Ryad Boudebouz ( ar, رياض بودبوز; born 19 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays for

Saudi First Division League The First Division League (FDL for short), also called the Yelo league for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of professional football in Saudi Arabia. The First Division League is ranked below the Saudi Professional League and above the Sau ...

club Al-Ahli. Mainly an

attacking 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 ...

, he can also play as a right winger. A former France youth international, Boudebouz switched his allegiance to Algeria in 2010. He played for the Algeria national team at the

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and 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 ...

. In total, Boudebouz scored two goals in twenty-five matches for Algeria from 2010 to 2017.

Club career

Born in Colmar to

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n parents, Boudebouz grew up in the 'Europe' district of the city. At age 10, he joined the junior ranks of local side Colmar where he stayed until age 14 when he joined

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 S ...

's youth academy. Boudebouz made his debut for the club's reserve side at the age of 16. On 15 May 2008, Boudebouz signed his first professional contract with the club agreeing to a three-year deal tying him to the club until 2011. On 4 October 2008, Boudebouz made his first team debut for Sochaux, starting in a league match against

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. On 8 November 2008, he scored his first career goal, the winner in a 2–1 victory against Le Mans. On 2 September 2013 - the last day of the 2013–14 summer transfer window - Boudebouz signed a three-year contract with Corsica-based club

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of French f ...

, for a reported fee of €1 million. After two seasons in Corsica, Boudebouz joined Montpellier with a four-year contract, as part of a deal that saw Yassine Jebbour join the Corsican team. In January 2019, Boudebouz was loaned to Celta from

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. On 27 July 2019, Boudebouz signed a three-year deal to join Ligue 1 side Saint-Étienne which was reportedly worth €4 million. On 6 March 2020, he scored a stoppage time winner for Saint-Etienne in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

semi-final to send the club into their first final in nearly 40 years. On 8 September 2022, Boudebouz joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli on a free transfer.

International career

Boudebouz received a surprise call-up to the France under-21 squad, who were looking to start fresh after their elimination from the

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 compe ...

, for a friendly against

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. However, Ryad decided to pass on the offer instead opting to play with the under-19 team who were in the process of qualifying for the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, in which they later progressed. On 4 May 2010, Boudebouz was named to the Algeria national team 2010 World Cup preliminary squad. Boudebouz had been in the process of acquiring a passport to represent the nation of his parents since 2009. On 28 May 2010, Boudebouz made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. Starting the game on the bench, he was substituted in at the 65th minute. He was included in the final 23-man squad for the World Cup.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

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

Honours

Saint-Étienne *

runner-up: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boudebouz, Ryad 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Colmar Chaoui people French sportspeople of Algerian descent French footballers Algerian footballers Association football midfielders Ligue 1 players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players SC Bastia players Montpellier HSC players AS Saint-Étienne players La Liga players Real Betis players RC Celta de Vigo players Saudi First Division League players Al-Ahli Saudi FC players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Algeria international footballers France youth international footballers Algerian expatriate footballers Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Footballers from Alsace French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Spain