Uncapped Newcastle United midfielder Abeid will be joined by Tottenham Hotspur’s Nabil Bentaleb and Leciester City winger Riyad Mahrez as the north African side became the first to name their selection for the Jan. 17 – Feb. 8 tournament.
Abeid has been used sparingly by Alan Pardew this season, but did play against Burnley earlier this month.
Midfielder Bentaleb, who featured for Spurs on Saturday in their win at Swansea City, will arguably be a bigger loss to his Premier League club and with Algeria among the favourites, could be missing from North London for up to five weeks.
Coach Christian Gourcuff named seven players on a reserve list too, including Watford’s Adlane Guedioura.
The Algerians, who have been pooled with Ghana, Senegal and South Africa in their first round group, will be captained by former Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra.
The Fennecses were the best performing African side at the World Cup in Brazil, where they lost in extra-time to eventual winners Germany in the second round.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Azzedine Doukha (JS Kabylie), Rais Mbolhi (Philadelphia Union), Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (USM Alger).
Defenders: Essaid Belkalem (Trabzonspor), Madjid Bougherra (Foujairah), Faouzi Ghoulam (Naples), Rafik Halliche (Qatar SC), Aissa Mandi (Stade Reims), Carl Medjani (Trabzonspor), Djamel Mesbah (Sampdoria), Medhi Zeffane (Olympique Lyonnaise).
Midfielders: Mehdi Abeid (Newcastle), Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham Hotspur), Yacine Brahimi (FC Porto), Abdelmoumene Djabou (Club Africain), Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), Foued Kadir (Real Betis), Mehdi Lacen (Getafe), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City), Saphir Taider (Sassuolo).
Forwards: Ishak Belfodil (Parma), Islam Slimani (Sporting Lisbon), El Arabi Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb).
Reserve list: Liassine Cadamuro (Osasuna), Adlane Guedioura (Watford), Mehdi Mostefa Sebaa (Lorient), Mesloub Walid (Lorient), Ryad Boudebouz (Bastia), Ahmed Kashi (Metz), Bounedjah Baghdad (Etoile Sahel)