Zakaria Messoudi (born October 30, 1993) is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in Morocco, he represented Canada at youth international level.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, Morocco, Messoudi moved to Canada at the age of eight. He played his youth soccer with Montreal-Concordia AAA before joining the

Montreal Impact Academy Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the ninth-largest in North America. It was founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", and is now named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

in 2010. He played with the senior academy team in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

's first division during the 2012 season. Messoudi would help Montreal clinch a playoff berth by finishing second in the division. The academy side would defeat Toronto FC's academy in the quarterfinal. In the next round of the postseason, Montreal would defeat the

York Region Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian association football, soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue ...

to qualify for the championship final match. He would appear in the championship match, where

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

would defeat Montreal.

Montreal Impact

On June 4, 2013, it was announced that Messoudi had signed his first professional contract with the Montreal Impact of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. In his debut season with the senior team, he played in the league's reserve division where he appeared in 10 matches. After the conclusion of the season, Montreal would extend his contract for the 2014 season. On March 28, 2014, it was confirmed that Messoudi would join the new expansion

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

side

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were di ...

for the 2014 season. He then made his professional debut in the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

against

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

. He came on as a 77th-minute substitute for Oliver Minatel as the match ended 0–0. Messoudi would fail to make a league appearance for Ottawa and upon his return to Montreal, his contract option was declined at the end of the 2014 season.

FC Montreal

Despite being cut Messoudi would remain a part of the Impact organization, being announced as part of the roster of the newly formed

FC Montreal FC Montreal was a Canadian professional association football, soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that played in the USL Championship, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. The team served as a reserve team of Major ...

on March 13, 2015. He was released by the team at the end of the

2015 USL season The 2015 USL season was the fifth season of the United Soccer League (USL) and the first under its new name (previously the league was called USL Pro). This season represented a substantial expansion from 14 teams in 2014 to 24 teams in 2015, an ...

Odds Ballklubb

Messoudi signed a 2-year deal with Norwegian top-flight Odd on March 17, 2016. He shortly after made his debut coming on as a substitute in a cup tie against Tollnes. He would make his European continental tournament debut against

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club (), or with its full name Panipirotikós Athlitikós Síllogos Giánnina (, ''Panepirotic Athletic Club Giannina'') is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ioannina, the capita ...

on July 21, 2016. Messoudi left the club after the 2017 season when his contract expired.

Mont-Royal Outremont

In 2020, he played in the

Première ligue de soccer du Québec A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

with

CS Mont-Royal Outremont Club Soccer Mont-Royal Outremont is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in the Montreal boroughs of Mount Royal and Outremont. Since 2013, the club has competed in Ligue1 Québec. Their women's team has competed in the women's divi ...

International career

Messoudi made his international debut for the Canada U20 side on February 18, 2013, against Cuba U20 in the

2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was an association football tournament that took place between February 18 and March 3, 2013. The CONCACAF U-20 Championship determined the four CONCACAF teams that would participate at the 2013 FIFA U-20 Wo ...

. He was also selected to represent Canada in the

2013 Jeux de la Francophonie The 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie, also known as ''VIIèmes Jeux de la Francophonie'' ( French for ''7th Francophone Games''), were held in Nice, France, from September 6–15. This was the second edition of the games to be hosted in France and the ...

Honors

Montreal Impact Academy *

CSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports le ...

Runners-up:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Messoudi, Zakaria 1993 births Living people Footballers from Casablanca Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players Moroccan men's footballers Moroccan emigrants to Canada CF Montréal players Ottawa Fury FC players FC Montreal players Men's association football midfielders USL Championship players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players CF Montréal U23 players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Homegrown Players (MLS) Ligue1 Québec players CS Mont-Royal Outremont players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen