.jpg) Bounedjah withAl Sadd in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Baghdad Bounedjah[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1991-11-24)24 November 1991 (age 34)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Oran, Algeria | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Al-Shamal | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| –2009 | RCG Oran | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | RCG Oran | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | USM El Harrach | 51 | (16) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | ES Sahel | 61 | (34) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2024 | Al Sadd | 237 | (208) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Al-Shamal | 32 | (24) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2016 | Algeria U23 | 8 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2021 | Algeria A' | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013– | Algeria[2] | 81 | (35) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 29 March 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 13 November 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Baghdad Saddam Bounedjah (Arabic:بَغْدَاد صَدَّام بُونَجَاح, born 24 November 1991) is an Algerian professionalfootballer who plays as astriker forQatar Stars League clubAl-Shamal and theAlgeria national team.
Throughout his club career until 2015, Bounedjah played for Algerian sidesRCG Oran andUSM El Harrach, and Tunisian sideÉtoile du Sahel, before joining Qatari club Al Sadd in 2015. In the2018–19 Qatar Stars League season, he scored a league record of 39 goals in one season, and was the world's leading goalscorer during the 2018 calendar year with 58 goals overall.[3][4]
Baghdad Bounedjah made his senior debut for Algeria in 2014 and has represented his nation at the2016 Summer Olympics, and four editions of theAfrica Cup of Nations; he was a member of the squad that won the2019 tournament, scoring the winning goal in thefinal.
Baghdad started his career in his native city withRCG Oran when he played in the all youth categories until he arrives in senior in 2009 when he played two seasons. In 2011, he joinedUSM El Harrach.[5]
In the summer of 2011, Bounedjah signed a two-year contract with USM El Harrach, joining them from amateur club RCG Oran.[6] On 10 September 2011, he made his professional debut for the club as a starter in the first-round game of the2011–12 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 againstMC Oran, scoring a goal in the 78th minute.[7]
In June 2013, Bounedjah joined with the club of Sousse,Étoile Sportive du Sahel, with which he signed a three-year contract.[8] This transfer was made official a month later, when his former employer, who disputed this transfer. On 26 September 2013, He made his debut for the team inTunisian Professional League 1 againstUS Monastir, also scored his first goal with the club. He quickly became an essential part of the ES Sahel, and finished top scorer in the2014Tunisian Professional League 1 in his first year, scoring 14 goals in 23 games. This earned him the extension of his initial three-year contract, an additional year, the link now to the club until June 2017.[9] On 11 August 2013, Bounedjah, won his first title with Étoile du Sahel. The Algerian striker offered the2013–14 Tunisian Cup to his club at the expense ofCS Sfaxien, in the final at Rades.[10] In the second season, Bounedjah continued to shine and On 25 September 2014, scored his first hat-trick in Tunisian Ligue Pro 1 againstEGS Gafsa in 3–0 victory. to finish the Professional League 1 with 11 goals in second place the same thing with Étoile du Sahel where they failed to win the championship, two points behindClub Africain. But again he won the Tunisian Cup for the second time in a row, this time againstStade Gabèsien and scored Bounedjah a hat-trick.[11] Then continued to shine and this time in theCAF Confederation Cup and thus contributed to the victory of Étoile du Sahel title and achieved at the same time the title of the top scorer.[12]
On 29 April 2015, Bounedjah moved to Qatar'sAl Sadd, but he remained at Étoile du Sahel for a six-month loan period. Indeed, the Qatari club having already reached its quota of foreign players, decided to leave the player on loan to theSahelian training for the first part of the season before returning to his workforce. During his loan, Bounedjah was seriously injured.[13] Ankle injury which kept him out for nearly three months On 7 March 2016, He made his debut for the team inQatar Stars League againstAl-Gharafa, later Bounedjah scored the winning goal againstAl-Kharaitiyat his first goal with the club.[14] and with the end of a difficult season for him and his team participated only in ten games and scored seven goals in all competitions.
