Mohamed Youcef Belaïli ( ar, محمد يوسف بلايلي; born 14 March 1992) is an Algerian 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, rugb ...

who plays as a

left winger 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 ...

for club

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the '' Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica ...

and the Algeria national team.

Early life

Belaïli was born on 14 March 1992 in

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

. He started playing young with

RCG Oran Raed Chabab Gharb d'Oran ( ar, رائد شباب غرب وهران), or simply RCG Oran, is an Algerian professional soccer club based in Oran, founded in 1947. The club colours are black and red. History The club was founded in 1947 in Cité Pe ...

and after with

MC Oran ( ar, نادي مولودية وهران), known as , commonly referred to as MC Oran for short, is a football club based in Oran, Algeria. Founded on 1 January 1917 and formed again on 14 May 1946, the club was known as Mouloudia Chaâbia Ouah ...

Club career

The beginning of the march, then to Espérance de Tunis

Youcef Belaïli started his football career with

, then moved to the reserve team of

, Belaïli their first season in the Division 1 was with

CA Bordj Bou Arreridj CA or ca may refer to: Businesses and organizations Companies * Air China (IATA airline code CA) * CA Technologies, a U.S. software company * Cayman Airways, a Cayman Islands airline * Channel America, a defunct U.S. television network * Classic ...

, and their first match was on 6 March 2010 against MC El Eulma as a substitute, and after only one season, Belaïli returned to

for two seasons. In the first season, Belaïli began to impose himself and his first goal was against USM Alger on 27 November 2010, and in the second season Belaïli became an essential piece and required by several clubs inside and outside the country. On 24 May 2012, Belaïli traveled to Tunisia to negotiate a move to Tunisian club Espérance de Tunis. Two days later, he announced that he had agreed to personal terms with the club and would be signing a three-year contract in the upcoming days. On 5 June, Belaïli officially joined Espérance, signing a three-year contract worth €2 million. On 20 July, Belaïli made his debut for Espérance as a substitute against

ASO Chlef Association Sportive Olympique de Chlef ( ar, الجمعية الرياضية أولمبي الشلف), known as ASO Chlef or simply ASO for short, is an Algerian football club based in Chlef, founded in 1947. The club colours are red and white. ...

in the group stage of the

2012 CAF Champions League The 2012 CAF Champions League (also known as the 2012 Orange CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 16th e ...

. Coming on in the 77th minute, Belaïli won his team a penalty to level the score and then provided an assist for Yannick N'Djeng in injury time to help Espérance win the game., and despite his coming at the end of the 2011–12 season and played only three matches, but he won the first title in his history and it was the

Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (; ar, الرابطة المحترفة الأولى لكرة القدم) was previously called the Tunisian National Championship between 1956 and 1994. is the top division football tournament in Tunisia und ...

Return to Algeria and suspended by CAF

On 14 June 2014, Belaïli joined USM Alger in a contract for two seasons for a monthly salary of 5 million dinars as the highest salary in the

Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 ( ar, الرابطة الجزائرية المحترفة الأولى لكرة القدم); known as Championnat National de Première Division or Ligue 1 for short, and formerly known as the Championnat Natio ...

. Belaïli was one of the stars because of his high technical skills and led the club to valuable victories, especially against JS Kabylie where he scored the winning goal in the last minutes in a match that had an unfortunate end with the death of the player Albert Ebossé Bodjongo who was struck on the head by a projectile thrown by an unknown person while the teams were leaving the field. Belaïli for having tested positive for Cocaine during an anti-doping control carried out during the match against MC El Eulma on 7 August 2015 counting for the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and cont ...

. A four-year suspension is imposed on him by

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...

, his contract with USM Alger is terminated in the wake. On 4 November 2016, the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

in Lausanne announced that it had decided to reduce Blaili’s sentence to two years, adding that the player smoked Hookah two days before the match without being aware of its content, noting that he did not commit any error or noticeable negligence. A year later, Belaïli joined

Angers SCO Angers Sporting Club de l'Ouest, commonly referred to as Angers SCO or simply Angers (), is a French professional football club based in Angers in Pays de la Loire in western France. The club was founded in 1919 and plays in Ligue 1, the first ...

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 ...

. but the experience was not successful as he only played one match 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, ...

Heading to the Gulf and then to Europe

On 26 January 2018, Belaïli decided to leave and return to his former club Espérance de Tunis. His return was successful by all standards and was behind his return to the

Algeria national football team The Algeria national football team ( ar, منتخب الجزائر لكرة القدم) represents Algeria in men's international football and is governed by the Algerian Football Federation. The team plays their home matches at the 5 July Sta ...

