Ryad Boudebouz (; born 19 February 1990) 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 for

JS Kabylie Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (Kabyle grammar, Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqvayel; Berber languages, Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ; ), known as JS Kabylie or simply JSK, is an Algerian profession ...

. Mainly 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. ...

, he can also play as a

right winger 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. ...

. A former France youth international, Boudebouz switched his allegiance to Algeria in 2010. He played for the Algeria national team at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

and the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

. In total, Boudebouz scored two goals in twenty-five matches for Algeria from 2010 to 2017.

Club career

Born in

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n parents, Boudebouz grew up in the 'Europe' district of the city. At age 10, he joined the junior ranks of local side

where he stayed until age 14 when he joined

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

's youth academy. Boudebouz made his debut for the club's reserve side at the age of 16. On 15 May 2008, Boudebouz signed his first professional contract with the club agreeing to a three-year deal tying him to the club until 2011. On 4 October 2008, Boudebouz made his first team debut for Sochaux, starting in a league match against

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

. On 2 September 2013 – the last day of the 2013–14 summer transfer window – Boudebouz signed a three-year contract with

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

-based club

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastia (, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a French professional association football, football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football in France, ...

, for a reported fee of €1 million. After two seasons in Corsica, Boudebouz joined

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 ...

with a four-year contract, as part of a deal that saw Yassine Jebbour join the Corsican team. In January 2019, Boudebouz was loaned to

Celta CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL and EFL). It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be ...

from

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

. On 27 July 2019, Boudebouz signed a three-year deal to join

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 ...

side

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 ...

which was reportedly worth €4 million. On 6 March 2020, he scored a stoppage time winner for Saint-Etienne in the

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 ...

semi-final to send the club into their first final in nearly 40 years. On 8 September 2022, Boudebouz joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli on a free transfer. On 12 September 2023, Boudebouz joined Saudi First Division side Ohod on a two-year contract. On 10 September 2024, Boudebouz signed a two-year contract, with

International career

Boudebouz received a surprise call-up to the France under-21 squad, who were looking to start fresh after their elimination from the

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 comp ...

, for a friendly against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. However, Ryad decided to pass on the offer instead opting to play with the under-19 team who were in the process of qualifying for the

2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2009 Final Tournament was held in Ukraine in the cities of Donetsk and Mariupol. Players born after 1 January 1990 were eligible to participate in this competition. Qualification Qualification for the final ...

, in which they later progressed. On 4 May 2010, Boudebouz was named to the Algeria national team

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

preliminary squad. Boudebouz had been in the process of acquiring a passport to represent the nation of his parents since 2009. On 28 May 2010, Boudebouz made his debut for Algeria in a friendly against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. Starting the game on the bench, he was substituted in at the 65th minute. He was included in the final 23-man squad for the World Cup.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first.''

Honours

Saint-Étienne *

runner-up: 2019–20 Al Ahli * Champion:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boudebouz, Ryad 1990 births Living people Footballers from Colmar French men's footballers Algerian men's footballers Chaoui people French sportspeople of Algerian descent Men's association football midfielders Ligue 1 players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players SC Bastia players Montpellier HSC players AS Saint-Étienne players La Liga players Real Betis players RC Celta de Vigo players Saudi First Division League players Saudi Pro League players Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Ohod Club players JS Kabylie players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Algeria men's international footballers France men's youth international footballers Algerian expatriate men's footballers Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Spain 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen