Noussair Mazraoui
Mazraoui training with Morocco in 2023
Personal information
Full name Noussair Mazraoui[1]
Date of birth (1997-11-14) 14 November 1997 (age 26)[2]
Place of birth Leiderdorp, Netherlands
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[3]
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Bayern Munich
Number 40
Youth career
2002–2005 AVV Alphen
2005–2006 Alphense Boys
2006–2016 Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Jong Ajax 56 (12)
2018–2022 Ajax 93 (6)
2022– Bayern Munich 32 (1)
International career‡
2017–2018 Morocco U20 3 (0)
2018– Morocco 28 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:32, 10 February 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 January 2024

Noussair Mazraoui (Arabic: نُصَيْر مَزرَاوِيّ; born 14 November 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. He can also play as a left-back, midfielder or winger. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Morocco national team.

Club career

Ajax

Mazraoui with Ajax in 2018

Mazraoui grew up in Alphen aan de Rijn and started playing for local club AVV Alphen at age 4.[4] He moved to Alphense Boys three years later, where he only played for a year before being invited to play in the youth academy of Ajax.[4] He made his professional debut with Jong Ajax on 12 August 2016 in an Eerste Divisie game against Almere City, replacing Richairo Živković after 86 minutes.[5]

On 4 February 2018, he made his Eredivisie debut, coming off the bench to substitute David Neres, in a 3–1 victory over NAC Breda.[6] In the following season, on 2 October 2018, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 1–1 away draw against Bayern Munich,[7] followed by the only goal in the 92nd minute of stoppage time in a 1–0 victory over Benfica on 23 October.[8] On 16 December 2018, he netted his first Eredivisie goal in an 8–0 thrashing of De Graafschap.[9] During his breakthrough season, he was named Ajax Talent of the Year, in which he won the domestic double with the club, played in the Champions Legaue semi-finals, and scored four goals in a total of 48 matches.[10]

On 25 October 2020, Mazraoui scored his third Champions League goal in a 3–1 victory against FC Midtjylland,[11] in which Ajax eventually managed to win another domestic double in the 2020–21 season.[10] In the 2021–22 Champions League, he was part of the team which won all their six matches in the group stage.[10] In his last season at Ajax, he managed to score five goals, all in the league, and provide four assists in 35 matches in all competitions.[10]

Bayern Munich

On 24 May 2022, Mazraoui signed a four-year deal with Bayern Munich, starting from 1 July.[12] In January 2023, he had an inflammation in his pericardium after suffering from Covid-19, which would rule him out for six to eight weeks.[13] On 13 May 2023, Mazraoui scored his first goal for the club in a 6–0 home win against FC Schalke 04 at the Allianz Arena.[14][15]

International career

Mazraoui was a youth international for Morocco.[16][17] He first played for the Moroccan national team in 2018.

On 10 November 2021, Mazraoui revealed that the relations between him and Moroccan national team coach Vahid Halilhodžić fell.[18][19] On 13 March 2022, Mazraoui and his Moroccan teammate, Hakim Ziyech, both rejected Halilhodžić's invitation to represent Morocco in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF third round against DR Congo.[20][21] He later accepted to join the national team and represented Morocco in the 2022 FIFA World Cup after Halilhodžić was replaced by Walid Regragui.

On 10 November 2022, he was named in Morocco's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[22][23] He played a role in Morocco's charge to the semi-finals, helping them become the first African side to reach the final 4 stage at the World Cup.[24]

On 28 December 2023, Mazraoui was amongst the 27 players selected by coach Walid Regragui to represent Morocco in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.[25][26]

Controversies

In May 2023, Mazraoui supported his compatriot Zakaria Aboukhlal, who had refused to wear a T-shirt in support of the LGBT community, with an Instagram comment.[citation needed] At the following home game between FC Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, fans then showed several banners asking Mazraoui to respect FC Bayern's values.[27][28]

In October 2023, during the Israel-Hamas war, Mazraoui shared a Pro-Palestinian video via Instagram wishing "victory to our oppressed brothers in Palestine", which was met with criticism from German Bundestag member Johannes Steiniger who demanded his extradition from the country. Due to that on top of a colossal backlash within the Bundesliga and Germany MPs, Mazraoui then emphasized that he was against all types of terrorism, hatred and violence.[29][30] A few days after Mazraoui's public apology, as well as a personal conversation of him with the club management; FC Bayern Munich announced that there would be no consequences.[31] Following a Champions League match against Galatasaray in Istanbul, the club officials held talks with both Mazraoui and his FC Bayern Munchen Israeli teammate Daniel Peretz; in addition, the former expressed willingness to meet members of Makkabi Deutschland.[32] A week later, Mazraoui met with representatives of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria including their President Charlotte Knobloch.[33]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 February 2024[34]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Jong Ajax 2016–17 Eerste Divisie 33 6 — — — 33 6
2017–18 Eerste Divisie 22 6 — — — 22 6
2019–20 Eerste Divisie 1 0 — — — 1 0
Total 56 12 — — — 56 12
Ajax 2017–18 Eredivisie 8 0 0 0 0 0 — 8 0
2018–19 Eredivisie 28 1 3 1 17[a] 2 — 48 4
2019–20 Eredivisie 13 0 1 0 6[a] 0 0 0 20 0
2020–21 Eredivisie 19 0 1 0 6[a] 1 — 26 1
2021–22 Eredivisie 25 5 1 0 8[a] 0 1[b] 0 35 5
Total 93 6 6 1 37 3 1 0 137 10
Bayern Munich 2022–23 Bundesliga 19 1 1 0 5[a] 0 1[c] 0 26 1
2023–24 Bundesliga 13 0 1 0 4[a] 0 1[c] 0 19 0
Total 32 1 2 0 9 0 2 0 45 1
Career total 181 19 8 1 46 3 3 0 238 23
  1. ^ a b c d e f Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
  3. ^ a b Appearances in DFL-Supercup

