Bassem Srarfi ( ar, بسام الصرارفي; born 25 June 1997) is a Tunisian professional

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 as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Zulte Waregem and the

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

national team.

Club career

Early career

Srarfi started in the youth ranks of Tunisian clubs

Stade Tunisien Stade Tunisien (; ar, الملعب التونسي) or ST is a football club from Bardo, Tunis, Tunisia. Alongside Espérance de Tunis and Club Africain it forms the group of three best teams in the capital city region. Founded in 1948, it is th ...

and

Club Africain Club Africain ( ar, النادي الإفريقي) is a Tunisian football club based in Tunis that competes in the Tunisian Championship. It fields several sports teams, including football, handball, basketball, swimming and volleyball. The foot ...

respectively, he subsequently made his first-team debut for the latter on 20 November 2015 in a

Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (; ar, الرابطة المحترفة الأولى لكرة القدم) was previously called the Tunisian National Championship between 1956 and 1994. is the top division football tournament in Tunisia und ...

draw against

EGS Gafsa El Gawafel Sportives de Gafsa ( ar, القوافل الرياضية بقفصة) or EGSG is a football club from Gafsa in Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location ...

. Three games later, Srarfi scored his first professional goal in a 2–2 draw away to

Hammam-Lif Hammam-Lif ( ar, حمام الأنف, pronounced hammam linf) is a coastal town about 20 km south-east of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been known since antiquity for its thermal springs originating in Mount Bou Kornine. History ...

Nice

On 1 February 2017, Srarfi joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. The transfer was subject to international clearance, but it was successfully approved hours later by the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

and

Tunisian Football Federation The Tunisian Football Federation ( ar, الجامعة التونسية لكرة القدم, french: Fédération Tunisienne de Football, FTF) is the governing body of football in Tunisia. It was established in 1957. It became a member in the FIFA ...

. He made his Nice debut on 24 February in Ligue 1 against

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. He has also featured for Nice II in the

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

. His first goal in French football came for Nice II, in a loss to

Stade Montois Stade Montois is a French rugby union team that currently is playing in Pro D2, the second level of the country's professional league system. They were founded in 1908 and play in yellow and black. They are based in Mont-de-Marsan, the capita ...

on 28 October. On 29 November 2017, he scored his first goal for Nice's first team in

, helping his team to a 2–1 win against

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

in stoppage time.

Zulte Waregem

In January 2020, Srarfi completed a transfer to

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

outfit Zulte Waregem.

International career

Srarfi received his first call-up for the Tunisia national team in August 2017, with

Nabil Maâloul Nabil Maâloul ( ar, نَبِيْل مَعْلُول; born 25 December 1962) is a Tunisian professional football manager and former player who is currently managing Espérance de Tunis. Maâloul was capped 74 times for his country, and partici ...

selecting him in the squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers versus

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. He was an unused substitute in both fixtures. Srarfi made his senior debut for Tunisia in a 1–0 friendly win over

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

on 23 March 2018. In the following May, he was named in Tunisia's preliminary squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. He was selected in the final 23. He made his World Cup debut on 28 June, as Tunisia exited the tournament with victory versus

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Srarfi made

Alain Giresse Alain Jean Giresse (; born 2 August 1952) is a French football coach and former player who is the current manager of the Kosovo national team. He was French Player of the Year in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Nominally an attacking midfielder or centra ...

's squad for the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of 7 June 2019. Tunisia score listed first.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Srarfi, Bassem 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Tunis Tunisian footballers Tunisia international footballers Tunisian expatriate footballers Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in France Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Belgium Association football midfielders Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Ligue 1 players Belgian Pro League players Stade Tunisien players Club Africain players OGC Nice players S.V. Zulte Waregem players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players