PORTRAIT – A true star at the start of the CAN, Morocco’s acrobatic striker Ayoub El-Kaabi had a very special journey before shining at the highest level.
The king of the bicycle
It has become the reference in the field. By scoring his second acrobatic return since the start of the CAN against Zambia (3-0), Ayoub El-Kaabi once again brought all the Moroccan supporters to their feet. Now at the top of the competition’s scorers rankings (3 goals, tied with Riyad Mahrez and Brahim Diaz), the Atlas Lions striker has had a grandiose start to the tournament.
The now king of the bicycle is not his first attempt. A compilation of several minutes published on social networks shows all the acrobatic achievements performed by the Olympiakos player. During the 2020 to 2021 season, he scored no less than 4 similar goals. Prodigious.
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From slums to football
Ayoub El-Kaabi’s story begins in the street. He learned to play football there in a youth marked by “work in frames, cleaning carpets or peddling salt”as he told the UEFA website. The Moroccan was born and raised in a disadvantaged environment in Casablanca, precisely in the popular district of Derb Milla.
The El-Kaabi family went through difficult times in the 1990s, to the point of being forced to live in a slum. In order to provide for himself and help his family, young Ayoub left school at fifteen to join a neighborhood workshop in Mediouna. At the same time, he continued to play football and his talents began to be noticed in particular by recruiters from Racing de Casablanca.
Ayoub El-Kaabi therefore decided to abandon the job of carpenter to devote himself to football and signed his first professional contract at the age of 21 with the Racing Club de Casablanca in 2014.
A journey strewn with pitfalls
Revealed late, El-Kaabi began his professional career as a… left back. Nevertheless, he quickly established himself as an outstanding scorer at Racing AC where he played for three seasons (2014 to 2017) and scored 36 goals in 62 matches. After a transfer to the Berkane Sports Renaissance and a grandiose CHAN 2018 (9 goals), the Moroccan was selected for the first time with the Atlas Lions led at the time by Hervé Renard with whom he discovered the World Cup in 2018.
After a short stint in China where he played alongside Gervinho, Javier Mascherano and Ezequiel Lavezzi, the center forward returned to the country, more precisely to Wydad Casablanca. In his first season under his new colors, El-Kaabi finished at the top of the scorers’ rankings with 18 goals. He left his mark on his passage by scoring a hat-trick including an acrobatic return against NO Jadida.
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In the process, he freely signed up for Hatayspor in Türkiye. Faced with great competition (Youssef En-Nesyri, Abderrazak Hamed-Allah and Walid Cheddira), Ayoub El-Kaabi was ultimately not selected in Walid Regragui’s group for the 2022 World Cup.
The following year, earthquakes in Turkey and Syria hit Hatay. If El-Kaabi escaped without injuries, the club’s sports director Taner Savut and his teammate Christian Atsu were found dead under the rubble. After the tragedy, he briefly joined Qatar at Al-Sadd with the aim of participating in CAN 2023.
The fantastic epic at Olympiakos
In 2023, the Moroccan international (50 caps, 20 goals) joins Olympiakos where he reunites with his compatriot Youssef El-Arabi. From his debut, he allowed the Greek club to qualify for the Europa League thanks to a double in the play-off against FK Cukaricki. Throughout the European journey, the striker carries his team and never stops shaking the nets (16 goals over the entire European season, record for an African). His performances pave the way for a return to the Atlas Lions for CAN 2023.
Demoted to the Europa Conference League, Olympiakos reached the last four of the competition against Aston Villa. Against the English club, El-Kaabi scores twice to qualify the Greeks for the final. During the decisive match, he scored the saving goal against Fiorentina at the end of extra time (116th minute). He becomes the first Moroccan to score a goal in a European competition final.
CAN 2025 before a return to the World Cup
Today, he continues to make defenders dizzy in Greece and sits at the top of the top scorers with 12 goals, four more than his runner-up Alen Ozbolt. Launched perfectly in this Can 2025 at home with Morocco, Ayoub El-Kaabi is on a mission to bring back the trophy before being able to seek a starting place for the next World Cup.
