Mbark Boussoufa’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Intro Moroccan footballer
Is Athlete 
Football player 
Association football player 
From Morocco 
Netherlands 
Type Sports 
Gender male
Birth 15 August 1984, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Age: 35 years
Star sign Leo
Stats
Height: 167 cm
Weight: 61 kg
Awards
Belgian Golden Shoe 2010
Sports Teams
K.A.A. Gent
FC Anzhi Makhachkala
R.S.C. Anderlecht
AFC Ajax
FC Lokomotiv Moscow
K.A.A. Gent
Morocco national football team
Chelsea F.C.
Al Jazira Club
Al Shabab FC

Moubarak “Mbark” Boussoufa (Arabic: مُبارك بوصوفة‎, born 15 August 1984) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays for Al-Sailiya as an attacking midfielder. He won the Belgian Golden Shoe for the second time in 2010. He represented the Morocco national team from 2006 to 2019 making 70 appearances and scoring 8 goals.

Club career

Boussoufa started off at the youth academy of Ajax Amsterdam before joining Chelsea F.C. He spent the 2005/06 season with K.A.A. Gent, winning several prizes in 2006: Belgian Golden Shoe, Belgian Footballer of the Year, Belgian Young Footballer of the Year and Belgian Ebony Shoe.

In June 2006, Boussoufa signed a four-year contract with R.S.C. Anderlecht after a €3.5 million transfer. In his first season he was a regular in the title-clinching squad. He became a key player for the team that finished second in both the 2007–2008 and the 2008–09 seasons. Boussoufa was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for a second time after the 2008–09 season in which Anderlecht barely missed out on the title, losing the Championship play-off against Standard de Liège. The next year, he managed 14 goals and 24 assists which made him the most valuable player in Anderlecht’s championship-winning squad. He was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for a second consecutive time and the third time overall. After the season, he renewed his contract with a significant raise, making him the best paid footballer in Belgium. He won the Belgian Golden Shoe for the second time in 2010.

In March 2011, Russian side FC Terek Grozny announced his signing, but his transfer fell through three days later. Instead, Boussoufa signed for another Russian team, Anzhi Makhachkala.

Boussoufa signed a three-year contract with FC Lokomotiv Moscow in August 2013. With Lokomotiv he won the 2015 Russian Cup, scoring the second goal as they beat Kuban Krasnodar 3–1 after extra time in the final. He returned to K.A.A. Gent on loan from in February 2016.

In July 2016, Boussoufa signed a two-year contract with UAE club Al Jazira. He made 16 appearances and scored three times as Al-Jazira went on to win the 2016-17 UAE Arabian Gulf League.

On 3 January 2019, Boussoufa signed a contract until the end season with Saudi club Al-Shabab.

International career

Eligible to play for both Morocco and The Netherlands, Boussoufa chose to represent Morocco and made his international debut against the USA on 23 May 2006.

Boussoufa has represented Morocco at Africa Cup of Nations tournaments; in 2012, 2017 and 2019.

In May 2018, he was named in Morocco’s 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

On 5 July 2019, Boussoufa announced his retirement after Morocco’s loss against Benin in the round of 16, 4–1 in penalties (following a 1–1 draw), in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Career statistics

Club

As of 12 July 2019
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total Ref.
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Gent 2004–05 Belgian First Division 29 5 3 0 – – 32 5
2005–06 28 9 4 1 6 1 – 38 11
2006–07 2 0 0 0 2 0 – 4 0
Total 59 14 17 1 8 1 0 0 74 16 –
Anderlecht 2006–07 Belgian First Division 33 8 7 2 6 0 – 46 10
2007–08 22 5 7 3 6 0 – 35 8
2008–09 33 11 2 0 2 0 2 0 39 11
2009–10 26 9 4 1 13 3 10 5 53 18
2010–11 23 10 3 0 9 1 – 35 11
Total 137 43 23 6 36 4 12 5 208 58 –
Anzhi 2011–12 Russian Premier League 25 4 1 0 0 0 13 3 39 7
2012–13 26 4 4 0 14 2 – 44 6
2013–14 4 0 0 0 0 0 – 4 0
Total 55 8 5 0 14 2 13 3 87 13 –
Lokomotiv Moscow 2013–14 Russian Premier League 21 2 0 0 0 0 – 21 2
2014–15 17 1 3 3 1 0 – 20 4
2015–16 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 0
Total 39 3 3 3 1 0 0 0 43 6 –
Gent 2015–16 Belgian Pro League 5 2 0 0 6 0 0 0 11 2
Al Jazira 2016–17 UAE Pro-League 21 4 5 3 4 1 0 0 30 8
2017–18 16 3 5 0 7 0 4 0 32 3
Total 37 7 10 3 11 1 4 0 62 11 –
Al-Shabab 2018–19 Saudi Professional League 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 15 1
Al-Sailiya 2019–20 Qatar Stars League 12 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 15 3
Career total 347 80 62 14 76 8 29 8 515 110 –

International

Source:
National team Year Apps Goals
Morocco 2006 5 1
2007 2 0
2008 3 0
2009 5 0
2010 3 0
2011 7 3
2012 5 1
2013 0 0
2014 5 1
2015 1 0
2016 6 0
2017 13 1
2018 8 0
2019 7 1
Total 70 8

International goals

Scores and results list Morocco’s goal tally first.

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 September 2006 Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat, Morocco  Malawi 2–0 2–0 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2 9 February 2011 Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco  Niger 1–0 3–0 Friendly
3 2–0
4 9 October 2011 Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco  Tanzania 3–1 3–1 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
5 29 February 2012 Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco  Burkina Faso 1–0 2–0 Friendly
6 13 October 2014 Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco  Kenya 2–0 3–0
7 31 May 2017 Stade Adrar, Agadir, Morocco  Netherlands 1–2 1–2
8 1 July 2019 Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, Egypt  South Africa 1–0 1–0 2019 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Club

Anderlecht

  • Belgian First Division: 2006–07, 2009–10
  • Belgian Cup: 2007–08
  • Belgian Supercup: 2007, 2010

Anzhi Makhachkala

  • Russian Cup runners-up: 2012–13

Lokomotiv Moscow

  • Russian Cup: 2014–15

Al Jazira

  • UAE Arabian Gulf League: 2016–17

Individual

  • Belgian Golden Shoe: 2006, 2010
  • Belgian Footballer of the Year: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
  • Belgian Ebony Shoe: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
  • Belgian Young Footballer of the Year: 2005–06
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