List Of Algerian Football Players In Foreign Leagues

association football players who have played in foreign leagues.

For most of the twentieth century, most Algeria internationals played in the native Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1; however, the national team has included some players based abroad from the beginning. While some in the 1960s and 1970s played for Algerian clubs, for example Hacène Lalmas and Mokhtar Khalem at CR Belcourt, others played in France, such as Sadek Boukhalfa with Nantes or Mustapha Zitouni with AS Monaco. Seven players of the squad for the 1982 FIFA World Cup came from a foreign club: Abdelmajid Bourebbou (Stade Lavallois), Mustapha Dahleb (Paris SG), Djamel Tlemcani (Stade de Reims), Djamel Zidane (KV Kortrijk), Karim Maroc (FC Tours), Faouzi Mansouri (Montpellier HSC) and Nourredine Kourichi (Girondins Bordeaux). By the time of the 1986 World Cup that number had increased to 11 (50% of the squad), and at the 2010 and 2014 tournaments almost all were playing abroad (there were three and two home-based players respectively in the 23-man squads).

 

A Large number of Algerian players have played in Europe as especially in France, the former colonial ruler of Algeria. The first Algerian player in Europe and first North African to play in France was Ali Benouna who joined Sète in 1930. He is the first Algerian player to win a European title, having won the French league and Coupe de France of the 1933–34 season with Sète. Benouna paved the way for more Algerians to soon taste the success of the French championship. This was done by Abdelkader Ben Bouali in the colors of Olympique de Marseille in the 1936–37 season, then Mohamed Firoud and Abdelaziz Ben Tifour on two consecutive occasions with Nice in 1950–51 and 1951–52, in addition to Rachid Mekhloufi in 1956–57 with Saint Etienne and Mohamed Maouche in the next season with Stade de Reims; all these titles came in the colonial era. As for the first player to win a title outside France, Mekhloufi holds that accolade for winning the Swiss League in 1962.

In relation to statistics, the most prominent of these are Rachid Mekhloufi, star of AS Saint-Étienne who scored 150 goals and won the league title four times. There is also Mustapha Dahleb, former star for Paris Saint-Germain where he achieved two Coupe de France victories and is one of the most popular players in the history of the club (310 matches and 98 goals in 10 seasons). Rabah Madjer was perhaps the best Algerian player to turn professional in Europe; he claimed ten trophies with FC Porto: three League, two Cup and two Super Cup on the domestic level and two continental titles on the level, including the European Cup in 1987 becoming the first Algerian and an African player to achieve this feat, and the Intercontinental Cup in Japan against Peñarol from Uruguay in which he scored the winning goal. In the 1970s and 1980s, Algerian players were generally not allowed to play professionally until they were over 28 years old which deprived many of the stars of the Algerian team at the time of a top-level career, especially after the 1982 FIFA World Cup, including Mehdi Cerbah, Hocine Yahi, Chaabane Merzekane, Fodil Megharia, Hacène Lalmas, Mahmoud Guendouz, Ali Bencheikh, Ali Fergani, Lakhdar Belloumi, Djamel Menad, Tedj Bensaoula and Omar Betrouni; some of them did play professionally but did not achieve much success because of their advancing age. There were some players allowed to moved abroad even though they had not reached the age of 28: Djamel Zidane, Rabah Madjer and Salah Assad.

Several other players have achieved prominent titles: Rafik Djebbour won eight titles, four League and 4 in the cu, followed by El Arbi Hillel Soudani with 7 titles including three league and three cup, then Madjid Bougherra who won six trophies with Glasgow Rangers. Ahmed Reda Madouni was the first Algerian Bundesliga champion in the colours of Borussia Dortmund in the 2001–02 season (subsequently his career involved a strange fluctuation). in Eastern Europe, Selim Bouadla was crowned Hungarian league winner with Debrecen twice in the 2011–12 and 2013–14 season, noting that La Liga and Serie A has not tasted the taste of any Algerian player so far and the nearest thing was the Runner-up in Serie A by Djamel Mesbah in 2012 and Faouzi Ghoulam in 2016. The English Premier League, was won by Riyad Mahrez with Leicester City. the 2012–13 season is considered the best for Algerian players, where they won 12 titles including three league, seven cups, three Super Cup and one league cup achieved by seven players are Djebbour, Soudani, Abdoun, Ghoulam, Rani, Sayoud and Benzia, In 2018–19, Riyad Mahrez achieved the English treble with Manchester City as the first Algerian to achieve this achievement. In the 2017–18 season, 161 Algerian players (including those of the diaspora who represent the national team) featured across all the leagues in Europe, and were present in 31 of the 55 leagues.

