After its first-up loss to tiny Slovenia, few people gave Algeria any hope of making it past the group stage at this World Cup.

But a display of pluck, cunning and skill saw Algeria hold overwhelming favourite England to a scoreless draw on Friday, and thus avoid becoming the first nation to be eliminated from the World Cup.

Now, if Algeria beats the United States on Wednesday in its last group game, it has a chance of reaching the second round for the first time in its history.

"I didn't think of the last match," said coach Rabah Saadane, knowing his country should keep its ambitions limited. "We go match by match," he said, acknowledging he had not even thought of FIFA's tiebreaker rules in case several teams end up on the same points tally.

"Against the United States, it is going to be extremely difficult," he said of the match in Pretoria.

Going into the final group games, Slovenia leads Group C with four points, with England and the United States on two and Algeria on one. A victory over the US would see Algeria jump over the Americans and qualify for the knockout stages, unless England beats Slovenia by such a margin that it left Algeria and Slovenia tied on goal difference.

"We were determined to show them we were not just here for the ride and that we have a decent team. Now we have to play the United States," said midfielder Riad Boudebouz. "If we play like we did tonight, we can beat them."

Algeria's qualification demonstrated its ability to prevail in vital matches. After a 24-year absence from soccer's biggest tournament, it only assured itself of qualification by beating African champion Egypt in a one-match playoff.

The team, known as the "Fennecs," or "Desert Foxes," had its finest hour at the 1982 World Cup, when it beat West Germany - one of the favourites - 2-1, and then Chile 3-2.

Still, it was eliminated after an infamous match in which West Germany beat Austria 1-0, conveniently sending both teams through. That match led to a change in FIFA's scheduling rules to have final group matches played simultaneously to avoid collusion.

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