Soufiane Rahimi
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Soufiane Rahimi[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | [1] | 2 June 1996||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Casablanca, Morocco | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Forward, winger | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Al Ain | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2006–2017 | Raja CA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2017–2021 | Raja CA | 83 | (30) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2017–2018 | → EJS Casablanca (loan) | 28 | (17) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2021– | Al Ain | 71 | (30) | ||||||||||||||||||||
International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2021– | Morocco A' | 10 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2024 | Morocco Olympic (O.P.) | 6 | (8) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2021– | Morocco | 15 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 October 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 October 2024 |
Soufiane Rahimi (Arabic: سفيان رحيمي; born 2 June 1996) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a forward for UAE Pro League club Al Ain and the Morocco national team.
Rahimi started his professional career playing for Raja CA, before being sent on a loan to Étoile de Casablanca. Rahimi then returned back to his former club after the end of his loan, helping the club win the 2019–20 Botola, the 2018 and 2021 CAF Confederation Cup and the 2019–20 Arab Club Champions Cup. He then signed with UAE Pro League side Al-Ain, where he led the club to win the 2023–24 AFC Champions League, finishing as the tournament's top scorer with 13 goals.
A full international for Morocco since 2021, Soufiane represented the nation at the 2020 African Nations Championship, 2021 FIFA Arab Cup and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. Rahimi was the top goalscorer of the 2020 African Nations Championship, with five goals. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, he was selected as one of the three overage players of Morocco Olympic and won a bronze medal, as well as the top scorer award.
Club career
[edit]Raja Club Athletic
[edit]Rahimi scored a total of four goals for Raja CA in 2018 CAF Confederation Cup campaign,[2] including two goals[3] in the final against AS Vita Club in Casablanca. This allowed them to qualify and play the 2019 CAF Super Cup against Espérance Sportive de Tunis; which then ended up winning after a 2–1 victory.[4]
He has been one of the highest performing players in his last two seasons in Botola, becoming a top pick for the Moroccan national team coach to join the local squad. He has been closely linked with a move to Europe, and has stated his ambition of joining the Serie A in press conferences.[5]
Al Ain
[edit]On 21 August 2021, he had played his last match with Raja CA in the 2020 Arab Club Champions Cup Final, therefore defeating Al-Ittihad in penalties; before transferring to Emirati club Al Ain.[6] On September 17, Rahimi scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 victory against Al-Ittihad Kalba.[7][8] On 12 November 2022, Rahimi scored a double against Sharjah.[9] On 7 November 2023, Rahmi scored in a 3–2 victory against Al Fayha in the 2023–24 AFC Champions League to qualify his team into the Knock-out stages.[10] In the Round of 16, Rahimi scored the winning goal against Nasaf to qualify the team to the Quarter-finals.[11] Rahimi went on to score the winning goal in a 1–0 victory against Al Nassr in the first leg of the quarter-finals and two goals in the second leg.[12][13] On 15 March 2023, Rahimi scored his first ever hat-trick for the club in a 4–0 win against Ajman.[14] In the first leg of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League Semi-final, Rahimi scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 victory against Al Hilal SFC, putting an end to Al Hilal 34 game winning streak.[15][16][17] In the 2024 AFC Champions League final, Al Ain won 6–3 in aggregate against Yokohama F. Marinos, with Rahimi scoring a brace in the second leg, and winning the Most Valuable Player and Top scorer awards.[18]
On 24 October 2024, Rahimi along with his international teammate Achraf Hakimi, were nominated for the 2024 African Footballer of the Year award.[19][20]
International career
[edit]In 2018, Rahimi was called up to the Moroccan national A' team by Jamal Sellami.[21] Rahimi represented Morocco in the 2020 African Nations Championship, He scored a double in his third game of the group stages against Uganda.[22] He scored in the quarter-finals in a 3–1 victory against Zambia.[23] Morocco won an astonishing 4–0 in the semi-finals against Cameroon.[24] With this performance, Rahimi managed of scoring a total of five goals thus helping his country to achieve the title and becoming the first and only country to win the Championship back to back. He was awarded top scorer and best player of the tournament.[25]
Over two years after his last appearances with the national team, Rahimi was included in Morocco's squad for the friendlies against Angola and Mauritania in March 2024.[26][27] He came off the bench against Angola and helped create the own-goal by David Carmo. Morocco won 1–0.[28][29]
Rahimi was selected for Morocco's squad to compete in the men's football at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[30] In the opening match of the group stage, Rahimi scored a brace in a 2–1 victory against Argentina.[31][32] He then scored a goal in a 2–1 defeat against Ukraine and a goal in a 3–0 victory against Iraq,[33][34] thus surpassing Ahmed Faras and becoming the top Moroccan goalscorer for the Summer Olympics with four goals.[35] Rahimi ended the Olympics scoring a total of 8 goals in 6 appearances, becoming the first player to score in all 6 games of a single Olympic edition.[36][37]
Personal life
[edit]Born in Casablanca, Soufiane Rahimi is the older brother of Houssine Rahimi, who is also a footballer.