At the level of individual titles Mahrez won the 2016 PFA Players' Player of the Year award. He was the first African to earn the accolade. There is also Ali Benarbia achieved the best player award in the French league with Girondins de Bordeaux. Sofiane Hanni also won the best player award. in the Belgian league with Mechelen as the first Algerian player achieves this award, El Arabi Hillel Soudani also with Dinamo Zagreb he won his first trophy in Croatia as the best player in the Prva liga after a vote of all the captains of the Prva liga Croatian clubs. as for at the level scorers There are only two Algerian players have achieved the title of top scorer of the league is in Europe, namely Ahmed Oudjani in the French league and Jabbour in Greek league and there are also Madjer, who won the title top scorer in the European Cup 1987–88 season. as for Makhloufi is considered the best Algerian scorer in Europe with 170 goal, including 156 in the league, followed by Djebbour 132 goal which 110 in the league comes after Dahleb 115 goal, including 102 in the league. as for more than play games just in the leagues there Rachid Mekhloufi with 360 games, Abdelkader Ferhaoui 343, Ryad Boudebouz by 328, Mustapha Dahleb by 321 and finally Mohamed Salem 308 games. on the other hand more than hat-tricks record is Makhloufi 9 all hat-tricks with Saint-Étienne then Madjer by 5 and finally Ahmed Oudjani and El Arbi Hillel Soudani by 4 hat-tricks.

At the level of countries have made Algerians players 61 title in France which is sixteen league, twenty five cup, nine Coupe de la Ligue and eleven Trophée des Champions after that Luxembourg twenty title, fourteen League and six cups and finally Scotland thirteen title, five Premiership, four Cup and four League Cup. Other countries where the Algerians players at least won one title is the 17th state in the following figure Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Czechoslovak and Turkey. the beginning of sparkling Algeria national team in 2009 began Algerian players Shares rise in Europe, such as El Arbi Hillel Soudani, who moved from ASO Chlef to Vitória Guimarães from Portugal. There are also Islam Slimani from CR Belouizdad to Sporting CP and then moved to Leicester City as the most expensive transfer deal for Algerian player in the history, The transfer fee paid to Sporting was reported as £28 million, a club record for Leicester. also there is the Paradou AC/JMG "El Ankaoui" Academy, which graduated many players to Europe and they are Ramy Bensebaini, Youcef Attal, Haithem Loucif, Farid El Mellali and Hicham Boudaoui who became the most expensive Algerian player has moved from an Algerian club to Europe with 4,000,000 euros.

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  Rabah Madjer won 6 titles, all with FC Porto including the European Cup.
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  Rafik Djebbour won eight titles in two countries, Greece and Cyprus.
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  El Arabi Hillel Soudani won nine titles, eight of them with Dinamo Zagreb.
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  Madjid Bougherra Won six titles, all with Glasgow Rangers.
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  Faouzi Ghoulam won three titles, one with Saint-Étienne and two with Napoli.
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  Islam Slimani won two titles with Sporting CP and is considered the most expensive Algerian player.

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  Riyad Mahrez won the Premier League title twice and the PFA Players' Player of the Year.
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  Brahim Hemdani won all four titles with Glasgow Rangers and reached twice the final of UEFA Cup in 2004 and 2008.
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  Sofiane Feghouli 243 Match play and scored 42 goals in six seasons with Valencia.
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  Yacine Brahimi The first Algerian player to score a hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League.
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  Sofiane Hanni won two titles with Anderlecht.
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  Karim Ziani The former star of the Algeria national team and Marseille won a single title with Sochaux.
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  Medhi Lacen the most Algerian player to play in the Spanish league with 254 game in nine seasons.
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  Djamel Mesbah won a single title with FC Basel and turn professional with Italian giant AC Milan.

Algerian descent players played for other national teams

 

Due to Algeria's historic ties with France, there have been a number of Algerian players playing professionally in the French leagues, while the France national team has included players of Algerian heritage, most notably Zinedine Zidane, Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri.

