Adil Aouchiche (; born 15 July 2002) is a French 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 plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

An academy graduate of

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, Aouchiche made his professional debut on 30 August 2019 in a 2–0

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

win against

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

. He started the match and played 65 minutes before getting replaced by

Leandro Paredes Leandro Daniel Paredes (; born 29 June 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie A club Roma and the Argentina national team. He was part of the Argentina squad that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup. ...

. He scored his first goal on 5 January 2020 in a 6–0

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

win against

Linas-Montlhéry Linas and Montlhéry are two communes in the department of Essonne in France. Linas-Montlhéry may also refer to: * Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, a motor racing circuit * ESA Linas-Montlhéry Entente Sportive et Athlétique de Linas-Montlh ...

. This made him the youngest player ever to score a goal for PSG in

at 17 years and 5 months, a record that still stands. He made his third and final appearance for the club as a substitute in a 6–1 cup win against

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

. On 29 May 2020, Aouchiche underwent an introductory medical with

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

ahead of a potential free transfer to the club. On 15 June 2020, he was nominated for the 2020 Golden Boy Award, being one of three PSG players in the 100-player shortlist.

Saint-Étienne

On 20 July 2020, Aouchiche signed for Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne. He made his debut for the club in a 2–0

win against

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

on 30 August, and scored his first goal on 20 September in a 2–2 draw against

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

Lorient

On 1 September 2022, Aouchiche joined Ligue 1 club

on a four-year contract.

Sunderland

On 1 September 2023, Aouchiche joined English club

on a five-year contract.

Portsmouth (loan)

On 31 January 2025, Aouchiche signed for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

on loan until the end of the season.

International career

Born in France, Aouchiche holds French and Algerian nationalities, being born to both an Algerian mother and father. He is eligible to play for either France, his nation of birth, or Algeria, the nation of his parents. He is a current French youth international. He became the focus of attention in

2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (37th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth association fo ...

due to his goalscoring prowess. Despite being a midfielder, he scored 9 goals from 5 matches in the tournament as

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

reached semi-finals. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in a

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

match and netted another four goals in quarter-final clash against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. He went on to break several records during the tournament including that of scoring most goals in a single U17 Euro campaign, which was previously held by his compatriots

Odsonne Édouard Odsonne Édouard (born 16 January 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Crystal Palace. Having progressed through the youth ranks of AF Bobigny, Édouard signed with Paris Saint-Germain in Ju ...

and

Amine Gouiri Amine Ferid Gouiri (; born 16 February 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker or left winger for Ligue 1 club Marseille. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team. Club career Lyon A player of Lyon starting in ...

for scoring 8 goals in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

respectively. He also became the all-time top scorer in the history of

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

, a feat which was previously shared by Édouard, Gouiri and

Abel Ruiz Abel Ruiz Ortega (; born 28 January 2000) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Girona and the Spain national team. Formed at Barcelona, where he made one first-team appearance, he moved to Braga in Janu ...

. His tally of 9 goals also equalled the record for most goals in any

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

football national-team finals tournament, which he currently shares with

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...

Elena Danilova Elena Yurievna Danilova is a former Russia women's national football team, international Russian association football, football forward (association football), forward who played for Ryazan VDV. At 16 she took part in the 2003 FIFA Women's Worl ...

and Shekiera Martinez. His stellar performances earned him a spot in the team of the tournament.

Style of play

Aouchiche is an attacking midfielder, gifted with above-average technical skills. He excels in chance creation and dribbling.

Career statistics

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

: 2019–20 *

: 2019–20 France U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

third place:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual *FIFA U-17 World Cup Silver Ball: 2019 *

Top goalscorer:

*UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

Maurice Revello Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a football tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams comp ...

Best XI:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Paris Saint-Germain F.C. website * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aouchiche, Adil 2002 births Living people Footballers from Le Blanc-Mesnil French men's footballers Algerian men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Paris Saint-Germain FC players AS Saint-Étienne players FC Lorient players Sunderland A.F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 2 players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England English Football League players 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen