Sofiane Feghouli (; born 26 December 1989) is a professional footballer who plays for the Algeria national team. He mainly operates as a midfielder, but can also play as a winger and as an attacking midfielder.
Feghouli made his senior international debut for Algeria in February 2012. He represented Algeria at the 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (winning the 2019 tournament), as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he scored Algeria's first goal in the competition since 1986.
The following season, he was handed the number 8 shirt and, despite being 17 years of age, was given a more important role in the first-team squad. Despite having the pressure of being labelled the "new Zinedine Zidane", his contribution to the squad was successful, appearing in 27 matches and scoring three goals, helping Grenoble achieve promotion to Ligue 1. His first career goal came on 18 January 2008 in a 4–3 away victory against Reims, the club he faced on his debut.
Feghouli returned for the 2009–10 season, making his debut on 29 August 2009 in a 1–0 defeat to Rhône-Alpes rivals Saint-Étienne. After appearing in five more matches, it was discovered by Grenoble officials that Feghouli had torn the meniscus in his right knee. The knee was successfully operated on in October. Following the surgery, Grenoble officials, most notably CEO Pierre Wantiez, were extremely critical of the player. Wantiez questioned Feghouli's long delay in returning to the team and the player's motives regarding a transfer as Feghouli would be out of contract in the summer and was already talking to several clubs, most notably Spanish club Valencia CF. L'imbroglio Feghouli Wantiez attributed Feghouli's recent moves to "bad advice" from the player's agent.
On 28 January 2011, after appearing sparingly for the Valencian side, Feghouli was loaned to fellow league team UD Almería, until June. Feghouli se va cedido al Almería hasta final de temporada (Feghouli goes on loan to Almería until the end of the season); Marca, 28 January 2011 He appeared regularly for the , however they were relegated at the end of the season.
After returning from Almería, and profiting from Mata and Vicente's departures, Feghouli became a starter, and scored his first goals for Los Che on 29 October 2011, netting a brace in a 3–1 home win against Getafe CF. Y de repente, Feghouli (And suddenly, Feghouli); Marca, 29 October 2011 His performances for Valencia in 2012 earned him two Algerian player of the year awards, Le Buteur's Algerian Ballon d'Or and the DZFoot d'Or.
On 11 April 2016, Feghouli was suspended by the club amid reports he refused to take part in a warm-down after the 2–1 home win over Sevilla FC the day before. He had also reportedly missed training a few days earlier.
He ended his Valencia career with 202 appearances, scoring 31 times and providing 40 assists.
On 23 October 2011, the Algerian Football Federation announced that FIFA officially accepted Feghouli's request to switch allegiances from France to Algeria, and that he was eligible to represent Algeria in international competition as of that date. Qualification du joueur FEGHOULI Sofiane ; FAF.dz, 23 October 2011. Feghouli qualifié pour jouer avec l’Algérie ; DZFoot.com, 23 October 2011. Two days later, on 25 October, Feghouli was called up by Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodžić for a pair of friendlies against Tunisia and Cameroon in November. EN : 31 joueurs pour le stage de Novembre; DZFoot.com, 25 October 2011.
On 29 February 2012, Feghouli made his debut for the Algerian national team in a 2–1 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win against Gambia, scoring the winning goal. During qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he scored three goals in seven appearances for Les Fennecs.
In the team's opening match of the 2014 World Cup, a 2–1 defeat to Belgium in Belo Horizonte, Feghouli scored with a penalty kick – Algeria's first World Cup goal in 28 years. He was surprisingly omitted from the 2017 African Cup Of Nations squad.
In December 2023, he was named in Algeria's squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Algeria
Individual
Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition Grenoble 2006–07 Ligue 2 0 2007–08 3 2008–09 0 2009–10 Ligue 1 0 Valencia CF 2010–11 La Liga 1 2011–12 6 2012–13 6 2013–14 7 2014–15 6 2015–16 5 Almería (loan) 2010–11 La Liga 2 West Ham United 2016–17 Premier League 4 Galatasaray 2017–18 Süper Lig 7 2018–19 13 2019–20 7 2020–21 2 2021–22 5
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and year Algeria 2 3 2 2 2 0 0 1 1 6 0 0 0
+ List of international goals scored by Sofiane Feghouli 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 2013 Africa Cup of Nations 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 2014 FIFA World Cup 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Friendly 3–0 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 3–0 2019 Africa Cup of Nations 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Friendly 2–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
Honours
External links
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