• Zinedine Yazid Zidane (Arabic: زين الدين يزيد زيدان) was born on 23 June 1972 in La Castellane, Marseille, in Southern France. Zidane is of Algerian Kabyle descent. His parents, Smaïl and Malika, emigrated to Paris from the village of Aguemoune in the Berber-speaking region of Kabylie in northern Algeria in 1953 before the start of the Algerian War. The family, which had settled in the city's tough northern districts of Barbès and Saint-Denis, found little work in the region
• Karim Benzema was born in the city of Lyon, France, to French nationals of Algerian descent. As a practicing Muslim, he observes fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. His grandfather, Da Lakehal Benzema, lived in the village of Tigzirt, located in the northern town of Beni Djellil in Algeria before migrating to Lyon, where he eventually settled in the 1950s. Benzema's father, Hafid, was born in Tigzirt, while his mother, Wahida Djebbara, was born and raised in Lyon; her family originated from Oran. Benzema is the third youngest in the family and grew up with eight other siblings in Bron, an eastern suburb of Lyon. His younger brothers Gressy and Sabri are also footballers. The former currently plies his trade at the amateur level with Vaulx-le-Velin in the Division d'Honneur, the sixth division of French football, while the latter plays in the youth academy of a club in the family's hometown of Bron.
• Samir Nasri (Arabic: سمير نصري) was born in Septèmes-les-Vallons, a northern suburb of Marseille, to French nationals of Algerian descent. His mother, Ouassila Ben Saïd, and father, Abdelhafid Nasri, were both born in France; his father being born and raised in Marseille, while his mother being from nearby Salon-de-Provence. Nasri's grandparents emigrated to France from Algeria. His mother is a housewife and his father previously worked as a bus driver before becoming his son's personal manager. At the start of his football career, Nasri initially played under his mother's surname, Ben Saïd, before switching to Nasri, his father's surname, following his selection to the France under-16 team. He is the eldest of four children and is a non-practising Muslim.
• Nabil Fekir Having earned one cap at under-21 level for his native France, Fekir had been named in his ancestral Algeria's squad for friendlies against Oman and Qatar in March 2015. However, he withdrew to take part in the French squad for friendlies against Brazil and Denmark. He made his debut on 26 March against the former at the Stade de France, replacing Antoine Griezmann for the final 16 minutes of a 1–3 defeat. He scored his first goal on 7 June, concluding a 3–4 home friendly defeat to Belgium. On 4 September, in a 1–0 away friendly win over Portugal, he ruptured three ligaments in his right knee, putting him out for an estimated six months.
• Karim Boudiaf (Arabic: كريم بوضياف) was born in France, and is of Moroccan-Algerian descent. On December 22, 2009, Boudiaf was called up to the Algeria Under-23 national team for a training camp in Algiers. Boudiaf acquired Qatari nationality and was called up to the Qatar national football team on November 13, 2013. He was capped in an unofficial friendly exhibition match against Saudi club Al Hilal. He made his official debut for the team on 25 December in the 2014 WAFF Championship in a 1–0 win against Palestine.
• Boualem Khoukhi (Arabic: بوعلام خوخي) was born and raised in Algeria. On November 9, 2010, Khoukhi was called up for the first time to the Algeria under–23 national team for a pair of friendlies against Tunisia. The Qatar Football Association attempted to naturalize Khoukhi shortly after he arrived in Qatar, however, he refused and claimed that he would not be naturalized for any amount of money. He stated his desire was to play with the senior Algeria national team. Subsequently, he received Qatari citizenship in order to assist in his club's foreign player quota. Despite his call up to Algeria's olympic team, he was called up to the Qatar B team on November 13, 2013, by compatriot Djamel Belmadi. When questioned about Khoukhi's call-up to the squad, Belmadi claimed that Khoukhi was naturalized prior to his call-up in order for his team, Al Arabi, to overcome the foreign player quota. Belmadi stated he was surprised when the QFA revealed Khoukhi was eligible to be called up to the Qatar national team. He made his official debut for the team on December 25 in the 2014 WAFF Championship in a 1–0 win against Palestine.

• Houssem Aouar (Arabic: حسام عوار) is eligible to feature for Algeria despite playing for the French youth teams at the U17 and U21 levels. In 2018, he was reported considering to represent Algeria at international level following a talk with former Lyon and current Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. In January 2019, manager of Algeria Djamel Belmadi confirmed that he would visit Aouar and present the vision and project of the Desert Foxes in hope of convincing him to play in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. On 26 August 2020, Aouar received his first call-up for France to prepare for 2020–21 UEFA Nations League matches against Sweden and Croatia in early September. He made his debut on 7 October 2020 in a friendly against Ukraine. After years of back and forth rumours on his nationality change. In March 2023, Aouar switched his international allegiance from his birth country of France to the country of his parents, Algeria. In an interview with the Algerian Football Federation, he said, "the president held out his hand to me and it seemed like it was just meant to be. I had a second chance and I jumped on it." He also added that he "regretted" having played for France, saying that he felt he "hadn't made the best choice".

Correct as of 12 June 2023 (UTC)

As of 12 June 2023

Bold Still playing competitive football in Europe

^{1 Includes the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Europa Conference League.}

Correct as of 12 June 2023 (UTC)

Bold Still playing competitive football in Europe

^{1 Includes the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Europa Conference League.}

Correct as of 12 June 2023 (UTC)

Position key: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward; ⁴ – Player scored four goals; ⁶ – Player scored six goals; * – The home team

 

 

 

 

List of Algerian players hat-tricks in UEFA competitions

As of 12 June 2023

This statistics of Algerian players who won titles in Europe where the player must be Algerian whether he played for the Algeria national football team or from an Algerian father and mother. He has never been represent another country, but if he plays for another national team and then plays for the Algeria team he is considered an Algerian player, and the same thing if he played with teams Under-23, Under-20 and Under-17.

