Fayçal Fajr (; born 1 August 1988) 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 le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

club

Al Wehda AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

. Born in France, he plays for the Morocco national team.

Career

Early career

Fajr was born in the city of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

and began his career with local amateur club Sottevillais Cheminots. In 2000, he joined the youth academy of professional club

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

. After three years, Fajr was released after being told he lacked the physical requirements to remain. He, subsequently, returned home to join hometown club

. Fajr spent two years at the club and, in 2005, signed a contract with

CMS Oissel Club Municipal Sportif d'Oissel is a French sports club founded in 1968. The club is based in Oissel, Seine-Maritime and have teams for basketball, handball and association football. As of the 2020–21 season, their football team plays in the C ...

. With Oissel, he played in the

Championnat de France amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

, the fifth division of French football. After two seasons playing on the senior team of Oissel, in 2008, Fajr moved up one division to sign with

Étoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël Étoile may refer to: Places ;France * Charles de Gaulle – Étoile, station of the Paris Métro * Étoile-Saint-Cyrice, commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in France * Étoile-sur-Rhône, commune in the Drôme department in France * L'Ét ...

, then known as ES Fréjus. In his first season with the club, he appeared in 29 matches scoring four goals. Fréjus finished second in its group, however, due to the ''Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion'' (''National Directorate of Management Control'') (DNCG) imposing sanctions on several clubs in the Championnat National, the club was given a spot in the third division. After playing mainly as a substitute in his inaugural season with the club, Fajr became a starter in the club's first season in National. He appeared in 29 league matches as Fréjus finished mid-table. In his final season with the club, Fajr became the club's primary play-maker. He posted career-highs in appearances (34) and goals (8). Fréjus finished the campaign in sixth place.

Caen

After a successful campaign with Fréjus, Fajr was linked to several professional clubs, most notably

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 ...

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which 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''), ...

, and

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

. On 18 July 2011, it was confirmed that he would be joining

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 ...

club Caen on a three-year contract. The transfer was completed the following day. Fajr was assigned the number 29 shirt and simultaneously made his professional and club debut on 28 August in a league match against

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. Three days later, in a

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

match against

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

, he scored his first goal for Caen in a 3–2 victory. Caen were relegated to the

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 ...

in his first season, but he helped them back up two seasons later. In the 2013–14 season, he scored 8 league goals in 35 games and Caen were promoted to the top-flight Ligue 1.

Spain

On 24 June 2014, Fajr passed his medical and completed the move to the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Ferrán Corominas Ferran Corominas Telechea (born 5 January 1983), known as Coro, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a forward. He spent the majority of his professional career with Espanyol, appearing in 200 competitive games while scoring 24 goals an ...

in a 0–3 away loss against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. On 6 August 2015 Fajr was loaned to fellow league team

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

, for one year. Ahead of the 2016–17 campaign, he signed a permanent contract with the club. On 20 July 2017, Fajr signed a two-year deal with

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

, still in the first division.

Later career

On 3 August 2018, Fajr returned to his former club Caen. A year later, he went back to Getafe. On 14 September 2020, Fajr signed a two-year deal with Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

. On 19 June 2022, Fajr joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Wehda.

International career

Born and raised in France, Fajr holds both French and Moroccan nationalities. He made his senior debut for the

Morocco national football team The Morocco national football team,french: Équipe du Maroc de football nicknamed "the Barbary lion, Atlas Lions", represents Morocco in men's international Association football, football competitions. It is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Foo ...

in a 2018 World Cup qualifying game against

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

in a 1–0 loss. In May 2018 he was named in Morocco's 23-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

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 ...

in Russia. Morocco's national football team played against

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 ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

. During Morocco's match against Spain, Fajr made the corner kick that led to

Youssef En-Nesyri Youssef En-Nesyri ( ar, يوسف النصيري; pronounced ; born 1 June 1997) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Sevilla and the Morocco national team. En-Nesyri has spent his entire senior football ...

's goal with nine minutes remaining.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Sivasspor *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') 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 ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fajr, Faycal Living people 1988 births Footballers from Rouen Moroccan men's footballers Morocco men's international footballers French men's footballers French sportspeople of Moroccan descent Men's association football midfielders Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players La Liga players Süper Lig players Saudi Pro League players CMS Oissel players ÉFC Fréjus Saint-Raphaël players Stade Malherbe Caen players Elche CF players Deportivo de La Coruña players Getafe CF footballers Sivasspor footballers Al Wehda FC players French expatriate men's footballers Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players