Youssef El-Arabi (; born 3 February 1987) is a 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 a striker for

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club APOEL. He began his career with hometown club

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

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 ...

, making his debut in 2008. After a season in Saudi Arabia with Al Hilal he signed for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

for a club record €5 million in 2012. He scored 45 goals in 134 official games before leaving for Al-Duhail in 2016. In three years in the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

, he was top scorer twice, and totalled 107 goals in 95 games across all competitions before returning to Europe with Olympiacos. Born in France, El-Arabi chose to represent

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

at international level, making his debut in 2010. He represented them at three

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 ...

tournaments.

Club career

Caen/Al-Hilal

On 20 December 2008, El-Arabi made his debut for

, coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute against

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

in Ligue 1. He played 2 more games that season (coming on in both as a substitute), and scored no goals (2008–09). The following season (2009–10) saw El-Arabi score 11 goals in 34 games (he came on in 11 of these games as a substitute) for Caen, as well as claiming eight assists, in Ligue 2. This season (2010–11) has seen El-Arabi score 17 goals in 38 games for Caen, as well as claiming five assists, in Ligue 1. After rejecting bids from

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

and Genoa C.F.C, he eventually signed for

Al-Hilal FC Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club (), simply known as Al-Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their Association football, football team competes in the Saudi Pro League. In Arabic, Al-Hilal means "the Crescent Mo ...

in July 2011 on a four-year contract.

Granada

On 19 July 2012, El-Arabi returned to Europe, signing a five-year contract for

club

for a club record €5 million fee. He made his debut on 20 August, starting as the season began with a 1–0 loss at

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. His first goal was scored on 7 October, a penalty to open a 2–1 win at

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, and his total of eight goals in 31 games helped his side avoid relegation. He scored 12 times in his second season at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes, including his first La Liga hat-trick, all three goals in a 3–1 win over

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

on 8 November 2013. At the end of the season, he was nominated for the Best African player at the

LFP Awards The La Liga Awards, previously known as the LFP awards, are presented annually by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) to the best players and coach in La Liga, the first division of association football in Spain. Established in the 2008–09 ...

, losing out to teammate

Yacine Brahimi Yacine Nasreddine Brahimi (; born 8 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays for and captains the Qatari club Al-Gharafa and the Algeria national team. He plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger and is described as "technica ...

. On 4 October 2014, El-Arabi scored in the first minute against Málaga, albeit in a 2–1 away loss. He put the side ahead with a penalty at Levante the following 23 February but was later sent off for scrapping with Iván Ramis in a loss by the same score. Granada avoided relegation on goal difference. In his final season at Granada, El-Arabi scored 17 times in 38 games, including a hat-trick in a 5–1 win over Levante on 21 April 2016.

Al-Duhail

On 18 July 2016, El-Arabi signed for

Lekhwiya SC Al-Duhail Sports Club (), formerly Lekhwiya SC, is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. The club is based in the Duhail district in the city of Doha and plays its home games at Abd ...

of the

. He made his debut on 17 September, scoring the opening goal of a 4–0 home win over Muaither. His 24 goals in 18 games made him joint top scorer for the season alongside Al Sadd's Baghdad Bounedjah, while Lekhwiya won the title. On 11 December 2017, El-Arabi scored six goals in one match for the renamed Al-Duhail in an 8–0 QSL Cup group stage win at Al-Khor. His team retained their league title, and he was again top scorer, with 26 goals in 20 games, one more than his teammate

Youssef Msakni Youssef Msakni (; born 28 October 1990) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Qatar Stars League club Al Arabi, and captains the Tunisia national team. Msakni has played over 100 matches and scored 23 g ...

Olympiacos

On 6 July 2019, El-Arabi signed a three-year contract with Greek side

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, returning to Europe after three years in Qatar. He made his

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

debut on 24 August, scoring the only goal of a home win over Asteras Tripoli through a 7th-minute penalty. Three days later, he scored both goals of a 2–1 win at

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. They are the league's reigning champions. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Divis ...

in a Champions League play-off second leg match, putting the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

-based team through 6–1 on aggregate. El-Arabi scored his first Champions League goal on 22 October 2019 in a 2–3 loss against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. On 11 December 2019, El Arabi scored the only goal with a late penalty against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

in their final Champions League Group B game, to book a place in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

at the expense of the Serbians. The following 12 January 2020, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 away win over

Lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...

