Esperance de Tunis winger Youcef Belaili. Photo courtesy of Esperance de Tunis Facebook page.
The 33-year-old Algeria international sustained the injury during Esperance’s goalless draw with Club Africain in a Tunisian league game on Sunday.
Local media said scans showed Belaili had damaged the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee.
Neither Esperance nor the Algerian Football Federation have issued an official statement on his condition.
Reports said Belaili will require at least six months of treatment and rehabilitation, ruling him out of the Nations Cup in Morocco, which kicks off in December.
Algeria are drawn in Group E alongside Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and Burkina Faso.
Belaili’s participation in next year’s World Cup qualifiers is also in doubt, the reports added.
The winger, who previously played for Esperance in 2014–15 and 2018–19, returned to the Tunisian champions for a third spell in the summer of 2024 from MC Alger.
He has scored twice and provided six assists in 11 league appearances this season.
Belaili has 10 goals in 58 appearances for Algeria and was part of the team that won the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cairo.
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