Algeria. Ligue 2: groups, promotion and betting in 2026/27
Ligue 2 is the second tier of Algerian football ⚽. It sits between Ligue 1, a 16-club professional league, and the Inter-régions, the third level, which is split into six groups of 16. The division is amateur and is run by the Ligue Nationale du Football Amateur (LNFA), while the Algerian federation, the FAF, sets the promotion and relegation rules through its circulars.
The 2026/27 season brings together 32 clubs in two groups of 16, Centre-Est and Centre-Ouest. Within each group, every club plays all the others home and away, which gives 30 rounds of eight games: 240 matches per group and 480 across the whole division. The two groups never meet during the regular season; their paths cross only in the promotion play-off.
Who goes up and who goes down
Under FAF circular No. 83 of 8 September 2026, three clubs will be promoted to Ligue 1 at the end of the season, replacing the sides that finish 14th, 15th and 16th in the top flight. The rules are identical in both groups:
Final position | What it means |
|---|---|
1st | straight up to Ligue 1 |
2nd or 3rd | promotion play-off for a third Ligue 1 spot |
4th to 13th | another season in Ligue 2 |
14th to 16th | relegation to the Inter-régions |
The play-off pairs the runner-up of one group with the third-placed club of the other, and the two semi-final winners meet in a final. Every play-off game is a single match on a neutral ground chosen by the LNFA, lasting 2 × 45 minutes with no extra time, so a draw goes straight to penalties. At the bottom, six clubs drop to the Inter-régions and make way for the six Inter-régions group winners. The system is unchanged from 2025/26.
The 32 clubs in 2026/27
Paradou AC, ES Mostaganem and MC El Bayadh came down from Ligue 1; Paradou play in Centre-Est, the other two in Centre-Ouest. Six clubs came up from the Inter-régions: JS Azazga, JSM Skikda and IRB Nezla joined Centre-Est, while USM Blida, IRB Sidi M'hamed Benali and JRB Taghit went into Centre-Ouest. The other 23 clubs were already in Ligue 2 last season, and the LNFA kept both groups as they were, spreading the newcomers between them.
Centre-Est | Centre-Ouest |
|---|---|
AS Khroub | ASM Oran |
CA Batna | ES Mostaganem |
CR Beni Thour | ESM Koléa |
IRB Nezla | GC Mascara |
JS Azazga | IRB Sidi M'hamed Benali |
JS Djidjel | JRB Taghit |
JSM Skikda | JSM Tiaret |
MO Béjaïa | MC El Bayadh |
MO Constantine | MC Saïda |
MSP Batna | NA Hussein Dey |
NC Magra | RC Arbaâ |
NRB Beni Oulbane | RC Kouba |
NRB Teleghma | USM Blida |
Paradou AC | USM El Harrach |
US Chaouia | WA Mostaganem |
USM Annaba | WA Tlemcen |
Two towns have a pair of clubs in the same group: Batna, with CA Batna and MSP Batna in Centre-Est, and Mostaganem, with ES Mostaganem and WA Mostaganem in Centre-Ouest, so both local derbies will be played home and away. Paradou AC and NA Hussein Dey both come from Algiers, but they are in different groups and will not meet.
Season start and round 2
The fixture list was drawn on 9 August 2026 at a meeting between the LNFA and the Ligue 2 club officials. The season kicked off on Friday 18 September 2026 in Centre-Est and on Saturday 19 September in Centre-Ouest, and the LNFA picked CA Batna against JS Azazga, in Batna, as the official opening match. Round 2 is scheduled for Saturday 26 September in both groups, except JS Azazga against JSM Skikda, which has been moved to Sunday 27 September.
2025/26: the three clubs promoted
US Biskra won Centre-Est with 62 points and sealed promotion on the last day, the 30th round, with a 1:1 home draw against US Chaouia on 9 May 2026, returning to Ligue 1 after a single season away. CA Batna and US Chaouia finished second and third on 60 points each. In Centre-Ouest, JS El Biar clinched first place early, with the LNFA congratulating them on 11 April 2026, ahead of USM El Harrach (62 points) and CR Témouchent (59).
The play-off semi-finals were played on 16 May: CA Batna and CR Témouchent drew 1:1 in Baraki before Témouchent won the shoot-out 4:2, and US Chaouia beat USM El Harrach 2:1 in Oran. In the final, on 20 May 2026 in Tizi Ouzou, CR Témouchent beat US Chaouia 1:0 and became the third club promoted to Ligue 1, alongside US Biskra and JS El Biar.
Betting on Algeria. Ligue 2 from Algeria
Before kick-off, each Ligue 2 game carries the usual markets: 1X2, double chance, goal totals, handicaps and whether both sides score. The race for first place and for the play-off spots runs in parallel in the two groups, so each round brings two sets of fixtures to follow. Once a game starts, live football keeps the odds moving with the score. The Football section also covers Ligue 1 and the leagues abroad, and the pre-match schedule for every sport lets you combine a Ligue 2 game with other fixtures on one slip.
A balance in Algerian dinars (DZD) 💳 is all it takes: BaridiMob or RedotPay for topping up and cashing out, Binance Pay or USDT for crypto fans. Create a 1xBet account to follow both groups from round 2 onwards.