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Boualem Khoukhi

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Boualem Khoukhi
Khoukhi with Al Arabi in 2012
Personal information
Full name Boualem Khoukhi[1]
Date of birth (1990-07-09) 9 July 1990 (age 34)[2]
Place of birth Bou Ismail, Algeria
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Al Sadd
Number 16
Youth career
2007–2009 JSM Chéraga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2017 Al Arabi 147 (36)
2017– Al Sadd 121 (14)
International career‡
2013 Qatar B 3 (2)
2013– Qatar 113 (21)
Medal record
Representing  Qatar
Men's Football
AFC Asian Cup
Winner 2019 UAE Team
Winner 2023 Qatar Team
FIFA Arab Cup
Third place 2021
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 September 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 January 2024 (UTC)

Boualem Khoukhi (Arabic: بوعلام خوخي; born 9 July 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Al Sadd in the Qatar Stars League. Born in Algeria, he represented the Qatar national team.

Club career

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Youth career

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A pure product of the junior ranks of Algeria's JSM Chéraga, Khoukhi made his debut for the senior team in the 2009–10 season.[3] He struggled in his first season, but his career was soon revived when Farid Zemiti was hired as the head coach of the club. He became integrated into the first team, playing alongside future Algeria international Islam Slimani, and many Algerian clubs were alleged to be interested in the services of Khoukhi, including USM El Harrach.

He soon received an offer from Al Shamal in Qatar, which he accepted. However, after landing in Qatar, Al Arabi head coach Uli Stielike believed Khoukhi had exceptional potential and offered him a trial at the club. He accepted the trial and was offered a contract deal shortly after.[3]

Al Arabi (2009–2017)

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Khoukhi soon earned a starting spot in Al Arabi's first team after his initial arrival in November 2009.

On 5 September 2010, he started for Al Arabi in the final of the 2010 Sheikh Jassem Cup against Lekhwiya, with Al Arabi winning 1–0.[4]

He received a loan offer from Saudi club Al Ittihad on 10 January 2014 after his performances in the WAFF Championship. He also received a transfer offer from Japanese side Júbilo Iwata, a club coached by former Al Arabi coach Péricles Chamusca.[5] These offers came after reports that Khoukhi was planning to leave Al Arabi.[6] Shortly after allegations of planning to move to another club, he silenced the rumors by signing a contract renewal with Al Arabi.

Al Sadd (2017–present)

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In July 2017, Khoukhi joined Al Sadd. In July 2019, Al-Gharafa announced signing him on a four-year deal but Al Sadd denied the transfer.[7]

International career

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Algeria

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Khoukhi was born and raised in Algeria. On 9 November 2010, Khoukhi was called up for the first time to the Algeria under–23 national team for a pair of friendlies against Tunisia.[8] The Qatar Football Association attempted to naturalize Khoukhi shortly after he arrived in Qatar, however, he refused and said that he would not be naturalized for any amount of money. He stated his desire was to play with the Algeria senior national team.[3] Subsequently, he received Qatari citizenship in order to assist in his club's foreign player quota.

Qatar

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Despite his call up to Algeria's Olympic team, he was called up to the Qatar B team on 13 November 2013 by compatriot Djamel Belmadi.[9] When questioned about Khoukhi's call-up to the squad, Belmadi said that Khoukhi was naturalized prior to his call-up in order for his team, Al Arabi, to overcome the foreign player quota.[10] 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 25 December in the 2014 WAFF Championship in a 1–0 win against Palestine.[11]

In the next match on 31 December 2013 against Saudi Arabia, who were fielding their Olympic squad, Khoukhi scored a brace and attained an assist to give his team a 4–1 win.[12] On 4 January 2014, Khoukhi helped Qatar, once again, netting a brace against Kuwait to send Qatar to the finals.

In the final of the 2014 WAFF Championship, Khoukhi scored another brace defeating Jordan 2–0. This would bring his final goal tally to six thus becoming the tournament's top goalscorer and being lauded by the Qatar Football Association as one of the key-men to Qatar's 2015 AFC Asian Cup campaign in the future.[13]

In their opening match of 2019 Copa America Khouki scored in Qatar's 2–2 draw with Paraguay.[14]

International goals

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Scores and results list Qatar's goal tally first.[15]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 31 December 2013 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Saudi Arabia 1–0 4–1 2014 WAFF Championship
2. 3–1
3. 4 January 2014 Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Kuwait 1–0 3–0
4. 2–0
5. 7 January 2014 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Jordan 1–0 2–0
6. 2–0
7. 6 November 2014 Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar  North Korea 1–0 3–1 Friendly
8. 27 November 2014 King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Saudi Arabia 2–1 2–1 22nd Arabian Gulf Cup
9. 3 September 2015 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Bhutan 11–0 15–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
10. 13–0
11. 13 October 2015 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Maldives 1–0 4–0
12. 3–0
13. 10 November 2016 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Russia 1–1 2–1 Friendly
14. 19 November 2018 Kehrwegstadion, Eupen, Belgium  Iceland 2–2 2–2
15. 13 January 2019 Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates  North Korea 3–0 6–0 2019 AFC Asian Cup
16. 29 January 2019 Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates 1–0 4–0 2019 AFC Asian Cup
17. 5 September 2019 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Afghanistan 6–0 6–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
18. 2 December 2019 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar  United Arab Emirates 4–2 4–2 24th Arabian Gulf Cup
19. 10 December 2021 Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar  United Arab Emirates 3–0 5–0 2021 FIFA Arab Cup
20. 26 March 2022 Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar  Bulgaria 2–1 2–1 Friendly

Honours

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Club

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Al-Arabi
Al-Sadd

International

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Qatar B
Qatar

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019: List of Players: Al-Sadd SC" (PDF). FIFA. 5 December 2019. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Qatar" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Khoukhi : courtisé par la sélection nationale du Qatar". lebuteur.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  4. ^ رأس «كابوري» تمنح العربي كأس الشيخ جاسم Archived 3 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "اتحاد جدة يطلب ضم بوعلام من العربي". alkass.net. 10 January 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  6. ^ "بوعلام: العربي بيتي وهناك "أشخاص" يشوّهون صورتي". alkass.net. 10 January 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Khoukhi joins Al Sadd camp in Spain amid transfer scuffle". Qatar Tribune. 29 July 2019.
  8. ^ "La liste pour le stage en Tunisie". Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  9. ^ "Qatar calls up Algerian duo of Boualem Khoukhi and Karim Boudiaf". dzfoot.com. 13 November 2013. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  10. ^ "Belmadi : "Boudiaf et Khoukhi étaient naturalisés et..."" (in French). lebuteur. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  11. ^ "Match report" (PDF). the-waff.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Adel, Khoukhi help Qatar progress". dohastadiumplusqatar.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  13. ^ https://www.facebook.com/theafcasiancup/posts/624246230956452:0?stream_ref=1 [user-generated source]
  14. ^ "Qatar shake up Copa with thrilling comeback against Paraguay". Euronews. 16 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  15. ^ "Boualem Khoukhi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  16. ^ "AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Technical Report and Statistics". AFC. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
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