. On 27 February 2020, Olympiacos played their second leg of the Round of 32 at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

, and El-Arabi scored a goal at the 119th minute of extra time to knock

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

out of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. He scored on 28 June as they won 2–1 at AEK to secure a 45th league title, the first in three years. In 2020–21, El-Arabi was top scorer with 22 goals as Olympiacos retained the title. On 4 November 2021, in a 2–1 Europa League loss

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

, he surpassed

Predrag Đorđević Predrag Đorđević (alternatively Djordjević, sr-cyr, Предраг Ђорђевић; born 4 August 1972) is a Serbian retired footballer. Known for his set pieces, Đorđević played as a left midfielder for Greek club Olympiacos for 13 y ...

and

Kostas Mitroglou Konstantinos "Kostas" Mitroglou (, ; born 12 March 1988) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is nicknamed "Mitrogoal" and "Pistolero" by fans due to his goalscoring abilities. Raised in Germany, Mitroglou star ...

as the club's top European scorer with 16 goals, doing so in 33 games. On 15 December, he scored a hat trick in a 3–0 home win against Atromitos F.C. to reach 50 goals in 81 league appearances; his fourth hat-trick put him equal with

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

, having done so in fewer games than the Brazilian's 111. El Arabi was part of Olympiacos's

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

league triumph in the 2023–24 season.

APOEL

After his contract expired on 1 July 2024 with Olympiacos, El-Arabi joined

club APOEL.

International career

On 5 September 2010, El-Arabi made his debut for the

Morocco national football team The Morocco national football team (Arabic: المنتخب المغربي لكرة القدم) represents Morocco in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, the governing ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute for Mounir El-Hamdaoui against the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

. He followed this up with games against

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, coming on as a substitute in both games. Manager

Eric Gerets Eric Maria Gerets (; born 18 May 1954) is a Belgian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player. As a Forward (association football), striker, he started his playing career as an amateur for his local ...

named El-Arabi among the 23 players for the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

, where he started and played as a substitute for one game each of a group-stage exit. On 13 October that year, he scored and provided an assist in a 4–0 home win over

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

as the Atlas Lions overturned a first-leg deficit to reach the 2013 edition; in another group exit in South Africa, he scored the equaliser in a draw with

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

. On 29 March 2016, El-Arabi scored both goals in a 2–0 win over the same opponents at the

Stade de Marrakech Marrakesh Stadium (, Berber: Annar n Mrraksh), is a multi-use stadium in Marrakesh, Morocco. It was designed by Gregotti Associati International. Completed in January 2012, it is used mostly for football matches with the capability of hosting O ...

to qualify for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

Hervé Renard Hervé Jean-Marie Roger Renard (born 30 September 1968) is a French professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of Saudi Arabia. Renard has previously been the manager of Zambia national team, with whom he won the 2012 ...

called him up for the finals in Gabon, where he made only an 11-minute substitute appearance in a run to the quarter-finals. He was a noted omission from the French manager's squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Caen *

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 ...

: 2009–10 Al Hilal *

Saudi Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup () was the oldest Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. History The cup was the oldest and first domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia; the first edition was held in 1956–57; five editions were played betwe ...

: 2011–12 Al Duhail *

: 2016–17, 2017–18 * Qatar Emir Cup:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 ...

Qatar Cup The Qatar Cup (formerly known as Qatar Crown Prince Cup) is a tournament in men's football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), go ...

* Qatari Sheikh Jassim Cup:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Olympiacos *

: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2019–20; runner-up: 2020–21 *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

: 2023–24 APOEL *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is ...

: 2024 Individual * Qatar Stars League Top scorer: 2016–17, 2017–18 *Qatar Starts League Player of the Month: October 2017 *

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

OPTA Best XI:

Player of the Season: 2020–21 * Super League Greece Top scorer: 2019–20, 2020–21 * Super League Greece Best Foreign Player: 2019–20, 2020–21 * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2019–20, 2020–21 *Super League Greece Player of the Month: January 2020, December 2020, November 2021, May 2022 * Olympiacos Player of the Season: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 *

Top scorer: 2024–25 Records *He has achieved the most

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 ...

s in the history of Olympiacos, a total of 5 times.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arabi, Youssef El 1987 births Living people Footballers from Caen Men's association football forwards Moroccan men's footballers 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen Stade Malherbe Caen players Al-Hilal Saudi FC players French men's futsal players Granada CF footballers Al-Duhail SC players Olympiacos F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. B players Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Morocco men's international footballers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players La Liga players Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Greece French sportspeople of Moroccan descent Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Saudi Pro League players Qatar Stars League players French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar French expatriate sportspeople in Greece Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Sportspeople convicted of crimes UEFA Conference League–winning players 21st-century French sportsmen