Wahbi Khazri

Wahbi Khazri (Arabic: وهبي خزري‎; born 8 February 1991) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays for French Ligue 1 side Saint-Étienne and the Tunisia national team.

Wahbi Khazri
Khazri lining up with Tunisia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Wahbi Khazri[1]
Date of birth (1991-02-08) 8 February 1991
Place of birth Ajaccio, Corsica, France
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, winger
Club information
Current team
 Saint-Étienne
Number 10
Youth career
1995–2003 JS Ajaccio
2003–2009 Bastia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2014 Bastia 171 (31)
2014–2016 Bordeaux 52 (14)
2016–2018 Sunderland 38 (3)
2017–2018 → Rennes (loan) 24 (9)
2018– Saint-Étienne 49 (15)
National team‡
2009 Tunisia U20 1 (1)
2012 France U21 1 (0)
2013– Tunisia 54 (19)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:00, 3 October 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:13, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

He began his career at Bastia, scoring 34 goals in 183 competitive games, winning the Championnat National and Ligue 2 in consecutive seasons. After 18 months at Bordeaux of Ligue 1, he transferred to Sunderland in January 2016, who loaned him to Rennes in 2017–18.

Khazri represented Tunisia at under-20 level and France at under-21. He made his senior debut for the former in 2013 and represented the country at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Bastia

A native of Ajaccio, Khazri started his career with local side Jeunesse Sportive Ajaccio before moving to SC Bastia. He received his first call up to the senior squad for their match against Amiens SC on 20 February 2009.[3] He made his debut in that match coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute for Ludovic Genest. Bastia scored the winning goal a minute later to win the match 1–0.[4] He scored his first career goal on 13 March 2009, in a 1–0 victory over Montpellier.[5] Wahbi quickly established himself as a goalscorer, scoring again a couple of weeks later in a 3–1 win over Vannes.[6] He scored again, this time on the final match day of the season against Troyes, scoring the first goal in a 2–1 victory.[7] The loss meant Troyes would be relegated to the Championnat National.

Bordeaux

After five years in Bastia, Khazri signed a four-year contract with FC Girondins de Bordeaux in July 2014.[8]

Sunderland
Khazri (right) playing for Sunderland against Chelsea in May 2016

On 30 January 2016, Khazri joined Sunderland on a four and a half-year contract for an undisclosed fee.[9] Khazri scored his first goal for Sunderland against Manchester United on 13 February 2016, opening the scoring with a direct free kick that beat David de Gea at his far post. Khazri later set up Lamine Koné's 82nd-minute goal from a corner, as Sunderland won 2–1.

On 7 May 2016, Khazri scored a volley in a 3–2 win over Chelsea as manager Sam Allardyce's team neared survival in the Premier League. Richard Mennear of the Sunderland Echo wrote that "His work rate was immense, pressing and probing the Chelsea defence and causing problems from set pieces. He has regained his form just at the right time".[10]

On 31 August 2017, Khazri returned to Ligue 1, signing a season-long loan at Rennes.[11] He was sent off on 14 October in a 2–0 Derby Breton loss at Guingamp, earning two yellow cards for dissent within ten seconds.[12] His nine goals helped the club to 5th place and qualification to the Europa League.[13]

Saint-Étienne

Following Sunderland's relegation to League One, Khazri made a full return to France and joined Saint-Étienne on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee on 17 July 2018.[13] He scored 13 times as they finished in fourth place, putting him joint 9th in goalscorers for the whole season.[14] These included braces in home wins over Monaco on 28 September and Marseille the following 16 January.[15][16]

International career
Khazri playing with Tunisia against Panama at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Youth teams

In 2009, Khazri made his debut for the Tunisia national under-20 football team.[17] However, in November 2011, he was called up by Erick Mombaerts to the France national under-21 football team for a pair of 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifiers against Romania and Slovakia.[18] In February 2012, he played his first and only game for the French side, against Italy, before being substituted by Frédéric Bulot.[19]

Senior team

In late 2012, Khazri switched his international allegiance once again, when he accepted a call-up from Sami Trabelsi, the Tunisian national team's coach, including him in the squad for the 2013 African Cup of Nations.[20]

Henryk Kasperczak named Khazri among 23 Tunisians to compete at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.[21] In the final group game, a 4–2 win over Zimbabwe at the Stade d'Angondjé, he assisted Naïm Sliti and scored a penalty in a 4–2 win that put the Carthage Eagles through at the expense of a favoured Algeria side.[22]

Manager Nabil Maâloul called up Khazri for Tunisia's squad at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[23] In the second group match, he assisted Dylan Bronn and scored himself in added time in a 5–2 loss to Belgium in Moscow.[24] With both teams already eliminated, he then played his part in a 2–1 comeback win over Panama that was Tunisia's first at the World Cup since 1978; he set up Fakhreddine Ben Youssef and then scored the winning goal, the 2,500th in the competition's history.[25]

