Younès Belhanda (; born 25 February 1990) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

club Al-Shamal. Born in France, he played for the Morocco national team.

Early life

Belhanda was born in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, a commune in southeastern France, and was raised in nearby Aramon. He is of Moroccan descent (from

Taza Taza () is a city in northern Morocco occupying the corridor between the Rif mountains and Middle Atlas mountains, about 120 km east of Fez and 150 km south of Al Hoceima. It recorded a population of 148,406 in the 2019 Moroccan ...

) and has five other siblings. Belhanda began his football career playing for hometown club Racing Club Aramon. He spent one year at the club before joining MJC Avignon, a local

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Africa * ...

based in his birthplace. While at the club, Belhanda was utilized as a '' libero'' and mentored by trainer Jean-Christophe Gleyze. The player admitted that Gleyze played a huge part in determining his future, stating: "he is more than a coach. Since my father worked and I lived in the

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019; At the age of 13, Belhanda was scouted by several professional clubs, most notably

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) 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 France, department of ...

, and

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

. He ultimately decided to join Saint-Étienne, but changed his mind after discussing the move with his parents, who recommended that he join Montpellier in order to remain close to home.

Club career

Montpellier

While in Montpellier's youth academy, Belhanda was converted into a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He spent five years in the club's academy developing alongside fellow youth teammates Benjamin Stambouli, Abdelhamid El Kaoutari, and Rémy Cabella. Towards the end of the 2007–08 season, Belhanda was promoted to the club's reserve team, which was playing in the Championnat de France amateur (CFA), the fourth level of French football. In the ensuing season, he simultaneously played on the reserve team and with the club's under-19 team in the Coupe Gambardella, the national youth cup competition in France. In the latter competition, Montpellier won the title, capturing its second Gambardella cup. Belhanda appeared in all six matches the team contested. In the final, he played the entire match as Montpellier defeated

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

2–0.

2009–10 season

As a result of the under-19 team's cup success, several of the members of the squad were awarded professional contracts. Belhanda was among them and, on 27 July 2009, agreed to a three-year deal. He was, subsequently, promoted to the senior team by new incoming manager

René Girard René Noël Théophile Girard (; ; 25 December 1923 – 4 November 2015) was a French-American historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science whose work belongs to the tradition of philosophical anthropology. Girard was the a ...

and assigned the number 29 shirt. Despite being brought up under a defensive mentality, Girard preferred to utilize Belhanda as an attacker by placing him on the left side of the team's 4–2–3–1 formation. Girard gave his reasons for converting Belhanda stating "his desire to get on the ball combined with excellent technique means he can play through the middle or on the wings". He subsequently likened the player to former France international

Robert Pires Robert Emmanuel Pires (born 29 October 1973) is a French former professional footballer. He is widely regarded as one of Arsenal's greatest ever players and considered by some to be one of the best wingers in the history of the sport. Pires play ...

. Belhanda made his professional debut in the team's opening league match of the 2009–10 season against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. The match ended 1–1 with French media outlet ''La Provence'' describing the match as a "baptism of fire" for Belhanda. The midfielder admitted to having nerves declaring "I was playing against Makélélé, a player I admired when I was little. These are moments to live. I had pressure; I used to play in front of 200 or 300 people in the CFA". On 19 September 2009, Belhanda scored his first professional goal in a 4–2 defeat to Marseille at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

. In his next eight matches with the team, he featured as a starter. On 11 November, he assisted on Montpellier's only goal, scored by Víctor Montaño, in a 1–1 draw with

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

. On 13 January 2010, Belhanda received his first

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

after incurring a second yellow card in a 4–0 loss away to

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. After starting in the team's 1–0 win over

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

on 20 January,

2010–11 season

Belhanda opened the 2010–11 campaign by making his European debut on 29 July 2010 in the first leg of Montpellier's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

third qualifying round with Hungarian club Győri ETO. He started the match, but was substituted out after 71 minutes as the match finished 1–0. In the second leg, Montpellier were defeated losing on penalties after the match finished 1–0 in favor of Győri in regular and

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. Belhanda appeared as a second-half substitute in the match and did not attempt a penalty in the shootout. On 19 August, he signed a two-year contract extension with Montpellier until 2014. In the league, Belhanda appeared as a substitute in the team's first two matches of the campaign. He made his first start on 22 August in a 0–0 draw with

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. On 16 October, Belhanda scored his first goal of the season in a 2–0 victory over

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

. He went another two months without scoring before converting the opening goal in a 1–1 draw with

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. In the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

, Montpellier surprisingly reached the final of the competition. Belhanda appeared as a substitute in the team's first two matches of the competition, but was inserted as a starter in the team's 1–0 semi-final extra time win over Paris Saint-Germain. The win over ''Les Parisiens'' sent Montpellier to its first major final since the 1993–94 season when the club reached the final of the Coupe de France. In the final, Montpellier faced Marseille and were defeated 1–0 courtesy of a goal by Taye Taiwo. Belhanda played the entire match. On 20 February 2011, Belhanda assisted on

Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (; born 30 September 1986) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Giroud began his senior club career ...

's first goal in Montpellier's 2–2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain. A month later, he scored the match-winning goal against the eventual league champions

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

2011–12 season

Following the disappointing campaign, Girard sought to change the team's style of play. One of his changes was to move Belhanda into the

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

position just behind the striker. To coincide with the position switch, Belhanda was given the number ten shirt. The move was ultimately a success as Belhanda opened the campaign scoring two goals in his first three matches in wins over Auxerre and

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. On 27 August 2011, in a 2–1 defeat to Lyon, Belhanda received a straight red card after kicking out at Lyon

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Miralem Pjanić Miralem Pjanić (born 2 April 1990) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Russian Premier League club CSKA Moscow. Pjanić started his professional career at Metz, playing there for one season. He signed for fellow ...

following a challenge. He returned to the team following the September international break and, after two matches, scored his third goal of the season in a 2–2 draw with

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Two weeks later, Belhanda scored and assisted on a goal in a 3–1 away win against Caen. For his performances in the month of November, Belhanda was awarded the UNFP Player of the Month award. Belhanda went scoreless for the next two months, though he did assist on an Olivier Giroud goal in a 3–1 win over Sochaux. On 21 December, in his final match before departing the club to participate in the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

, Belhanda scored the opening goal in a league match against

Evian Evian (, ; , stylized as evian) is a French brand that bottles mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. Evian is owned by Danone, a French multinational corporation. In addition to the miner ...

in the 47th minute. Minutes later, he assisted on a goal by Giroud to put Montpellier up 2–1. However, Montpellier were unable to retain the lead after conceding three second-half goals to lose 4–2. Belhanda returned to the team on 4 February 2012 appearing as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Brest. Fours days later, Belhanda returned to the starting lineup against

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

. In the match, he scored the final goal in a 2–0 win. On 11 February, he converted a penalty in a 3–0 win against

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

. A week later, against first place Paris Saint-Germain, Belhanda scored the equalizing goal just before half-time to draw the match at 1–1. The match eventually finished 2–2 after Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain each scored a second-half goal. On 20 May 2012, for the first time in the club's history,

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (; ), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC, is a French professional association football, football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie. The original club was ...

won the Ligue 1 title.

Dynamo Kyiv

On 1 July 2013, Ukrainian club

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

announced the signing of Belhanda on a 5-year contract. Media reports had previously linked him with a move to Premier League sides Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa. Belhanda was assigned shirt number 90. His contract with Montpellier was due to expire in June 2014, with his transfer fee believed to be in the region of €10 million. In the 2014–15 season, Belhanda helped Dynamo reach the 1/4 final of the

, getting eliminated by

ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

1-3 on aggregate, as well as winning the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

and the

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( ) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qu ...

. In the 2015/16 season, Belhanda helped Dynamo reach the last 16 of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

for the first time in 16 years.

Schalke 04 (loan)

On 5 January 2016, Belhanda was loaned out to German club

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

until the end of the season.

Nice (loan)

On 31 August 2016, Belhanda signed for French club

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionGalatasaray S.K., where he will wear the number '10' shirt previously worn by former Galatasaray player

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer. Noted for his playmaking ability, he was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Sneijder started ...

. On 10 March 2021, Belhanda's contract was unilaterally cancelled by Galatasaray.

Adana Demirspor

On 1 July 2021, Belhanda signed a three-year contract with recently-promoted to Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor. In December 2023, after having scored 19 goals in 74 appearances for the

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

-based side, Belhanda's contract was terminated by mutual agreement.

Al-Shamal

On 18 January 2024, Belhanda joined

club Al-Shamal.

International career

In May 2018, Belhanda was named in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

's 23-man squad for the

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

in Russia. Belhanda started in all three matches as Morocco were eliminated in the group stage. He was excluded from manager

Walid Regragui Walid Regragui (; born 23 September 1975), sometimes known as Hoalid or Oualid Regragui, is a professional football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He is the head coach of the Morocco national team. He made history when h ...

’s 26-man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Career statistics

Club

International

. :''Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.''

Honours

Montpellier *

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

: 2011–12 Dynamo Kyiv *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

: 2013–14, 2014–15 Galatasaray *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 2018–19 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2011–12 * Ligue 1 Goal of the Year: 2011–12 * Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year: 2011–12 * Marc-Vivien Foé Award: 2011–12 * CAF Team of the Year:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

* Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belhanda, Younes 1990 births Living people Footballers from Avignon Naturalized citizens of France French sportspeople of Moroccan descent Moroccan men's footballers Morocco men's international footballers French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Montpellier HSC players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Schalke 04 players OGC Nice players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Adana Demirspor footballers Al-Shamal SC players Ligue 1 players Ukrainian Premier League players Bundesliga players Süper Lig players Qatar Stars League players Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine French expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen