A Vietnamese-origin player is astonishing the entire African tournament

A Vietnamese-descended star is shining brightly at CAN 2025, consistently making an impact and energizing the Africa Cup with impressive performances.

At CAN 2025, the name Ibrahim Maza quickly became the center of attention as he both scored and assisted to help Algeria defeat Equatorial Guinea 3-1. What particularly caught the eyes of Vietnamese fans is that Maza has Vietnamese heritage, born in 2005, with an Algerian father and a Vietnamese mother.

Although very young, just 20 years old, Maza played with great confidence as the playmaker. In the final group stage match, he directly contributed to two goals, helping Algeria achieve a perfect record of three wins and demonstrating their ambition to compete for this year's African championship.

Specifically, in the 25th minute, he assisted Chaibi to make the score 2-0, then in the 32nd minute, he scored himself from a difficult position. Despite being closely marked inside the penalty area, Maza accurately headed the ball into the top corner, securing Algeria's third goal.

Maza grew up in Germany, having played for German youth teams but ultimately chose Algeria for his international career. This decision was quickly proven right as he helped Algeria qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals.

At the club level, Maza's story is equally impressive. He recently joined Bayer Leverkusen last summer for a fee of about 14 million euros, previously holding the record as the highest-valued Vietnamese-origin player at around 12 million euros. Currently, his transfer value has risen to approximately 25 million euros despite being only 20 years old.

With his refined ball control, modern attacking mindset, and composure on big stages, Maza is being closely watched by many top European clubs. His brilliant displays at CAN 2025 have not only elevated him to the same level of influence as Mahrez within the Algerian squad but have also opened a very promising future.

At just 20 years old, Ibrahim Maza is proving he can compete at the highest level of European football. With his modern ball-handling skills, sharp attacking vision, and increasingly consistent form, he has the potential to become a major star with remarkable performances on the European continent in the future.