Bilal El Khannouss (; born 10 May 2004) is a Belgian-Moroccan 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 club

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. Born in Belgium, he plays for the Morocco national team.

Club career

Genk

A youth exponent from

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

, El Khannouss moved to

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

in 2019. On 24 July 2020, he signed his first professional contract. He made his league debut on 21 May 2022 against

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

. On 1 November 2023, El Khannouss was nominated for the 2023 African Young Player of the Year by

CAF CAF or caf may refer to: Armed forces *Canadian Armed Forces (Canadian Forces), the Canadian Air Force, Army, and Navy *Canadian Air Force, now the Royal Canadian Air Force *Republic of China Air Force, the air force of the Republic of China (Tai ...

Leicester City

El Khannouss signed 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

on 29 August 2024 on a four-year deal for a reported £21m fee. He was assigned the number 11 shirt. El Khannouss made his Leicester debut on 31 August 2024 in a 2–1 loss against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. His first start came in a 1–1 draw against Everton on 21 September 2024. He scored his first goal for the Foxes on 3 December 2024 in a 3–1 home league victory against

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

International career

Born in Belgium, El Khannouss is of Moroccan descent. A former youth international for Belgium, El Khannous switched to represent the Morocco U20s. On 10 November 2022, he was named in Morocco's 26-man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar. On 17 December, he made his international debut in the World Cup third-place playoff against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, which ended in a 2–1 defeat. In June 2023, he was included in the final squad of the under-23 national team for the

2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, known for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 4th edition of the quadrennial African association football, football tournament organized by the ...

, hosted by Morocco itself, where the ''Atlas Lions'' won their first title and qualified for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Morocco score listed first, score column indicates score after each El Khannouss goal.''

Honours

Morocco U23 * U-23 Africa Cup of Nations:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Bronze Medal:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual *

Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe (, , German: ''Goldener Schuh'') is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian Pro League for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the B ...

Best Young Player: 2022, 2024 *

Belgian Lion Award The Belgian Lion Award (Dutch: ''Belgische Leeuw'', French: ''Lion Belge'') is a football award in Belgium given annually to the best Maghreb player of Arab / Amazigh origin in the Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), offic ...

: 2023 * : 2022 *

Player of the Season: 2023–24 *

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

Young Professional Footballer of the Season: 2023–24 Orders *

Order of the Throne The Order of the Throne () is a state decoration of the Kingdom of Morocco awarded for distinguished services of a civil or military nature. The Order was instituted on 16 May 1963 by King Hassan II of Morocco, who reigned between 1961 and 199 ...

: 2022

References

External links

Profile
at the Leicester City F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khannous, Bilal 2004 births Living people People from Grimbergen Footballers from Flemish Brabant Moroccan men's footballers 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen Belgian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Morocco men's under-20 international footballers Morocco men's youth international footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Premier League players Leicester City F.C. players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Morocco Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Morocco Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian sportspeople of Moroccan descent 21st-century Belgian sportsmen