In his second season and On 7 December 2016, Bounedjah scored his first hat-trick inQatar Stars League againstAl-Rayyan in 5–0 victory.[15] reaching 13 goals in Qatar for that season. Later, on 16 February 2017 Bounedjah scored another hat trick, this time againstAl-Arabi In this match, Bounedjah scored five goals for the first time in his career.[16] At the end of the season, his team failed to win theleague title, two points behindLekhwiya, but he achieved the title of the top goalscorer in the Qatari Stars league with 24 goals alongside Lekhwiya'sYoussef El-Arabi.[17] With the end of the league, Bounedjah won his first titleQatar Crown Prince Cup after winning the final againstEl Jaish and also scored a goal. Bounedjah achieve his second title by winning theEmir of Qatar Cup againstAl-Rayyan.[18][19] before this final, in the quarter-finals Bounedjah scored a super-hat trick againstAl-Kharaitiyat. As a result, Bounedjah finished the season with 30 goals. On 23 May 2017, After his big season he decided to extend his contract, which was due to end in 2018, for three seasons until 2021.[20]
At the start of his third season at Al Sadd, the2017–18 campaign On 9 September 2017, First game of the season, first "hat trick" and first title for Bounedjah, during theQatar Super Cup after beating league champion last season,Al-Duhail 4–1.[21] with the start of the league Bounedjah was aspiring to win the title and the start was good where he scored in six consecutive games until the match againstAl-Duhail and defeat 4–2, after this game was exposed again, a difficult injuryShin fracture and kept him out for more than two months, This injury prevented him from competing for the title of goal scorer against his opponent last seasonYoussef El-Arabi, and after returning from injury and only in five matches Bounedjah scored ten goals in Qatar Stars League including a super-hat trick againstAl-Ahli The fourth goal is the 50 in all competitions with Al Sadd.[22] In theAFC Champions League and after a seven-year absence from the group stage Al-Sadd placed its focus on it, as well as Bounedjah Where he was remarkably successful scoring nine goals in eight games, Including four binaries againstAl-Wasl back and forth,Persepolis andAl-Ahli in theRound of 16.[23] To finish the season strongly with 28 goals in all competitions.
On 5 August 2018, Bounedjah scored a hat-trick in the first game of the season againstAl-Kharaitiyat one week later, Bounedjah broke the Qatar Stars League single-game goal record, scoring seven goals in a 10–1 win againstAl Arabi.[24] Bounedjah continued his success at the individual level by winning the top scorer of the2018 AFC Champions League with 13 goals to become the first Algerian and the first player from a Qatari club to achieve this award. TheAl-Sadd forward matched the all-time single tournament record held byMuriqui who netted the same tally by the conclusion ofGuangzhou Evergrande's 2013 campaign.[25][26] despite failing to reach the final after a semi-final elimination againstPersepolis. And continue to pursue and score goals with the club and the national team and his arrival at the barrier 50 goals in 2018, newspapers in Qatar and Europe spoke about the offer fromOlympique Marseille to the Algerian star in the winter transfer.[27][28] Bounedjah said that, "if I get an offer from a good club I will leave Al Sadd but if it's the opposite I'll stay here".[29] On 2 December 2018, Bounedjah scored another hat-trick, his fourth for the season and this time againstAl-Gharafa in 8–1 victory.[30] On 7 December 2018, Bounedjah set a new top goalscorer record for the Qatar Stars League with 28 goals after just 14 matches, breaking the record previously held by Brazilian strikerClemerson de Araújo, who scored 27 goals in2007–08.[31]
By the end of 2018, Bounedjah managed to beat several stars such asCristiano Ronaldo andLionel Messi as the world's top scorer after reaching goal 58, including 29 in Qatar Stars League this season, ten last season in the same competition, 13 in theChampions League and seven with theAlgeria national team.[32] Bounedjah is also the first Algerian to have scored a total of 50 goals in a year and far ahead of his teammates in the selectionIslam Slimani orRiyad Mahrez and evenNacer Bouiche who had exceeded 40 goals in 1986 withJS Kabylie. On 28 December 2018, Bounedjah decided to renew his contract until 2024 despite the offers he received from several European clubs.[33] With the start of the new year, Bounedjah won another individual award, this time the bestAlgerian player of 2018, ahead of his teammatesRiyad Mahrez andYacine Brahimi, The award was conferred by the Brazilian starRoberto Carlos.[34][35] Bounedjah is the first footballer based outside Europe and Algeria to win the award. On 23 February 2019, Bounedjah scored in the Qatari Classico againstAl-Rayyan, bringing his tally with Al Sadd to 100 goal in all competitions, making him the first Algerian player based outside of Europe to claim this accolade with a single club.[36] On 4 April 2019, Bounedjah scored his sixth hat-trick of the season (and 39th goal in total - a league record) againstAl-Ahli to leadAl Sadd SC to win their firstQatar Stars League title in six seasons, is also the first league title for Bounedjah in its history.[37][38]
After the end of theAfrica Cup of Nations, Bounedjah cut off his holiday early to prepare for the new league season, which had an early start. On 13 August 2019, Bounedjah and his team qualified for thequarter-finals of the AFC Champions League after winning against rivalsAl-Duhail; he registered an assist forAkram Afif in the second leg.[39] After missing two games because of the penalty and in his firstQatar Stars League match againstAl-Shahania he scored four goals in the 7–1 win.[40] On 11 December, he scored the first goal at the2019 FIFA Club World Cup and earned the Man of the Match award for his performance in his side's 3–1 First Round win over2019 OFC Champions League winnersHienghène Sport inextra time.[41] He ultimately scored a tournament-high three goals as Al-Sadd ended sixth.[42]
The start of the season was late due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Qatar and from the tournaments that have been postponed to this season the2020 Emir of Qatar Cup, Bounedjah led his club to win the title where he scored the two winning goals in the final againstAl-Arabi which is his second title in the same competition.[43] On 23 December 2020, Bounedjah scored the 100th goal in theQatar Stars League by scoring the winning goal againstAl-Rayyan.[44] On 7 January 2021, Bounedjah scored his first hat-trick of the season againstAl-Sailiya in 8–0 victory and provided two assists.[45] Five days later Bounedjah scored another hat-trick against defending championsAl-Duhail in a 3–1 win.[46]
On 26 February 2021, in the final of theQatar Cup, Bounedjah scored twice in Al Sadd's win overAl-Duhail.[47] In theQatar Stars League and after winning againstUmm Salal with a score of 3–0, Bounedjah scored a goal which secured the club's 15th league title.[48] He ended the season as the league's top scorer, with 21 goals; it was his third time winning the QSL golden boot.[49]
In September 2011, Bounedjah was called byAzzedine Aït Djoudi up to theAlgeria under-23 national team.[50] He participated with the team in a pair of friendlies againstUSM Blida andNA Hussein Dey.
On 4 October 2011, Bounedjah received a surprise call-up to theAlgeria national team fromVahid Halilhodžić for the2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier againstCentral African Republic, replacing the injuredRafik Djebbour.[51] On 16 November 2011, he was selected as part of Algeria's squad for the2011 CAF U-23 Championship in Morocco.[52]
Bounedjah scored the only goal for Algeria againstSenegal in the 2nd minute of the2019 Africa Cup of Nations Final in Egypt, from a shot that took a massive deflection off Senegalese defenderSalif Sané, in a match that ended with a 1–0 win for Algeria.[53]
In December 2023, he was named in Algeria's squad for the2023 Africa Cup of Nations.[54] He scored the opening goal against Angola on January 15, 2024, in Ivory Coast.
