Lyon forward Islam Slimani is one goal away from becoming Algeria’s  joint top scorer following the four goals he scored in the 8-0 win over Djibouti on Thursday evening.

The France-based forward increased his national team tally to 35 goals during the Group A second round World Cup qualifying match, one goal behind legendary Abdelhafid  Tasfout.

However, the former Leicester City striker is slightly ahead in his conversion rate as he has scored the 35 goals in just 74 games whereas Tasfout chalked the 36 in 87 games.

With the reigning Africa kings Algeria set to also face Djibouti, Burkina Faso and Niger in the World Cup qualifiers, Slimani stands a chance to break clear of Tasfout as the country’s all-time leading scorer.

Algeria travel to Morocco to face Burkina Faso on September 7.

During the game, Ramy Bensebaini, Ramiz Zerrouki, Baghdad Bounedjah and Riyad Mahrez also scored to join Slimani on the scoresheet at Mustapha-Tchaker Stadium in Blida, Algiers.

Additionally, Slimani registered his first national team hat-trick before he scored the fourth goal.

Slimani is now the joint second on the list of Algerian players with the most goals registered in a match after Nasr El-Din Akli’s six goals he netted against South Yemen in 1973.

Mohamed El-Amin Amor also scored four goals in a friendly against Liberia decades ago.

On the national team front, this has now become Algeria’s biggest win in the country’s history in an official match eclipsing the 7-0 victory registered over Tanzania in 2015.

Algeria’s all-time leading scorers

                                            Goals   Caps

Abdelhafid  Tasfout           36          87

Islam Slimani                       35          74

Rabah Madjer                     28           87

Lakhdar Belloumi               28          101

Djamel Menad                    25           81