Soufiane Rahimi ( ar, سفيان رحيمي; born 2 June 1996) is a Moroccan 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 ...

who plays as a forward for Al Ain and the Morocco national team. He started his professional career playing for

Raja CA Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional footb ...

Club career

Raja Club Athletic

Rahimi scored a total of four goals for

2018 CAF Confederation Cup The 2018 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2018 Total CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), under the curre ...

campaign, including two goals in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

against AS Vita Club in Casablanca. This allowed them to qualify and play the

2019 CAF Super Cup The 2019 CAF Super Cup (officially the 2019 Total CAF Super Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th CAF Super Cup, an annual football match in Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), between the winners of the previous s ...

against

Espérance Sportive de Tunis (; ar, الترجي الرياضي التونسي, Attarajī ar-Riyāḍi Attūnisī, link=yes), also known as ''ES Tunis'' and , is a Tunisian sports club based in Bab Souika neighbourhood of Tunis, Tunisia. The club was founded in 1919, thu ...

; which then ended up winning after a 2–1 victory. He has been one of the highest performing players in the last two seasons of the Botola Pro, becoming a top pick for the Morocco national team coach to join the Moroccan squad of local players. He has been closely linked with a move from the Botola to Europe, and has stated his ambition of joining the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

in press conferences.

Al Ain

On 21 August 2021, he had played his last match with Raja CA in the

2020 Arab Club Champions Cup Final The 2020 Arab Club Champions Cup Final was the final match of the 2019–20 Arab Club Champions Cup, the 29th season of the Arab League's main club football tournament organised by UAFA, and the 2nd season since it was renamed from the Arab Cl ...

, therefore defeating

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

in penalties; before transferring to Emirati club Al Ain. On September 17, Rahimi scored his first goal for the club in a 4-1 victory against Al-Ittihad Kalba. On 12 November 2022, Rahimi scored a double against

Sharjah FC Sharjah Football Club ( ar, نادي الشارقة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is Sharjah Stadium. Founded in 1966, it has been the most ...

International career

In 2018, Rahimi was called up to the Moroccan national A' team by

Jamal Sellami Jamal Sellami ( ar, جمال السلامي) (born 6 October 1970) is a Moroccan professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the coach of the Moroccan club FUS Rabat. He played for several clubs, including ...

. Rahimi represented Morocco in the

2020 African Nations Championship The 2020 African Nations Championship, known as the Total African Nations Championship (also referred to as CHAN 2020) was the 6th edition of the African Nations Championship, a biennial football tournament organized by the Confederation of Afri ...

, He scored a double in his third game of the group stages against

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. He scored in the quarter-finals in a 3–1 victory against

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. Morocco won an astonishing 4–0 in the semi-finals against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. With this performance, Rahimi managed of scoring a total of five goals thus helping his country to achieve the title and becoming the first and only country to win the Championship back to back. He was awarded top scorer and best player of the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rahimi goal.''

Honours

Raja CA * Botola: 2019–20 * CAF Confederation Cup:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, 2020–21 * CAF Super Cup:

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 ...

Arab Champions League The Arab Club Champions Cup ( ar, كأس العرب للأندية الأبطال, french: Ligue des Champions Arabe) is an annual regional club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by el ...

: 2019–20 Al Ain * Pro League: 2021–22 *

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

: 2021–22 Morocco *

African Nations Championship The African Nations Championship (french: Championnat d'Afrique des Nations; abbreviated as CHAN), known as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a biennial African national association football tourname ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Individual * Best Player in Botola: 2019–20, 2020–21 * Best Young player in Botola: 2018–19 * Botola Top Assist Provider: 2020–21 * Best Player in

: 2020 * Top Scorer in

: 2020 *

Team of the Tournament:

Player of the season: 2020 * Raja CA Goal of the Season: 2021 * Pro League player of the month: September 2021, November 2021, February 2022, October 2022 February 2023 * Pro League Best Fans player of the year: 2022 Record * Fastest goal in history of CHAN

References

External links

* * * 1996 births Living people Moroccan footballers Footballers from Casablanca Association football wingers Morocco international footballers 2020 African Nations Championship players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Raja CA players Al Ain FC players Botola players UAE Pro League players Moroccan expatriate footballers Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Morocco A' international footballers {{Morocco-footy-forward-stub