Azzedine Ounahi - A Moroccan fairytale story.

Looking at the journey that one of Morocco's star men during the World Cup has taken to reach this stage.

Morocco have had an incredible World Cup, reaching the semi-finals for the first time in their history, and becoming the first African team to do so. Many players for Morocco have played incredible during this tournament, including Sofyan Amrabat, Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss and Yassine Bounou, but Azzedine Ounahi has arguably been the best.

Ounahi’s journey to the World Cup semi-final is nothing short of spectacular, and that’s what I will be covering today.

Azzedine Ounahi began his career in 2017, at the age of 17, for Académie Mohammed VI in Morocco, and is 1 of 3 players in this Morocco team to come from this academy. The other players being Youssef En-Neysri and Nayef Aguerd. The name “Académie Mohammed VI” comes from king Mohammed VI in 2009, in order to reshape football in Morocco - as we can see, it’s paying off very nicely.

Ounahi was snapped up by RC Strasbourg of France in 2018. Ounahi would initially play for Strasbourg’s reserve team, making 35 appearances and scoring 1, as Strasbourg II won 16 games from 35. Ounahi’s time at Strasbourg was short-lived however, as he was sold to Championnat National club Avranches in the third division of French football.

Ounahi would play for Avranches B team, like he did at Strasbourg, but for just 2 games. During these 2 games, he scored 1 goal, and was involved in 1 win before being promoted to the first team. Despite losing his first Avranches game 2-0 to Bastia-Borgo, he would play 30 league games and would score 1 goal against Saint-Brieuc. His stellar performances in the Championnat National caught the eye of Ligue 1 club Angers in 2021.

Ounahi made his Angers debut on the 15th of August 2021, in a 3-0 dismantaling of Olympique Lyon, where he would score a composed right footed finish in the 77th minute into the bottom right corner. Ounahi plays primarily as a defensive midfielder, playing there 56% of the time he plays, but plays in the central midfield role alongside Sofyan Amrabat with Morocco, which allows him to move further up the pitch and make more of an impact on the game. This season, Ounahi has played 23 games with Angers, winning 7, losing 11 and drawing 5, playing 1770 minutes for the French outfit.

His Morocco debut came earlier this year against Ghana on the 10th of January in the CAF Nations Cup Group Stage, where Morocco won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Sofian Boufal. His first international goal came against the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 29th of March 2022; a game where he scored a brace. His first goal came in the 21st minute as he opened the scoring with a fantastic, first-time shot from distance into the bottom right corner, following a failed clearance. His second goal came in the 55th minute of the game, placing the ball nicely into the bottom right corner with his left foot from close range.

Azzedine Ounahi really made his name during this World Cup, being part of a fantastic Morocco team that topped their group, consisting of Croatia, Belgium and Canada. Ounahi wasn’t known for his goalscoring or his ability to create goals during this World Cup, but more for his composed dribbling, and being press-resistant in his games, keeping the ball close to his feet at all times with quick movements to beat his man. Morocco would reach the semi-finals, and Ounahi would form a partnership with one of the best midfielders of the tournament in Sofyan Amrabat. Amrabat and Ounahi in the midfield proved to be a great partnership for the African side, outplaying midfield 3s like Busquets, Gavi and Pedri for Spain.

Playing a big part in Morocco reaching the semi-finals of a World Cup, despite scoring 0 goals and getting 0 assists, was bound to attract some suitors for the Moroccan international. Angers chairman Said Chabane has said that the phone is ringing “quite a lot”, with clubs like Barcelona, Arsenal, Leicester, Wolves and more rumoured to be interested in his signature. Clubs are offering roughly £40 million for the 22 year-old, and after a stupendous World Cup, it seems about right!

Ounahi’s rise over the years has been mind-blowing, as just 1 year ago, he was playing football in France’s third division, and now he’s in a World Cup Third Place Playoff against Croatia.

What are your thoughts on Ouanhi’s rise? Let me know in the comments.