Mustapha Hadji (born 16 November 1971) is a Moroccan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

coach and former player. He was named the 50th greatest African player of all time by the African football expert Ed Dove.

Early life

Hadji was born in Ifrane Atlas-Saghir, Morocco. He emigrated with his family to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at the age of ten.

Club career

Hadji began playing in France. He signed his first contract with AS Nancy, where he spent his first season as a youth player before joining the senior squad in his second year with the club. After playing five seasons for Nancy, Hadji joined Sporting Lisbon and then Deportivo la Coruña, but it was with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

where he became well known, especially in Britain, after he was signed by

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Co ...

in 1999. Hadji was a goal-scoring 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 ...

with great pace and skill. At Coventry, he was joined by Moroccan international,

Youssef Chippo Youssef Chippo ( ar, يوسف شيبو; born 10 May 1973) is a Moroccan retired footballer. He was a renowned midfielder for the Morocco national team during the 1990s, and was a member of the team that participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics i ...

, sparking a brief trend for City fans to wear fezzes to games in their honour. After Coventry were relegated in 2001, he joined local rivals

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

, having scored against them three times in the previous season. But after only playing sporadically, scoring in the league against Southampton and Everton and once in the UEFA Cup against Varteks, he was released on a free transfer to

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

in Spain where he remained until June 2004. Hadji later played for

Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

, where he remained for one year before returning to Europe. In 2005, he signed a two-year contract with

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is ...

in the German Second Division. At the request of the coach

Horst Ehrmantraut Horst Ehrmantraut (born 11 December 1955) is a German former professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means t ...

, Hadji made a midfield pairing with another Moroccan international,

Faysal El Idrissi Mustapha Faysal El Idrissi (born 16 November 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in France, he represented Morocco at international level. Career El Idrissi signed for Coventry City at the start of the 20 ...

. On 4 August 2005, Hadji made his début for Saarbrücken, on the first day of the 2. Bundesliga season, against

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous German federal state of N ...

, losing the match 4–0. After another defeat, Ehrmantraut was sacked. Rudi Bommer took over as coach and Saarbrücken lost 2–1 after extra time in the second round of the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is consider ...

against Unterhaching. Hadji scored to give his team the lead, but was sent off in the 85th minute and was suspended for three cup matches by the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge o ...

. In August 2007, Hadji signed for

Fola Esch Sporting Circle Fola Esch (french: Cercle sportif Fola Esch), usually abbreviated to Fola Esch or simply Fola, is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. They play their home games at Stade Émile Mayrisch, in t ...

, in Luxembourg's First Division. He ended his playing career in July 2010.

International career

At the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

, Hadji played in all three group games for Morocco, two as substitute. In Morocco's third game against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Hadji set up the equalizer for

Hassan Nader Hassan Nader ( ar, حسن ناظر; born 8 July 1965) is a Moroccan former footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his 21-year senior career in Portugal – amassing Primeira Liga totals of 219 matches and 94 goals – mainly with ...

with his first touch after coming on as substitute. Despite this, Morocco lost all three games and were eliminated. Hadji scored a great goal in Morocco's 2–2 draw with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

in the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for t ...

but Morocco again failed to qualify for the knock-out stages. He was named African Footballer of the Year after the World Cup in France. He played in 13

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

qualification matches.

Career statistics

International

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

Other projects

Hadji was selected as an ambassador for the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

to represent Africa. He is also involved in a partnership with plans to invest in Morocco, thus providing opportunities for the local people, to help rid poverty from his homeland. Hadji is also a supporter of the charity

Show Racism The Red Card Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) is an anti-racism education charity, established in England in January 1996 to harness the high-profile nature of footballers as anti-racist role models to educate against racism throughout society in the United K ...

. He would have been ambassador for the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three ...

, representing his country if

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

had been selected as the host.

Coaching career

Umm Salal

He was appointed as an assistant manager at

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

i club

Umm Salal Umm Salal (; also spelled Umm Slal) is a municipality in the State of Qatar. It contains several historic places, such as Barzan Tower. The municipal headquarters Umm Salal is located in Umm Salal Ali, about 10 km from the coast and 15&nbs ...

by the manager Bertrand Marchand in the

2012–13 Qatar Stars League The 2012–13 Qatari League, also known as Qatari Stars League was the 40th edition of top level football championship in Qatar. The season started on 15 September 2012 and took a monthlong break from 21 December to 21 January 2013 due to the Gul ...

. The whole staff was sacked after the team finished fifth and failed to qualify for the 2014 AFC Champions League.

Morocco

He was appointed as an assistant manager for the Morocco national team by manager Badou Ezzaki before the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. He left the role in 2022, and later that year was suspended by the

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 ...

for falsifying his coaching licence.

Personal life

His younger brother Youssouf Hadji was also a Moroccan international and last played for Nancy in France. Hadji's son Samir Hadji plays for

in the Luxembourg First Division. Another son, Zachary Hadji, plays for SV Röchling in Germany.

Honours

;Sporting CP * Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

;Aston Villa *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, ' betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Fo ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

. ;Individual * African Footballer of the Year : 1998 * CAF Legends award: 2011 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

All-time Morocco Men's Dream Team

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hadji, Mustapha 1971 births Living people Shilha people Moroccan footballers Morocco international footballers Moroccan expatriate footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players African Footballer of the Year winners Sporting CP footballers Deportivo de La Coruña players Coventry City F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players RCD Espanyol footballers Emirates Club players 1. FC Saarbrücken players CS Fola Esch players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Premier League players Primeira Liga players 2. Bundesliga players Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Luxembourg Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Germany Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Luxembourg Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain People from Ifrane Atlas-Saghir AS Nancy Lorraine players Association football midfielders Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in England UAE Pro League players