Ali Maâloul

Ali Maâloul (Arabic: عَلِيّ مَعْلُول; born 1 January 1990) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly and the Tunisia national team.

Ali Maâloul

Maâloul with Al Ahly at the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Ali Maâloul[1]
Date of birth	(1990-01-01) 1 January 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Sfax, Tunisia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Left-back
Team information
Current team	Al Ahly
Number	21
Youth career
2001–2009	CS Sfaxien
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2016	CS Sfaxien	157	(31)
2016–	Al Ahly	270	(50)
International career‡
2013–	Tunisia	90	(3)
Medal record Representing  Tunisia FIFA Arab Cup Runner-up 2021 Qatar
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 1 April 2024

Club career

Maâloul started his career with hometown club CS Sfaxien and became their captain from the 2014–15 season. In the 2015–16 season, he became the top scorer in the league with 14 goals in 20 matches, a record for a defender since none has scored more than nine goals in a season. At CS Sfaxien, he wore the number 10 shirt, which is unusual for his position.

On 25 July 2016, Maâloul signed a four-year contract with Al Ahly, becoming one of the Egyptian giants' key players on their way to conquering many tournaments.

International career

On 6 July 2013, Maâloul made his debut Tunisia in a 1–0 loss to Morocco in the 2014 African Nations Championship qualification phase.^[2] He also participated in two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015 and 2017. In the 2015 edition, he played four matches as Tunisia lost in the quarter-finals to hosts Equatorial Guinea in extra time. In the 2017 edition, he played three matches as Tunisia went out again in the quarter-finals, this time to Burkina Faso.

Maâloul also represented Tunisia at the 2016 African Nations Championship, playing three matches. Tunisia continued their quarter-final disappointment by losing to Mali. He also played two matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia^[3][4] against England (2–1) and Belgium (5–2).

Career statistics

Club

As of 28 December 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Domestic Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
CS Sfaxien	2008–09	TLP1	2	0	0	0	—		0	0	2	0
	2009–10		15	0	2	0	13	0	—		30	0
	2010–11		20	1	0	0	—		—		20	1
	2011–12		28	2	1	0	—		—		29	2
	2012–13		13	1	0	0	4	0	5	0	22	1
	2013–14		29	8	4	1	12	3	1	1	46	13
	2014–15		23	3	2	0	4	1	—		29	4
	2015–16		27	16	0	0	—		—		27	16
	Total		157	31	9	1	33	4	6	1	205	37
Al Ahly	2015–16	EPL	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	3	0
	2016–17		23	1	4	0	12	2	0	0	39	3
	2017–18		13	0	0	0	9	1	1	0	23	1
	2018–19		26	8	1	0	8	2	1	0	36	10
	2019–20		23	5	2	0	10	4	1	0	36	9
	2020–21		23	5	3	0	4	1	4	0	34	6
	2021–22		21	8	1	0	12	1	5	0	39	9
	2022–23		25	8		0	14	0	5	2	45	10
	2023–24		3	0	0	0	3	0	8	2	14	2
	Total		157	35	13	0	74	11	26	4	271	50
Career total			314	66	22	1	107	15	32	5	467	87

International

As of 9 March 2024

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Tunisia	2013	1	0
	2014	7	0
	2015	12	0
	2016	11	0
	2017	11	0
	2018	8	0
	2019	9	0
	2020	4	1
	2021	11	1
	2022	10	0
	2023	4	1
	2024	2	0
Total		90	3

As of 12 September 2023

Scores and results list Tunisia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Maâloul goal.

List of international goals scored by Ali Maâloul

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	9 October 2020	Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia	Sudan	2–0	3–0	Friendly
2	16 November 2021	Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia	Zambia	3–0	3–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	24 March 2023	Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès, Tunisia	Libya	2–0	3–0	2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours and achievements

CS Sfaxien

• Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1: 2012–13
• CAF Confederation Cup: 2013

Al Ahly

• Egyptian Premier League: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23, 2023–24
• Egypt Cup: 2016–17, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23
• Egyptian Super Cup: 2018, 2019, 2022, 2022–23, 2023–24
• CAF Champions League: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23 ,2023–24
• CAF Super Cup: 2021, 2022

Individual

• Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 top goalscorer: 2015–16
• CAF Team of the Year: 2017
• IFFHS Men's CAF Team of The Year: 2020, 2021, 2022
• FIFA Club World Cup top goalscorer: 2023

References

1. "2018 FIFA World Cup: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 14 July 2018. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
2. "National-football-teams profile". National-football-teams. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
3. Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
4. Okeleji, Oluwashina (2 June 2018). "Tunisia World Cup squad: Leicester City's Benalouane in 23-man squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 July 2019.

External links

1. Misrconnecnt Ali Maâloul began his football journey in the youth academy of CS Sfaxien. He joined the senior team in 2009 and gradually earned his spot in the starting lineup.

• Ali Maâloul at Soccerway