Abdelkabir "Abdel" Abqar (born 10 March 1999) is a Moroccan

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for Spanish club

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Born in

Settat Settat ( ar, سطات, siṭṭāt, ber, ⵥⴻⵟⵟⴰⵜ, ẓeṭṭat) is a city in Morocco between the national capital Rabat and Marrakesh. Settat is located by road south of the centre of Casablanca, roughly an hour's drive. It is the cap ...

, Abqar joined

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

's youth setup in 2017 from

Mohammed VI Football Academy The Mohammed VI Football Academy ( ar, أكاديمية محمد السادس لكرة القدم, ʽakādīmiyya Muḥammad as-sādis l-kurat al-qadam, french: Académie Mohammed VI de football) is a football academy located in Salé, Morocco. It ...

. He made his senior debut with the former's reserves on 12 November 2017, starting in a 0–1

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

away loss against

CD Huétor Tájar Club Deportivo Agroisa Huétor Tájar is a Spanish football team based in Huétor-Tájar, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1940, it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 9, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Migu ...

. Abqar made his first-team debut on 11 September 2018, starting in a 1–2 home loss against

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

for the season's

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

. It was his maiden appearance for the main squad, as he continued to feature regularly with the B's and suffering relegation at the end of the campaign. On 22 July 2020, Abqar signed for another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

Deportivo Alavés B Deportivo Alavés B, S.A.D., usually known as Alavés B, is a Spanish football team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1959 it is the reserve team of Deportivo Alavés, and currently plays in Seg ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. He first appeared with the main squad on 30 November 2021, playing the entire second half in a 3–0 away win over

Unami CP Unami Club Polideportivo is a Spanish football club based in Segovia in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1983, it plays in Tercera Federación, Tercera Federación – Group 8, holding home games at ', with a capacity of 6 ...

, also for the national cup.

International career

On 13 March 2023, Abqar was called up to the full squad by manager

Walid Regragui Hoalid Regragui (born 23 September 1975), known as Walid Regragui ( ar, وليد الركراكي, Walīd ar-Ragrāgī), is a Moroccan professional Association football, football manager and former Football player, player who played as a right- ...

, for friendlies against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

References

External links

* * * 1999 births Living people People from Settat Moroccan footballers Association football defenders Segunda División B players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Deportivo Alavés B players Deportivo Alavés players Moroccan expatriate footballers Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain {{Morocco-footy-defender-stub