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On a rainy day in Sydney’s Surry Hills, a small crowd rushes into a small cafe draped in the green and white flag of Algeria, gathering around a TV with dreams of seeing their country make the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in 12 years.

Greetings are exchanged in French as small plastic cups of tea are handed out. The smell of spices wafts through the cafe as flames burst from a pan in the kitchen.

There is a nervous feeling in the air at Cafe Tanja because a loss would mean elimination for Algeria, who have been waiting for the chance to play Austria since the “Disgrace of Gijón”, the 1982 World Cup match where West Germany settled for a 1-0 win over Austria at the expense of Algeria who were knocked out on goal difference.

Abdou, 25, sits down at the back of the cafe, which serves Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian food from north Africa. Originally from France, he ventured out to the World Cup in Los Angeles to watch Algeria beat Jordan, before arriving in Australia two days ago. He found Cafe Tanja through Instagram and wanted to be around his fellow countrymen to see the final group game.

Next to Abdou in the corner is Billy, 38, who moved to Australia from Algeria more than 10 years ago. He has been watching Algeria since he was little and is no stranger to sacrificing sleep in order to see his team play.

“Usually I put the alarm on and watch the game early in the morning,” Billy says. “This year we got lucky because we finally have good timing to watch all the games in Australia.”

Billy says the cafe is “a good place to eat” and connect with his heritage. “I love the homemade food. It reminds me of my culture and my adjoining heritage.”

As the first half starts, food starts pouring out of the kitchen: spicy sausages known as merguez with potatoes and sauce in baguettes are are handed out until there are groans from the crowd. Austria has scored an early first half goal.

Just before half-time, cheers can be heard coming from upstairs, to the confusion of those downstairs. The live stream is behind. After a minute the goal is finally shown: the cafe jumps for joy and a chant of “one, two, three, we love Algeria” roars from both floors of the cafe.

As everyone eats during the half-time break, more people begin to show up. The cafe is now close to capacity. In the second half both score in quick succession and it is 2-2; the game looks destined to go down to the wire.

Then with two minutes to go in the game, Riyad Mahrez, Algeria’s favourite son, scores; pandemonium breaks out, chants are sung and stools turn into drums.

The enjoyment of the goal is short lived because in the very last seconds of the game Austria equalise. But there is still laughter and cheering as the 3-3 draw sends Algeria through to the round of 32.

Cafe Tanja’s Sanah Djebli, 34, moved to Australia more than 10 years ago and runs the small cafe with her family. “We lost my brother four years ago,” she says. “He left us some money and it was always my mum’s dream to open a cafe. And because I was living in Australia we wanted to do it here – we wanted to do something for our community.”

As the cafe starts to clear out there is a sense of hope and excitement: the World Cup is uniting Australia’s small Algerian community game by game. Many say their goodbyes and tell Sanah they will be back soon.