, either at the level of titles won five of them including two consecutive titles in the

. After winning the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

with the national team. Belaïli decided to take a new experience this time with Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia for three seasons in a deal that exceeded three million dollars. but it was not successful as he did not adapt there to decide to leave to join the neighbor

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club ( ar, نادي قطر الرياضي) is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 as a merger of two Qatari football club ...

. There Belaïli found his features where he scored 13 goals, including a hat-trick against Al-Ahli which is the first in his football career. In the

FIFA Arab Cup The FIFA Arab Cup ( ar, كأس العرب, translit=Kaʾs al-ʿArab), or simply Arab Cup, is an international association football competition which has been organized by FIFA since 2021, and is contested by the senior men's national teams o ...

and after the end of the match against Morocco, the father of Youcef Belaïli, who is his manager, announced the termination of the contract by mutual consent. On 1 February 2022, Brest announced the signing of Belaïli on a six-months deal, including an option to extend for another three years. On 29 September 2022, Belaïli was released from the club after having his contract mutually terminated. On 12 October 2022, Belaïli joined French

club

for the remainder of the season.

International career

Youth

Belaili was called up for Algeria U23 to participate in the

2010 UNAF U-23 Tournament The 2010 UNAF U-23 Tournament is an association football tournament open to the Under-23 national teams of UNAF member countries. The tournament took place between 13 December and 18 December 2010 in Morocco with matches held in the cities of El J ...

. On 13 December 2010, he scored an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

in the 54th minute against the Cameroon U23s. On 16 November 2011, he was selected as part of Algeria's squad for the

2011 CAF U-23 Championship The 2011 African U-23 Championship was the first edition of the football tournament for players under 23 years. It was originally scheduled to be hosted by Egypt from 26 November to 10 December 2011. However, less than two months prior to the sta ...

in Morocco.

Senior

Belaili was a key member of the

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

squad that won the 2019 African Cup of Nations. In 2021, Belaili was named in the squad of players to play in the

2021 FIFA Arab Cup The 2021 FIFA Arab Cup () was the 10th edition of the Arab Cup, the Arab world's national team football tournament; it was the first edition under FIFA's jurisdiction. It took place between 30 November and 18 December in Qatar, as a pre ...

in Qatar. In the quarter-finals against Morocco, Belaili scored a volley from 40 yards in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport 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 onl ...

to give his side a 2–1 lead. In the semi-final against Qatar, Belaili scored a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...

rebound after 15 minutes of

injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

to secure Algeria's place in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

Doping ban

In September 2015, Youcef Belaïli is suspended by

for 2 years for having tested positive for Cocaine during an anti-doping control carried out during the match against MC El Eulma on 7 August 2015 counting for the

. He admits the facts, Bellaili is tested a second time positive for doping after consuming a prohibited product ( Cocaine), during his team's match against

CS Constantine Club Sportif Constantinois ( ar, النادي الرياضي القسنطيني), also known as CS Constantine or simply CSC for short, is an Algerian football club based in Constantine, Algeria. The club was founded in 1898, and its colours are ...

counting for the fifth round of the Ligue Professionnelle 1, played on 19 September 2015 in Constantine. A four-year suspension is imposed on him, his contract with USM Alger is terminated in the wake. However, in March 2016, FIFA confirmed they were giving an extended four-year ban to apply worldwide through 19 September 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Belaïli goal.''

Honours

Espérance de Tunis *

: 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Tunisian Super Cup The Tunisian Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر التونسي) or the Tunisia Premier Cup ( ar, كأس تونس الممتازة) was previously called the Tunisian Cup Winners' Cup. It is a Tunisian football competition organized by the Tunis ...

Algeria U23 *

UNAF U-23 Tournament The UNAF U-23 Tournament ( ar, دورة اتحاد شمال أفريقيا تحت 23 سنة) is a football (soccer) tournament held between nations who are members of the UNAF association; however, some other teams which are not members are invi ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A ...

Algeria *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual * African Inter-Club Player of the Year: 2019 *FIFA Arab Cup Silver Ball: 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belaili, Youcef Living people 1992 births Footballers from Oran Association football wingers Algerian footballers Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Saudi Professional League players Qatar Stars League players Ligue 1 players CA Bordj Bou Arréridj players RCG Oran players MC Oran players Espérance Sportive de Tunis players USM Alger players Angers SCO players Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Qatar SC players Stade Brestois 29 players AC Ajaccio players Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Tunisia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Qatar Algerian expatriate sportspeople in France Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Algerian expatriate footballers Algeria international footballers Algerian sportspeople in doping cases Algeria under-23 international footballers Algeria youth international footballers Doping cases in association football 2011 CAF U-23 Championship players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 21st-century Algerian people