Alexandre Roger Oukidja (; born 19 July 1988) is a 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 a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club

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 ...

. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team.

Club career

Oukidja made his professional debut in the 2005–06 season in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

for Gueugnon, coming on as a half-time substitute for Pierre Bouysse in a 1–3 defeat away at

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. He joined Lille in the summer of 2006 and over the following seasons, he established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper for the reserve team in the Championnat de France Amateur. On 27 January 2012, Oukidja joined

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

side Aviron Bayonnais on a six-month loan deal.

International career

Oukidja made his debut for the Algeria national team on 26 March 2019 in a 1–0 friendly win against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. He was also member of the Algerian squad which won the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

. On 15 June 2023, Oukidja officially announced his international retirement after playing only six matches with the national team. In August 2024, he came out of the retirement and was included in the squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches.

Personal life

Oukidja was born in France to an Algerian father from

Tizi Ouzou Tizi Ouzou or Thizi Wezzu (, Kabyle: Tizi Wezzu) is a city in north central Algeria, and capital of Tizi Ouzou Province and Tizi Ouzou District. It is among the largest cities in Algeria. It is the second most populous city in the Kabylia reg ...

and a French mother. He holds both French and Algerian nationalities.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Algeria *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oukidja, Alexandre 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Nevers Footballers from Nièvre Algerian men's footballers Algeria men's international footballers French men's footballers French sportspeople of Algerian descent Men's association football goalkeepers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Challenger Pro League players FC Gueugnon players Lille OSC players Aviron Bayonnais FC players Royal Excel Mouscron players RC Strasbourg Alsace players FC Metz players Algerian expatriate men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Algerian people of French descent 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen