 He received first call up to Algeria against Libya, 6 February 2007, making his debut, where he started and played 55 minutes before coming off, in a 2–1 win.Two years later, on 7 June 2009, he scored his first ever Algeria international goal, in a 3–1 win over Egypt.Then, on 18 November 2009 against Egypt for the second time this year, Matmour came on as a substitute in the 57th minutes and helped the side beat them 1–0 to qualify for the next year's World Cup.