Mehdi Essoussi (born 28 February 2001) is a

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

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 ...

who plays as a

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

Alliance United FC Alliance United Futbol Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Markham and Scarborough, Ontario. The club was founded in 2017 to compete in League1 Ontario. The club was formed as a partnership between two youth clubs - Mar ...

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian ...

Early life

Essoussi was born in

Tunis, Tunisia ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, before moving to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Canada, when he was one, followed by a move to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

at age two. He began playing youth soccer at age four with the Nepean Hotspurs SC, before moving on to Ottawa South United and spending some time in the Ottawa Fury Academy. He then moved on to join the

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

. He also played with the Team Ontario provincial team and attended a Canada national team identification camp.

University career

In 2023, he began attending the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

, playing for the men's soccer team.

Club career

In 2018, he began playing for Toronto FC III in the semi-professional

. He scored his first goal on 12 August against

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma player ...

. He was named a 2nd team all-star at the end of the season. On 27 September 2018, he signed his first professional contract with

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as ...

to join them for the 2019 season. He made his debut on June 19 against the Lansing Ignite. On 21 May 2022, he signed a short-term loan with the first team

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. In 2023, he played with

International career

Eligible to represent both his native Tunisia and Canada, he was called up to the Canadian under-15 national team camp in 2016.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Essoussi, Mehdi 2001 births Living people Canadian men's soccer players Tunisian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Tunis Toronto FC players Toronto FC II players USL League One players League1 Ontario players Ottawa South United players MLS Next Pro players Alliance United FC players Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer players