Adi Raïs Cobos Adrien Ouahab M'Bolhi ( ar, عدي رايس كوبوس أدريان وهاب مبولحي; born 25 April 1986), known as Raïs M'Bolhi, is a professional footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi First Division League club Al-Qadsiah. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team.

Club career

Early career

M'Bolhi, who has a Congolese father and an Algerian mother from Tlemcen, started playing football for RCF Paris. Then, he joined

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

, though he never made a league appearance before his release in January 2006. After his release from Marseille, M'Bolhi was promptly recruited by Heart of Midlothian, one of 11 signings in the January transfer window. However, along with fellow new buys with

Luděk Stracený Luděk Stracený (born 19 April 1977, in Prague) is a Czech former professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally ...

and Martin Petras, he was not retained for the 2006–07 season and left the club without having made a first-team appearance. Prior to the 2006–07 season M'Bolhi signed with Greek club Ethnikos Piraeus, then competing in

Beta Ethniki The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

. M'Bolhi made 5 appearances for Ethnikos before leaving in the winter transfer period for Greek club Panetolikos, then competing in Gamma Ethniki. In 2008 M'Bolhi played 22 matches for

F.C. Ryūkyū are an Association football club from the Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. In 2022, after spending four years in the J2 League, the club was relegated. They will play on J3 League from the 2023 season. The team derive their name from Ryukyu, the hi ...

in Japan Football League.

Slavia Sofia

In May 2009, Bulgarian Slavia Sofia signed M'Bolhi to a two-year deal. He made his competitive debut for Slavia on 14 June 2009 against Lokomotiv Sofia. In January 2010, M'Bohli was named the 2009 Best Goalkeeper of A PFG. The fans organization of Slavia named him the best player of the 2009–2010 season. On 6 May 2010, M'Bohli joined on a two-day trial with English champions

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, but was ultimately not selected to play on the squad. On 23 June 2010, English club

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

reportedly put in a bid for him for £1million. On 22 July he was training with West Ham in their summer training camp in Germany.

CSKA Sofia loan

He was loaned out to CSKA Sofia on 30 August 2010, until the end of the year. After some unstable performance from

Ivan Karadzhov Ivan Karadzhov ( bg, Иван Караджов; born 12 July 1989) is a Bulgarian footballer, who plays as a goalkeeper for Bulgarian First League club Beroe. Career He made his official debut for CSKA in the last match of 2008-09 season in th ...

and

Zdravko Chavdarov Zdravko Chavdarov (Bulgarian: Здравко Чавдаров; born 24 January 1981) is a Bulgarian footballer, currently playing as a goalkeeper for Rakovski. Career Zdravko started his career in Maritsa. In 2004, he moved to Rodopa on a fr ...

, M'Bolhi was expected to be the first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the first half of the season and the group stage of UEFA Europa League and he indeed established himself as the main goalkeeper for the "redmen". M'Bolhi did not play against his parent team Slavia Sofia in the seventh round of the Bulgaria A PFG due to a special clause in the loan agreement.

Krylia Sovetov

On 16 December 2010, M'Bolhi was transferred to Russian side

Krylia Sovetov Samara PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara (russian: Профессиональный футбольный клуб «Крылья Советов» Самара) is a football club from Russia based in Samara. It returned to the Russian Premier League for the 20 ...

, signing a three-and-half-year contract. His debut came on 12 March 2011, in the 1–0 away loss against

Spartak Nalchik PFC Spartak Nalchik (russian: Профессиональный футбольный клуб "Спартак Нальчик") is a Russian association football club based in Nalchik that plays in the third-tier FNL 2. They played in the Russian ...

, with the only goal being scored from the penalty spot. After the signing of Sergey Veremko, M'Bolhi found himself out of the first team.

CSKA Sofia loan

He was loaned out to CSKA Sofia for a second time on 2 August 2011, for a year, and was first choice for the team, but was then recalled by the Russian club. During the summer of 2012, M'Bolhi briefly returned to CSKA Sofia with the intention of signing a permanent contract with the team. However, he was deemed surplus to the requirements by the manager following the team's elimination from the UEFA Europa League by Slovenian club

Mura 05 Nogometno društvo Mura 05, commonly referred to as ND Mura 05 or simply Mura 05, was a Slovenian football club from the town of Murska Sobota. The club was established on 16 June 2005. The club's home ground was Fazanerija City Stadium. During ...

in late July 2012 (despite the Algerian not participating in these matches).

Gazélec Ajaccio loan

In mid January 2013, M'Bolhi was loaned out to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

club Gazélec Ajaccio. He made his debut on 1 February 2013, in the 0–2 away loss against RC Lens. His team was relegated to the Championnat National at the end of the season and he rejoined CSKA Sofia in the summer of 2013, signing a three-year contract.

CSKA Sofia (third spell)

M'Bolhi was initially the third choice goalkeeper for the "armymen", but started to feature more often towards the end of 2013 after Tomáš Černý fell into disfavour. On 8 March 2014, M'Bolhi kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in the 1–0 win over Levski Sofia in The Eternal Derby, but was sent off in the closing minutes of the match after an altercation with

Larsen Touré Larsen Touré (born 20 July 1984) is a French-born Guinean professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for SC Schiltigheim. He has represented the Guinea national team at international level. Club career Touré was born in Brest, ...

where M'Bolhi smashed the ball on Touré's head. He continued to be a regular for Algeria.

Philadelphia Union

On 30 July 2014, M'Bolhi was unveiled as a new signing of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

. M'Bohli had previously been linked to Trabzonspor, where he could have joined manager Vahid Halilhodžić and team-mate

Carl Medjani Carl Medjani ( ar, كارل مجاني; born 15 May 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender or defensive midfielder. He spent most of his career in France, his country of birth, while representing the Algeria nationa ...

. However, his debut was delayed until 25 August (a 4–2 home win over

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

) after he was involved in a car accident in Paris, France and had to resolve paperwork issues. M'Bolhi was presented with number 92 shirt for the club. However, as of 8 April, M'Bolhi was benched by the Union's head coach, Jim Curtin, citing poor performance during the Philadelphia Union vs. Sporting Kansas City game on 5 April. After playing in only nine matches in the 2015 season, head coach, Jim Curtin said that M'Bolhi would never play again for Philadelphia. M'Bolhi is rated as one of the worst signings in club history.

Antalyaspor

On 24 August 2015, M'Bolhi signed for Turkish club Antalyaspor.

Rennes

On 11 January 2017, M'Bolhi decided to sign a contract with French top flight club

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pl ...

, rejoining his former national team manager

Christian Gourcuff Christian Jean Gourcuff (born 5 April 1955) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who was most recently the manager of Ligue 1 club FC Nantes, Nantes. Club career During his ...

Al-Ettifaq

On 19 January 2018, M'Bolhi joined Saudi Arabian club

Al-Ettifaq Al Ettifaq Football Club ( ar, نادي الاتفاق لكرة القدم) is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Al-Ettifaq was established after the merging of three clubs in the city of Dammam at the year 1944. Al Ettifaq i ...

on a six-month deal. On 6 March 2018, M'Bolhi renewed his contract with Al-Ettifaq until the end of the 2020–21 season. On 25 January 2019, M'Bolhi renewed his contract until 2022. On 30 June 2022, Al-Ettifaq announced that M'Bolhi had left the club following the expiration of his contract.

Al-Qadsiah

On 9 September 2022, M'Bolhi joined Saudi First Division League side Al-Qadsiah, reuniting with former manager

Khaled Al-Atwi Khaled Fahad Al-Atwi (born 13 April 1977) is a Saudi Arabian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of Al-Qadsiah. Al-Atwi began his coaching career as the manager of Al-Oyoon. A year later he join ...

International career

He earned his first call-up to the France U-17 national team in November 2002 for a friendly match against England. In 2003, he was called up for two more friendlies against Portugal and the Czech Republic. In June 2004, he received his first and only call-up to the France U-18 team for a friendly tournament in

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

, Italy. Subsequently, he was called up to the Algerian U-17 team but was not released by his club

.Djazair News Interview
/ref> On 28 May 2010, M'Bohli made his debut for Algeria in a 3–0 loss against the Republic of Ireland after coming on as a second-half substitute. He conceded one goal, a penalty scored by

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Keane served as Captain (association football ...

. He made the 23-man Algerian squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, keeping a

and impressing in the goalless draw against England. However, he conceded a goal to

Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor fo ...

in the 91st minute of Algeria's 23 June match-up against the United States. On 11 August 2010, M'Bolhi earned his fourth cap in a 1–2 friendly loss to Gabon. He was also chosen as the starting goalkeeper for the first two games of the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification This page details the process of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification phase. Forty-six African nations, including hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, entered the competition. Gabon and Equatorial Guinea automatically qualified as host count ...

and featured in 2014 World Cup qualification matches. On 9 September 2012, M'Bolhi was a key player for Algeria in a 1–0 away win over Libya in a

2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification was the qualification process for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country. Qualified nations ...

match. He was the first choice custodian for the country during the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

. M'Bolhi was Algeria's starting goalkeeper at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, where the Algerians managed to qualify to the knockout rounds for the first time in history. His performance in the round of 16 against Germany, with a total of 11 saves, helped push the game into overtime. Algeria eventually lost 2–1, but M'Bolhi earned man of the match honors. M’Bolhi won his first title with Algeria at 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 ...

. He was Algeria's starting goalkeeper as he started every game of Algeria's tournament winning run and played every minute of the competition for Algeria. Moreover, he was named as "Man of the Match" against Senegal in the Final and was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Heart of Midlothian * Scottish Cup: 2005–06 Algeria *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* FIFA Arab Cup:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual * Best Algerian Goalkeeper : 2010, 2011, 2012 et 2014 * Best Goalkeeper of the Africa Cup of Nations: 2019 * CAF AFCON Team of the Tournament: 2019 * Saudi Professional League Player of the Month: September 2018 * Saudi Professional League Goalkeeper of the Month: November & December 2019, March 2020,

March 2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* FIFA Arab Cup Golden Glove: 2021

References

External links