Born in Casablanca, El Kaabi left school at the age of 15 and worked as a carpenter, before he started his professional career playing forRacing de Casablanca. After a career at various teams and a short spell atAl Sadd, he signed for Greek club Olympiacos.
Ayoub El Kaabi was born and raised in the disadvantaged neighborhood ofDerb Milla inCasablanca.[6] His family is fromZagora in southern Morocco, but moved to the region of Mediouna near Casablanca. The El Kaabi family went through difficult times in the 1990s.[6] As a result, El Kaabi left school at the age of 15 and worked at ashop in theMediouna district as an apprenticecarpenter.[6][7] As he explained in an interview with the Moroccan press: "I was born into a modest family. To support myself, I had to learn a trade. That's how I got into carpentry."
Like nearly all young people in the city, El Kaabi was interested infootball from a young age and he played football with his neighborhood friends. Realizing his unique talent, his entourage advised him to join a club in the Hay Khadija district. After only a few months, he came to the attention of thescouts ofRacing de Casablanca who were impressed with his technical ability and physical presence.[6] El Kaabi gave up carpentry to devote himself to football and signed his first professional contract at the age of 21 with Racing Club in 2014.[6]
El Kaabi was loaned to a club in the Third National Division where he gained experience by making a large number of appearances.[8] His professional career began with Racing Athlétique Club. Initially a left-back due to his speed and stamina, the club switched him to defensive midfielder, and then to forward after the coach saw his great finishing ability. He was credited with helping Racing Club gain promotion to the First National Division.[9]
Ayoub El Kaabi joinedRS Berkane on transfer from Racing during summer 2017 as top scorer in theBotola 2 during the 2016–17 season with 25 goals.[10] El Kaabi won the2018 Moroccan Throne Cup when Berkane defeatedWydad de Fès in the final on penalties.[11]
In July 2019, El Kaabi joined Wydad AC.[14][15] He took part in the qualifying stages of the2019–20 CAF Champions League before signing to the Turkish sideHatayspor. During the competition El Kaabi managed to score a hat-trick againstAtlético Petróleos de Luanda marking his final match forWydad.[16] He finished as the top scorer of the Botola in the 2020–21 season with 18 goals.[17]
In 2021, El Kaabi signed a two-year contract until June 2023 with Hatayspor,[18] after having made the heyday of Wydad in Casablanca.[19]
On 23 August 2021, El Kaabi made his debut for the team, after being substituted in 76th minute forMame Diouf againstGalatasaray, the game ended in a 2–1 loss. On 28 August he scored his first goal with the team after a 5–0 victory againstAlanyaspor.[20] On 27 February 2022, El Kaabi scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 5–2 win againstYeni Malatyaspor.[21][22] Due to the2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake, the club withdrew from the league after the club's quarters inAntakya collapsed.[23] This forced El Kaabi to search for another club.
On 1 March 2023, Qatari clubAl Sadd SC reached an agreement with El Kaabi to join the club until the end of the current season.[24][25][26] On 3 March, he came on in the 81st minute in place ofAkram Afif and played his first match againstAl-Sailiya SC. On 7 March 2023, El Kaabi scored his first goal in his second appearance for the club.[27] In the league, he received his first start on 17 March againstAl-Shamal SC.
El Kaabi ended the season as third in the championship and finalist in the Qatar Cup played on 6 April 2023 againstAl-Duhail SC inDoha.
On 2 May, El Kaabi scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win overAston Villa in the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg,[38] the first ever hat-trick at the semifinal phase of Conference League.[39] A week later, on 9 May, he scored a brace in a 2–0 victory against Aston Villa in the second leg, sending his club to theConference League final, the first European final in their history.[40][41] He scored the only goal of the final in extra time as Olympiacos defeatedFiorentina 1–0 to become the first Greek side to win a major European trophy.[42] El Kaabi scored a total of 11 goals at the knockout phase, more than any other player during any single UEFA club competition, while the total of 14 goals during the group stage and knockout phases is a record for an African player.[39]
During a match againstAEK in the2024–25 Super League Greece play-offs, he scored the only goal of the game at 55 minutes. Olympiacos thus defeated AEK and were crowned champions.[43] On 17 May 2025, El Kaabi scored in thefinal of the Greek Cup to defeatOFI to help the club secure a domestic double.[44]
The footballer was named Man of The Match on 31 January after Morocco's match against Libya during CHAN's semi-final match. Morocco won the game 3-1.[47] Morocco was set to faceNigeria in the finals. On 4 February 2018, Morocco defeatedNigeria 4–0, El Kaabi scored a goal in the 73rd minute of the match.[48] The Confederation of African Football (CAF) chose El Kaabi as the best player of the tournament, and he was top scorer with 9 goals in 5 matches.[49] El Kaabi scored his first internationalhat trick for thelocal national team on 17 January 2018 againstGuinea.[50] In May 2018, he was named in Morocco's 23-man squad for the2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[51][52] He played only 2 matches out of the 3 in the World Cup, played the first match as the starting 11 againstIran and coming on the 69th minute as substitute forKhalid Boutaib againstPortugal. El Kaabi represented Morocco in the2020 African Nations Championship, scoring a total of three goals which helped his country to achieve the title and becoming the first and only country to win the Championship back to back.[53] His most appreciated goal is the goal he scored in the final againstMali in the 79th minute that guaranteed them the win.[54] After his performances with the Moroccan A' for two years achieving two African titles, the coach of the main Morocco national team,Vahid Halilhodžić, was impressed and decided to call him up to represent Morocco in2022 World Cup qualifiers. In his first six matches with the team, he managed to score five goals.[55][56][57] On 28 December 2023, he was named in the 27-man squad for the2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.[58] On 11 June 2024, El Kaabi scored his first hat-trick for the national team in a 6–0 victory againstCongo during the2026 World Cup qualification.[59][60]
El Kaabi married his wife, Chaimae, in a traditional ceremony in Casablanca on 26 November 2018. The wedding was attended by family, friends, and notable figures from the football community.[62]
^"أول هدف للكعبي في الدوري التركي" [El Kaabi's first goal in the Turkish league.].SNRTnews (in Arabic).Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved3 March 2022.
^"الكعبي هداف "الشان" التاريخي" [El Kaabi, the historic top scorer of the CHAN.].الأخبار جريدة إلكترونية مغربية مستقلة (in Arabic). 28 January 2018.Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved3 March 2022.
^"تشكيلة "الشان" المثالية تضم 5 لاعبين مغاربة" [The ideal CHAN lineup includes 5 Moroccan players.].Hespress - هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). 8 February 2021.Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved3 March 2022.
^"الكعبي يهدي لقب "الشان" للجماهير المغربية" [El Kaabi gifts the "CHAN" title to the Moroccan fans.].لوسيت انفو سبور (in Arabic). 8 February 2021.Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved4 February 2022.
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Uzbekistan
Slovakia
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
South Africa
Ivory Coast
Liberia
Congo
Gabon
Tunisia
Benin
Niger
