMA reached the final and TP Mazembe took the title, followed by the 2012-13 UAFA Club Cup, the Arab club competition. At home, the club won the first Algerian championship after independence in 1962-63 and its first Algerian Cup in 1980-81, and the records module keeps the full count of league titles and cups. TP Mazembe won that final in 2015. Reaching that final was a fair measure of how far USMA had come.

From 1937 to the Stade du 5 Juillet: The History in Brief

USM Alger were founded on 5 July 1937 as the Union Sportive Musulmane Algéroise, and the club's identity has always been bound up with Algiers. The colours were adopted in tribute after May 1945. When Algeria played its first national championship after independence, in 1962-63, USMA won it with Abdelaziz Ben Tifour as playing coach. Saïd Allik became chairman in 1994 and was appointed Sporting General Manager on 17 July 2025.

The modern era began in August 2010, when Ali Haddad acquired a majority stake, and he was president from October 2010 until 2019. In March 2020, Groupe SERPORT acquired a 94.34% stake in the club from ETRHB Haddad. In 2022 the club moved its home games from the Omar Hamadi Stadium to the Stade du 5 Juillet, and both Confederation Cup titles came after that move. Think of a Lagos trader leaving a stall in Idumota for a larger shop on the Island, where the name stays the same and the customers come from further away.

Why Should Fans Across Africa Care About USMA?

USMA's 2023 Confederation Cup final against Tanzania's Young Africans gives readers in Kenya and Uganda an East African connection to the club. USM Alger won that final on away goals.

Both of USMA's winning finals were played over two legs, which is why away goals decided 2023 and a penalty shootout decided 2026.

Readers in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa can use the records module to explore USMA's past meetings with clubs from the NPFL, the Ghana Premier League and elsewhere. That being said, the African connection here comes mostly from the competition itself. If you want to know how your own club might manage in Algiers, the head to head records are the best place to start.

Who Are USM Alger's Biggest Rivals?

USM Alger's main rival is MC Alger, and the Algiers derby is the fixture that matters most to the club's own supporters. MC Alger beat USMA in two Algerian Cup finals between 2005 and 2010, so the derby carries plenty of memory on both sides of the city. For a reader in Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Accra or Kampala, picture two clubs whose supporters share a city and carry the result into conversations with neighbours.

Which USM Alger Games Matter Most, and Where Can You Watch Them?

The games that matter most are the Algiers derby against MC Alger and any CAF knockout tie, and the fixtures module shows both with kick off times in WAT, EAT, SAST and GMT. USMA play their home matches at the Stade du 5 Juillet, the Olympic stadium in Algiers. Capacity figures for the ground differ between sources, because it has been renovated and its layout changed over the years, so some figures describe older arrangements and others the current seating. The venue details module carries one figure so you are not left comparing them.

Where you can watch depends on your country, because CAF club competition rights are sold territory by territory. The broadcast listing beside each fixture shows the channels for Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda. Coverage of Algerian league matches varies more from country to country than coverage of CAF ties, so check the listing before you head out to a viewing centre. For a first USMA match, I would choose a CAF knockout night in Algiers, when supporters from all five of our countries can be watching the same game.