Bold Still playing competitive football in Europe

#	Name	League	Cup	Others	Europe	TOTAL
1	Riyad Mahrez	2016, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023	2019, 2023	2018, 2019, 2020, 2021	2023	12
2	Hillel Soudani	2014, 2015, 2016, 2018   2020	2013   2015, 2016, 2018   2020	2013		11
3	Rafik Djebbour	2011, 2012, 2013   2015	2012, 2013, 2016   2015			8
=	Rachid Mekloufi	1957, 1964, 1967, 1968   1962	1968	1957, 1967		8
5	Billel Omrani	2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022		2012   2018, 2020		8
=	Rabah Madjer	1986, 1990	1991	1986, 1990	1987, 1987	7
6	Madjid Bougherra	2009, 2010, 2011	2009	2010, 2011		6
=	Moussa Saïb	1996	1994, 1996, 2002	1999		5
8	Samir Louadj	2008, 2009, 2014	2009			4
=	Djamel Abdoun	2012, 2013	2012, 2013			4
=	Sofiane Feghouli	2018, 2019	2019	2019		4
=	Brahim Hemdani	2009	2008, 2009	2008		4
=	Faouzi Ghoulam		2014, 2020	2013   2014		4
17	Abdelaziz Ben Tifour	1951, 1952	1952			3
=	Mohamed Firoud	1951, 1952	1952			3
=	Yassine Benzia	2023, 2024		2012		3
=	Ali Benarbia	1997, 1999		1997		3
=	Abdallah Liegeon	1982	1985	1985		3
23	Abdelhafid Tasfaout	1996	1996			2
=	Karim Groune	2003	2003			2
=	Rachid Ghezzal	2021	2021			2
=	Mohamed Maouche	1958	1958			2
=	Sadek Boukhalfa	1965		1965		2
#	Name	League	Cup	Others	Europe	TOTAL
=	Yacine Brahimi	2018		2018		2
=	Sofiane Hanni	2017		2017		2
=	Mustapha Dahleb		1982, 1983			2
=	Naçer Bouiche		1991, 1994			2
=	Islam Slimani		2015	2015		2
=	Jugurtha Hamroun		2009	2016		2
=	Hocine Bouchache		1959	1959		2
=	Mourad Meghni		2009	2009		2
=	Amir Sayoud		2013	2013		2
=	Kader Ferhaoui		1990	1992		2
38	Yacine Hima	2011				1
=	Ismaël Bennacer	2022				1
=	Walid Hamidi	2022				1
=	Abdeljalil Medioub	2023				1
=	Kevin Van Den Kerkhof	2022				1
=	Toufik Zeghdane	2023				1
=	Mehdi Terki	2023				1
=	El Hedi Belameiri	2023				1
=	Rachid Bouhenna	2022				1
=	Djamel Mesbah	2005				1
=	Ismaël Bouzid	2008				1
=	Ahmed Reda Madouni	2002				1
=	Ahmed Touba	2018				1
=	Youssef Haraoui	1992				1
=	Ahmed Rani	2013				1
=	Idir Boutrif	2021				1
=	Sofyane Cherfa		2012			1
#	Name	League	Cup	Others	Europe	TOTAL
=	Mehdi Abeid		2014			1
=	Mohamed Amoura		2022			1
=	Mehdi Zeffane		2019			1
=	Ramiz Zerrouki		2024			1
=	Ramy Bensebaini		2019			1
=	Farès Chaïbi		2023			1
=	Rafik Mezriche		2001			1
=	Youssef Salimi		1997			1
=	Farid Ghazi		2006			1
=	Mohamed Medjoudj		2006			1
=	Billal Zouani		2001			1
=	Saïd Brahimi		1957			1
=	Mohamed Boumezrag		1941			1
=	Abdelhamid Bouchouk		1957			1
=	Mohamed Salem		1961			1
=	Fathi Chebel		1978			1
=	Radhouane Abbes		1990			1
=	Rachid Belaid		1954			1
=	Karim Ziani		2007			1
=	Mohamed Mezghrani		2020			1
=	Hassan Yebda			2009		1
=	Nabil Ghilas			2013		1
=	Salim Arrache			2005		1
=	Habib Bellaïd			2005		1
=	Nadir Belhadj			2007		1
=	Abdelmajid Bourebbou			1982		1
=	Djamel Belmadi			1995		1
=	Rachid Benayen			2000		1
=	Saïd Benrahma				2023	1