Baghdad Bounedjah was formed inRCG Oran, he played with the club until 2011 when he joinedUSM El Harrach who played inLigue 1 Professional.[55]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| USM El Harrach | 2011–12 | Algerian Ligue 1 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 25 | 7 | ||
| 2012–13 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 11 | ||||
| Total | 48 | 16 | 6 | 2 | — | — | 54 | 18 | ||||
| Étoile du Sahel | 2013–14 | Tunisian Ligue 1 | 24 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 2[b] | 2 | — | 28 | 17 | |
| 2014–15 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 12[b] | 7 | — | 39 | 24 | |||
| 2015–16 | 2 | 1 | — | 7[b] | 4 | — | 9 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 49 | 26 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 13 | — | 76 | 46 | |||
| Al Sadd | 2015–16 | Qatar Stars League | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 10 | 7 | |
| 2016–17 | 20 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 1[d] | 0 | 1[c] | 1 | 25 | 30 | ||
| 2017–18 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 8[d] | 9 | 3[e] | 3 | 22 | 28 | ||
| 2018–19 | 22 | 39 | 3 | 3 | 10[d] | 6 | — | 35 | 48 | |||
| 2019–20 | 21 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 7[d] | 1 | 7[f] | 8 | 38 | 26 | ||
| 2020–21 | 19 | 21 | 4 | 6 | 10[d] | 5 | 2[c] | 2 | 35 | 34 | ||
| 2021–22 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 14 | ||
| 2022–23 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6[g] | 5 | 30 | 20 | ||
| 2023–24 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6[d] | 5 | 6 | 4[h] | 36 | 16 | ||
| Total | 157 | 150 | 26 | 27 | 45 | 26 | 24 | 20 | 252 | 223 | ||
| Al-Shamal | 2024–25 | Qatar Stars League | 21 | 18 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 23 | 19 | |
| 2025–26 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 11 | 6 | |||
| Total | 31 | 24 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 34 | 25 | ||||
| Career total | 285 | 216 | 43 | 37 | 59 | 39 | 24 | 20 | 411 | 312 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 9 | 7 | |
| 2019 | 14 | 8 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 16 | 7 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 13 | 6 | |
| 2025 | 6 | 3 | |
| Total | 82 | 35 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 January 2017 | Mustapha Tchaker Stadium,Blida, Algeria |  Mauritania | 2–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 22 March 2018 | Stade du 5 Juillet,Algiers, Algeria |  Tanzania | 1–0 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 4–1 | |||||
| 4 | 1 June 2018 | Stade du 5 Juillet, Algiers, Algeria |  Cape Verde | 2–1 | 2–3 | Friendly |
| 5 | 8 September 2018 | Independence Stadium,Bakau, Gambia |  Gambia | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 6 | 12 October 2018 | Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida, Algeria |  Benin | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 7 | 18 November 2018 | Stade Municipal,Lomé, Togo |  Togo | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 8 | 27 December 2018 | Khalifa International Stadium,Doha, Qatar |  Qatar | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 26 March 2019 | Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida, Algeria |  Tunisia | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 10 | 11 June 2019 | Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar |  Burundi | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 11 | 16 June 2019 | Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar |  Mali | 1–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 12 | 23 June 2019 | 30 June Stadium,Cairo, Egypt |  Kenya | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 13 | 19 July 2019 | Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt |  Senegal | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final |
| 14 | 15 October 2019 | Stade Pierre-Mauroy,Lille, France |  Colombia | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 15 | 14 November 2019 | Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida, Algeria |  Zambia | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 16 | 5–0 | |||||
| 17 | 12 November 2020 | Stade du 5 Juillet, Algiers, Algeria |  Zimbabwe | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 18 | 29 March 2021 | Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida, Algeria |  Botswana | 4–0 | 5–0 | 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 19 | 3 June 2021 | Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida, Algeria |  Mauritania | 4–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 20 | 11 June 2021 | Stade Olympique de Radès,Radès, Tunisia | Tunisia | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 21 | 2 September 2021 | Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida, Algeria |  Djibouti | 4–0 | 8–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 22 | 12 October 2021 | Stade Général Seyni Kountché,Niamey, Niger |  Niger | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 23 | 1 December 2021 | Ahmed bin Ali Stadium,Al Rayyan, Qatar |  Sudan | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2021 FIFA Arab Cup |
| 24 | 2–0 | |||||
| 25 | 27 March 2023 | Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia | Niger | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 26 | 16 November 2023 | Nelson Mandela Stadium, Algiers, Algeria |  Somalia | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 27 | 9 January 2024 | Stade de Kégué,Lomé, Togo | Burundi | 1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 28 | 15 January 2024 | Stade de la Paix,Bouaké, Ivory Coast |  Angola | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 29 | 20 January 2024 | Stade de la Paix, Bouaké, Ivory Coast |  Burkina Faso | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 30 | 2–2 | |||||
| 31 | 10 September 2024 | Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex,Monrovia, Liberia |  Liberia | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 32 | 17 November 2024 | Hocine Aït Ahmed Stadium,Tizi Ouzou, Algeria | Liberia | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 33 | 4 September 2025 | Hocine Aït Ahmed Stadium, Tizi Ouzou, Algeria | Botswana | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 34 | 3–1 | |||||
| 35 | 13 November 2025 | Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium,Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | Zimbabwe | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 August 2016 | Estádio Olímpico João Havelange,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  Honduras U23 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2016 Summer Olympics |
Étoile du Sahel
Al Sadd
Algeria
Individual
Algeria squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