International

As of match played 30 January 2024[35]
National team Year Apps Goals
Morocco 2018 3 0
2019 7 1
2020 2 1
2022 8 0
2023 7 0
2024 1 0
Total 28 2
Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.[35]
List of international goals scored by Noussair Mazraoui
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 19 November 2019 Intwari Stadium, Bujumbura, Burundi  Burundi 1–0 3–0 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2. 13 October 2020 Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco  DR Congo 1–0 1–1 Friendly

Honours

Ajax[36]

Bayern Munich

Individual

Orders

References

  1. ^ "Morocco" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. 15 June 2019. p. 16. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Noussair Mazraoui: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Noussair Mazraoui". FC Bayern Munich. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b van der Hansz, Silvester (30 July 2017). "Alphenaar Mazraoui leeft zijn droom tussen de sterren bij Ajax" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Almere City vs. Ajax II – 12 August 2016 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Tranen in ArenA bij debuut Ajax-talent" (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 5 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Bayern Munich 1–1 Ajax". BBC Sport. 2 October 2018.
  8. ^ "Late Mazraoui strike seals win for Ajax over Benfica". Euronews. 23 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Ajax 8–0 De Graafschap". BBC Sport. 16 December 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d "Noussair Mazraoui: Who is the Bayern Munich and Morocco full-back?". Bundesliga. May 2022.
  11. ^ "Ajax 3–1 FC Midtjylland | Football". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  12. ^ "FC Bayern sign Noussair Mazraoui". Bayern Munich. 24 May 2022.
  13. ^ "Noussair Mazraoui: Bayern Munich defender out with heart inflammation". BBC Sport. 6 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Bayern put six past Schalke to move closer to title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Bayern Munich make title statement with dominant win over Schalke". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Football (Sky Sports)". SkySports.
  17. ^ "Match – Maroc – France – FFF".
  18. ^ "Vahid and Mazraoui quarreled because of… a bottle!". Archysport. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Maroc : Noussair Mazraoui revient sur son clash avec Vahid Halilhodzic | Africa Foot United". africafootunited.com (in French). 10 November 2021. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  20. ^ "زياش ومزراوي يغيبان عن المنتخب". Hespress – هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). 13 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  21. ^ "مزراوي يرفض دعوة الإنضمام لمنتخب المغرب". www.yalla-sport.com. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  22. ^ "Morocco World Cup 2022 squad: Who's in and who's out? | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Moroccan coach unveils list of 26 Atlas Lions in 2022 World Cup". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  24. ^ "Moroccans in the Bundesliga, including 2022 World Cup bronze medal challengers Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui". Bundesliga. 16 December 2022.
  25. ^ "Regragui unveils 27 player list for Morocco's participation in CAN 2023". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. 28 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  26. ^ "Regragui names 27 provisional players for AFCON". CAF. 28 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  27. ^ "Fan-Banner gegen Bayern-Star!" (in German). sport1.de. 21 May 2023.
  28. ^ "Hamas-Terror sorgt für Eklat beim FC Bayern: Mazraoui fehlt im Training – drohen dem Star jetzt Konsequenzen?" (in German). Abendzeitung München. 19 October 2023.
  29. ^ "Kritik an Posting von Bayern-Spieler Mazraoui zum Nahost-Konflikt" (in German). Deutschlandfunk. 16 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Bayern-Profi Mazraoui verbreitet Pro-Palästina-Video" (in German). br.de. 16 October 2023.
  31. ^ "Stellungnahme des FC Bayern München zu Noussair Mazraoui" (in German). FC Bayern Munich. 20 October 2023.
  32. ^ "Bayern-Bankett: Mazraoui teilt Tisch mit Peretz – Dreesen-Rede mit Ankündigung" (in German). sportbuzzer.de. 25 October 2023.
  33. ^ "Reden und schweigen im Fall Mazraoui" (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 2 November 2023.
  34. ^ "N. Mazraoui". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  35. ^ a b "Noussair Mazraoui". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  36. ^ "Noussair Mazraoui – Career Honours". Soccerway.
  37. ^ "Dortmund draw gifts Bayern title on thrilling final day". BBC Sport. 27 May 2023. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  38. ^ "Sadio Mane debut goal helps Bayern Munich to Supercup win over RB Leipzig". Bundesliga. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  39. ^ "Ziyech en Mazraoui verkozen tot speler en talent van het jaar". AD.nl. 16 May 2019.
  40. ^ "Goal of the Season 2021/2022 | Noussair Mazraoui: 'Thank you very much for voting'".
  41. ^ "Tagliafico Speler van de Maand, Mazraoui wint talentenprijs".
  42. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/EASportsFC/comments/ueqaqs/eredivisie_team_of_the_season/
  43. ^ "Les dix types de wissams royaux accordés par Mohammed VI".

External links

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