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 21 October 2024[38]
Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
EJS Casablanca | 2017–18 | Botola 3 | 28 | 17 | — | — | — | — | 28 | 17 | ||||
Raja CA | 2018–19 | Botola | 26 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | 16[c] | 4 | 3[d] | 0 | 49 | 10 | |
2019–20 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 0 | — | 9[e] | 3 | 5[f] | 1 | 43 | 14 | |||
2020–21 | 29 | 14 | 2 | 0 | — | 12[g] | 5 | 7 | 1 | 50 | 20 | |||
Total | 83 | 30 | 7 | 0 | — | 37 | 12 | 15 | 2 | 142 | 44 | |||
Al Ain | 2021–22 | UAE Pro League | 23 | 8 | — | 6 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 9 | |||
2022–23 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 3 | — | 1[h] | 0 | 38 | 14 | |||
2023–24 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 13[i] | 13 | — | 40 | 23 | |||
2024–25 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[i] | 4 | 1[j] | 2 | 8 | 9 | ||
Total | 71 | 30 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 115 | 55 | ||
Career total | 182 | 77 | 15 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 53 | 29 | 17 | 4 | 285 | 116 |
- ^ Includes Moroccan Throne Cup, UAE President's Cup
- ^ Includes UAE League Cup
- ^ Appearances in CAF Confederation Cup
- ^ One appearance in CAF Super Cup, two appearances in Arab Club Champions Cup
- ^ Appearances in CAF Champions League
- ^ Appearances in Arab Club Champions Cup
- ^ One appearance in CAF Champions League, eleven appearances and five goals in CAF Confederation Cup
- ^ Appearance in UAE Super Cup
- ^ a b Appearances in AFC Champions League
- ^ Appearance in FIFA Intercontinental Cup
International
[edit]- As of match played 21 October 2024[39]
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Morocco | 2021 | 2 | 0 |
2022 | 4 | 0 | |
2024 | 8 | 2 | |
Total | 14 | 2 |
- Scores and results list Morocco A's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rahimi goal.[39]
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 June 2024 | Adrar Stadium, Agadir, Morocco | Congo | 6–0 | 6–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
2 | 12 October 2024 | Honor Stadium, Oujda, Morocco | Central African Republic | 5–0 | 5–0 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
3 | 18 November 2024 | Honor Stadium, Oujda, Morocco | Lesotho | 3–0 | 7–0 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
4 | 5–0 |
- Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rahimi goal.[39]
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 26 January 2021 | Stade de la Réunification, Douala, Cameroon | Uganda | 2–1 | 5–2 | 2020 African Nations Championship |
2 | 4–1 | |||||
3 | 31 January 2021 | Stade de la Réunification, Douala, Cameroon | Zambia | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2020 African Nations Championship |
4 | 3 February 2021 | Limbe Stadium, Limbe, Cameroon | Cameroon | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2020 African Nations Championship |
5 | 3–0 | |||||
6 | 4 December 2021 | Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar | Jordan | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2021 FIFA Arab Cup |
Honours
[edit]Raja CA
- Botola Pro: 2019–20
- CAF Confederation Cup: 2018, 2020–21
- CAF Super Cup: 2019
- Arab Club Champions Cup: 2019–20
Al Ain
Morocco
Morocco Olympic
- Summer Olympics Bronze Medal: 2024[41]
Individual
- Botola Pro Best Player: 2019–20, 2020–21[42]
- Botola Pro Best Young player: 2018–19
- Botola Pro Top assist provider: 2020–21
- Best Player in African Nations Championship: 2020[43]
- Top Scorer in African Nations Championship: 2020[44]
- African Nations Championship Team of the Tournament: 2020[45]
- Raja CA Player of the season: 2020
- Raja CA Goal of the Season: 2021
- Pro League player of the month: September 2021,[46] November 2021,[47] February 2022,[48] October 2022,[49] February 2023,[50] September 2023
- Pro League Best Fans player of the year: 2022,[51] 2023,[52] 2024[53]
- Pro League Team of the year: 2022, 2023
- AFC Champions League MVP: 2023–24[18]
- AFC Champions League top scorer: 2023–24[18]
- Olympics Games top scorer: 2024[54]
Record
- Fastest goal in history of CHAN[55]
- Top scorer in the history of Morocco in the Olympics Games.[56]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021: List of players: Morocco" (PDF). FIFA. 4 December 2021. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ Confederation Cup: Soufiane Rahimi scores twice as Morocco's Raja crush Vita Club 3–0 in final first-leg Archived 3 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine. GhanaSoccernet.com.
- ^ Raja Casablanca win African Confederation Cup. Reuters.
- ^ "Raja beat Esperance to win Super Cup". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Soufiane Rahimi is interested in a Serie A club". Morocco Latest News. 3 June 2021. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Al Ahly target Soufiane Rahimi joins Emirati side Al Ain". kingfut.com. 8 August 2021. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "بالفيديو: رحيمي يسجل أول أهدافه بقميص العين الإماراتي". ar.le360.ma (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "رحيمي يسجل أول أهدافه مع العين ويقوده للفوز على اتحاد كلباء برباعية -فيديو". Le Site Info Arabe (in Arabic). 17 September 2021. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "رحيمي يواصل التألق في الدوري الإماراتي". Hespress - هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). 12 November 2022. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ "Group A: Al Fayha (KSA) 2-3 Al Ain FC (UAE)". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ "AFC Champions League: Soufiane Rahimi nets late winner as Al Ain edge Nasaf". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ "AFC Champions League: Rahimi strike gives Al Ain advantage over Al Nassr". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ^ "MSN". www.msn.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
- ^ "Al Ain Thrash Ajman 4-0 in ADNOC Pro League". www.uaeproleague.ae. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Al Ain ends Al Hilal's 34 game winning streak". ESPN.com. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Al Hilal's record 34-match winning run ends at Al Ain". France 24. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "AFC Champions League Semi-final: Al Ain stun Al Hilal in classic". the-AFC. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ a b c "AFC Champions League - Al Ain's Rahimi wins MVP, Top Scorer awards". the-AFC. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ MASAITI, Amira EL (24 October 2024). "Moroccans Hakimi and Rahimi Nominated for CAF Player of the Year Award". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ "CAF announces #CAFAwards24 Nominees for Men's Categories". CAF announces #CAFAwards24 Nominees for Men’s Categories. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Soufiane Rahimi, au nom du père Archived 4 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Le360.ma.
- ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Holders Morocco reach CHAN quarters, Uganda out". CAFOnline.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Defending champions Morocco see off Zambia to reach CHAN semis". CAFOnline.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Two-goal hero Rahimi sends Morocco to CHAN final, Cameroon crash out". CAFOnline.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Morocco star Rahimi wins CHAN best player, top-scorer awards". CAFOnline.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ Yabiladi.com. "Morocco squad announcement : Brahim Diaz, Soufiane Rahimi to play against Angola, Mauritania". en.yabiladi.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ Simpara, Mahamadou. "Regragui Calls Up All Star Lineup for Upcoming Friendlies". Morocco World News. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ d'Agadir-Friendlies 1, Stade. "Morocco vs Angola". beIN SPORTS. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Rahhou, Jihane. "Morocco Claims 1-0 Victory over Angola in Friendly Match". Morocco World News. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ MASAITI, Amira EL (4 July 2024). "Morocco's Head Coach unveils squad list for 2024 Olympic Games". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ "Fan invasion chaos mars Morocco win vs Argentina". ESPN.com. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Olympics football: Crowd trouble sees Morocco's win over Argentina delayed before play resumes". BBC Sport. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ MASAITI, Amira EL (27 July 2024). "Morocco loses to Ukraine 2-1 in second Olympics football match". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ MASAITI, Amira EL (30 July 2024). "Morocco beats Iraq 3-0 in last Olympics group stage game, qualifying for quarterfinals". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ MASAITI, Amira EL (30 July 2024). "Rahimi breaks Moroccan football Olympic record". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Morocco forward Soufiane Rahimi sets Olympic scoring record 🇲🇦". OneFootball. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ Daoudi, Asmae. "Sofiane Rahimi Joins Morocco's Olympic Legends with Record-Breaking Performance". Morocco World News. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "Morocco – Soufiane Rahimi". Soccerway. 2019. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "Soufiane Rahimi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Al Ain claim historic second title". The AFC. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Egypt U23 vs Morocco U23: Olympics". BBC Sport. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "يتوج سفيان رحيمي بجائزة أفضل لاعب في بطولة البطولة الاحترافية 2019/2020" (in Arabic). 27 November 2020. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "سفيان رحيمي أفضل لاعب في الشان بالكاميرون". Sport7 (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ "المغربي رحيمي ينفرد بصدارة هدافي الشان". كووورة. 3 February 2021. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ "تشكيلة "الشان" المثالية تضم 5 لاعبين مغاربة". Hespress - هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). 8 February 2021. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ "رحيمي أفضل لاعب في الإمارات خلال شهر شتنبر". Hespress - هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). 11 October 2021. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "Soufiane Rahimi voted best player for the month of November". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. 24 December 2021. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ HAITAMI, PDG : Mohammed. "رحيمي أفضل لاعب في الدوري الإماراتي". Le Matin Sports. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ "Al-Ain's Soufiane Rahimi named UAE Pro League's best player for October". Arab News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ "رابطة المحترفين الإماراتية تتوج سفيان رحيمي". Hespress - هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). 1 March 2023. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ^ "العين يسيطر على جوائز رابطة المحترفين الإماراتية لموسم 2021 - 2022 | مجلة سيدتي". www.sayidaty.net (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "العين يسيطر على جوائز رابطة المحترفين الإماراتية". إرم نيوز (in Arabic). 27 August 2022. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "بعد هداف الأولمبياد.. سفيان رحيمي يحصد جائزة جديد - هبة بريس". 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Morocco's Rahimi crowned top scorer in Paris 2024 Olympics". Morocco's Rahimi crowned top scorer in Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
- ^ HAITAMI, PDG : Mohammed. "رحيمي يدخل تاريخ الشان". Le Matin Sports. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ Rahhou, Jihane. "Soufiane Rahimi Becomes All-Time Top Scorer for Morocco in Olympic Soccer". Morocco World News. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
External links
[edit]- Soufiane Rahimi at National-Football-Teams.com
- Soufiane Rahimi at Soccerway
- 1996 births
- Living people
- Moroccan men's footballers
- 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen
- Footballers from Casablanca
- Men's association football wingers
- Morocco men's international footballers
- 2020 African Nations Championship players
- 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players
- People from Casablanca
- Raja CA players
- Al Ain FC players
- Botola players
- UAE Pro League players
- Moroccan expatriate men's footballers
- Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates
- Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates
- Morocco men's A' international footballers
- AFC Champions League Elite–winning players
- Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers for Morocco
- Olympic medalists in football
- Olympic bronze medalists for Morocco
- Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics