Essaïd Belkalem (; born 1 January 1989) is an Algerian former 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 played as a defender.

Club career

In 2008, Belkalem was promoted to the

JS Kabylie Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (Kabyle grammar, Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqvayel; Berber languages, Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ; ), known as JS Kabylie or simply JSK, is an Algerian profession ...

senior team from the club's junior ranks. In the 2009–2010 season, Belkalem made 20 appearances, scoring one goal. On 18 July 2010, Belkalem scored JS Kabylie's only goal in the win over Egyptian club

Ismaily Ismaily Sporting Club () is an Egyptian football club, established on 20 March 1921 as El Nahda Sporting Club () ( Egyptian pronunciation: Nady El Nahda), based in Ismaïlia, Egypt. The club is best known for its football team. Also it's consi ...

in the group stage of the

2010 CAF Champions League The 2010 CAF Champions League was the 46th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 14th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner, TP Mazembe q ...

with a header in the 75th minute. In February 2013, with his contract expiring in June, Belkalem said that he would be leaving JS Kabylie at the end of the season to join a European club.

Granada

In June 2013, with his contract with JS Kabylie expired, it was announced that Belkalem had signed a five-year contract with Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, joining them on a free transfer.

Watford

Belkalem signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on a season-long loan on 12 August 2013. He wore the number 5 shirt. He made his debut for Watford in their 2–0 League Cup victory over

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

on 28 August 2013, playing the full 90 minutes. His league debut came in a 1–1 draw at home to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

on 14 September 2013. Watford exercised the right to make Belkalem's move a permanent one following the expiry of his loan, joining on an undisclosed deal in June 2014. On 10 August 2016, Belkalem was released from his contract at Watford, after playing 10 times in three years.

Trabzonspor (loan)

After moving to Watford permanently in the summer of 2014, Belkalem made the move to Turkish

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 ...

side

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

on a season-long loan deal linking up with former Algeria coach

Vahid Halilhodžić Vahid Halilhodžić (; born 15 May 1952) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the most controversially successful Bosnian football managers, due to his successful tenure in coaching various nation ...

. Having made 16 appearances in the league, eight in the

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 ...

, scoring three goals, Belkalem finalised his loan spell at Trabzonspor on 2 June 2015.

JS Kabylie

On 15 January 2018, after six months without a contract, Belkalem returned to his former club

International career

In 2007, Belkalem was called up to the Algerian U20 national team for the first edition of the ''Mediterranean Trophy'' held in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 2008, he started in a

2009 African Youth Championship The 2009 African Youth Championship is a football tournament for under 20 players. It was held in Rwanda from 18 January until 1 February 2009. It also served as qualification for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Qualification Preliminary round ...

qualifier against Mauritania. In August 2009, Belkalem received his first call-up to the Algeria Under-23 national team for a week-long training camp in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. In 2010, he was called up to the Algeria A' national team for a qualifier against Libya. On 12 May 2012, Belkalem was called up for the first time to the Algeria national team for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

qualifiers against

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

, and the return leg of the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., 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 Association football, footbal ...

qualifier against

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

. On 9 September, he made his debut for the team as a starter in the first leg of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations second round qualifier against

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. Belkalem played the entire match as Algeria went on to win 1–0. On 31 May 2014, Belkalem played an

International Friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

, he scored his first international goal, he scored the first goal of the match between his team

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

against

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and Algeria won the match by the score of 3–1. Belkalem was later included in Algeria's squad for the

, helping them to the Round of 16 for the first time.

Honours

In 2009, Belkalem was chosen as the third best young talent in the

Algerian Championnat National The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (), known as Championnat National de Première Division or Ligue 1 for short, and formerly known as the Championnat National 1, is the Algerian professional league for association football clubs. It is the co ...

behind Abderahmane Hachoud and

Youcef Ghazali Youcef Ghazali (; born 29 July 1988) is an Algerian footballer who plays as a striker for JS Djeniene Meskine in the Algerian Régionale 1. Honours WA Tlemcen * Algerian Ligue 2: 2008–09 ES Sétif * Algerian Cup: 2012 * North African Supe ...

in a vote conducted by DZFoot.Espoir DZfoot 2009 : Hachoud n'a pas fini d'étonner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belkalem, Essaid 1989 births Living people People from Mekla Sportspeople from Tizi Ouzou Province Kabyle people Algerian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Algeria men's international footballers Algeria men's A' international footballers Algeria men's youth international footballers Algeria men's under-23 international footballers 2011 African Nations Championship players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players English Football League players Süper Lig players Ligue 2 players JS Kabylie players Granada CF footballers Watford F.C. players Trabzonspor footballers US Orléans players Algerian expatriate men's footballers Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Algerian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey 21st-century Algerian sportsmen