Khazri was the captain of the Tunisian side that came fourth at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. In their second group game, he equalised to earn a 1–1 draw with Mali in Port Suez.[26]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 3 October 2020[27]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Team Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bastia 2008–09 Ligue 2 1230000—123
2009–10 3120010—322
2010–11 Championnat National 3440041—385
2011–12 Ligue 2 3392100—3510
2012–13 Ligue 1 2970030—327
2013–14 3261110—347
Total 171313291—18334
Bordeaux 2014–15 Ligue 1 3291010—349
2015–16 20510108[lower-alpha 1]1306
Total 52142020816415
Sunderland 2015–16 Premier League 1420000—142
2016–17 2110020—231
2017–18 Championship 300020—50
Total 3830040—423
Rennes (loan) 2017–18 Ligue 1 2491042—2911
Saint-Étienne 2018–19 32132110—3514
2019–20 16331103[lower-alpha 1]2236
2020–21 1000——10
Total 49155220315920
Career total 3347311421311337782
  1. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Europa League

International
As of 9 October 2020[28]
Tunisia
YearAppsGoals
201372
201463
201593
201652
201771
201883
2019115
202010
Total5419

International goals
Scores and results list Tunisia's goal tally first.[28]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 March 2013Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia Sierra Leone2–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.14 August 2013 Congo1–03–0Friendly
3.5 March 2014RCDE Stadium, Barcelona, Spain Colombia1–11–1
4.6 September 2014Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet, Monastir, Tunisia Botswana1–12–12015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
5.19 November 2014 Egypt2–12–1
6.11 January 2015Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia Algeria1–11–1Friendly
7.9 October 2015 Gabon3–13–3
8.13 November 2015Stade Olympique, Nouakchott, Mauritania Mauritania1–12–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.4 September 2016Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet, Monastir, Tunisia Liberia1–04–12017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
10.11 November 2016Omar Hamadi Stadium, Algiers, Algeria Libya1–01–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.23 January 2017Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville, Gabon Zimbabwe4–14–22017 Africa Cup of Nations
12.27 March 2018Allianz Riviera, Nice, France Costa Rica1–01–0Friendly
13.23 June 2018Otkritie Arena, Moscow, Russia Belgium2–52–52018 FIFA World Cup
14.28 June 2018Mordovia Arena, Saransk, Russia Panama2–12–1
15.7 June 2019Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia Iraq1–02–0Friendly
16.28 June 2019Suez Stadium, Suez, Egypt Mali1–11–12019 Africa Cup of Nations
17.15 November 2019Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia Libya1–04–12021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
18.4–1
19.19 November 2019Estadio de Malabo, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea1–01–0

Honours

Club

Bastia

Tunisia

Individual

References
  1. "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. "Sporting Club di Bastia". Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  4. "Amiens v. Bastia Match Report". Archived from the original on 24 February 2009.
  5. "Bastia v. Montpellier Match Report". Archived from the original on 12 March 2009.
  6. "Bastia v. Vannes Match Report". Archived from the original on 5 May 2009.
  7. "Bastia v. Troyes Match Report". Archived from the original on 2 June 2009.
  8. "Wahbi Khazri signs for Bordeaux!". girondins.com. 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  9. "Black Cats sign Wahbi Khazri". Archived from the original on 2 February 2016.
  10. Mennear, Richard (8 May 2016). "Sunderland 3 Chelsea 2: Wahbi Khazri back to his best plus five other things learned from huge win". Sunderland Echo.
  11. Mannear, Richard (31 August 2017). "Revealed: Details of Sunderland winger Wahbi Khazri's Rennes loan deal". The Shields Gazette. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  12. McCormick, Sean (16 October 2017). "Sunderland AFC loan watch: Khazri sees red; Borini suffers derby heartache but stars in new role". Chronicle. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  13. "Wahbi Khazri: Sunderland's Tunisia winger joins St Etienne for undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  14. "Mbappé acaba máximo goleador en Francia, pero no alcanza a Messi" [Mbappé ends up top goalscorer in France, but does not match Messi]. La Razón (in Spanish). 24 May 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  15. "St Etienne 2-0 AS Monaco: Wahbi Khazri double condemns Leonardo Jardim's men to fourth Ligue 1 defeat". Sky Sports. AFP. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  16. "Khazri double takes Saint-Etienne third, sinks Marseille". Ligue 1. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  17. "Montpellier : vers l'association Saihi-Khazri". Topnet.tn. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  18. Jérôme Negroni (28 February 2010). "Khazri : " Un beau match à jouer "". SC-Bastia.net. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  19. "Match : France – Italie". fff.fr. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  20. "Khazri switches allegiance to Tunisia". Al Jazeera. 21 December 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  21. Abdallah, Salma (5 January 2017). "Tunisia announce 23-man squad for Africa Cup of Nations". King Fut. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  22. Young, Henry; Grez, Matias (23 January 2017). "AFCON 2017: Algeria and Zimbabwe crash out". CNN. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  23. Adewoye, Gbenga (2 June 2018). "Tunisia unveil 23-man squad for the World Cup". Goal.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  24. Bevan, Chris (23 June 2018). "Belgium 5–2 Tunisia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  25. Chowdhury, Saj (28 June 2018). "Panama 1–2 Tunisia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  26. "Captain Khazri salvages Cup of Nations draw for Tunisia". France 24. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  27. Wahbi Khazri at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  28. Wahbi Khazri at National-Football-Teams.com
  29. https://www.eurosport.com/football/africa-cup-of-nations/2019/live-tunisia-nigeria_mtc1105866/live.shtml
  30. "Référendum TAP : Malek Jaziri meilleur sportif, Wahbi Khazri meilleur footballeur | Revue de Sport". news.gnet.tn. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
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