Houssem Aouar

Houssem-Eddine Chaâbane Aouar (born 30 June 1998) is a French-born Algerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lyon.[2]

Houssem Aouar
Aouar with Lyon in 2017
Personal information
Full name Houssem-Eddine Chaâbane Aouar
Date of birth (1998-06-30) 30 June 1998
Place of birth Lyon, France
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Lyon
Number 8
Youth career
2006–2009 AC Villeurbanne
2009–2016 Lyon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Lyon B 22 (4)
2016– Lyon 172 (30)
International career‡
2014 France U17 1 (0)
2017–2021 France U21 17 (4)
2020 France 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 February 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 May 2021

Early life

Houssem-Eddine Chaâbane Aouar[3] was born on 30 June 1998 in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.[1]

Club career

Aouar joined the Olympique Lyonnais Academy in 2009 at the age of 11.

He signed a three-year professional contract at Lyon in July 2016. He made his first team debut in on 16 February 2017 in a 1–4 away win over AZ Alkmaar in the first-leg match of the round of 32 of the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa League, replacing Sergi Darder after 84 minutes.[4] Aouar scored his first goal for Lyon's first team a week later in the second-leg match against AZ Alkmaar at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, which Lyon won 7–1.[5] He made his Ligue 1 debut by starting in the away match against Bastia on 16 April 2017, but the match was abandoned at half-time with the score at 0–0. A win was given to Lyon three weeks later.[6] He was nominated for the Golden Boy award in July 2018.[7]

At the beginning of the 2017–18 season, despite having played only five competitive matches for Lyon's first team since he joined the club, Aouar was given the symbolic number 8 (having previously been worn by club legend Juninho) left free when Corentin Tolisso left the club for Bayern Munich in June 2017.[8]

On 11 December 2019, Aouar scored a goal against RB Leipzig in a Champions League group stage match[9] helping Lyon to secure their way into the Champions League round of 16. His side later upset both Juventus and Manchester City to reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten by Bayern Munich.[10]

International career

Aouar is eligible to represent both France and Algeria at international level. In January 2019, Algeria manager Djamel Belmadi confirmed that he would visit Aouar and present the vision and project of the Desert Foxes in hope of convincing him to play in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.[11]

France

In 2014, Aouar was called up to the France under-17 national team, but only played one game. In 2019, he was a starter throughout the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the France under-21 national team, eventually being eliminated by Spain in the semi-finals.[12]

In November 2019, Aouar was called up to the France national team, but was unable to join the team due to suffering an injury. He was not replaced in the squad.[13] On 26 August 2020, Aouar received his first call-up for France to prepare for 2020–21 UEFA Nations League matches against Sweden and Croatia in early September.[14] However, on 27 August, he tested positive for COVID-19 during a regular test carried out by Lyon, amid its pandemic in France;[15] he was put into isolation for a fortnight and had to skip training for at least 10 to 15 days. Therefore, France decided to replace him with Nabil Fekir.[16] Aouar eventually made his France debut on 7 October 2020 in a 7–1 friendly win over Ukraine.[17]

Algeria

After years of back and forth rumours on his nationality change, on January 6th, 2023, Aouar changed international allegiance to his parent's home nation of Algeria.[18] He is yet to get a call-up to the Algerian national team.

Style of play

Aouar is a versatile attacking midfielder who can play anywhere in midfield, and has been praised for his excellent technical ability and calmness with the ball at his feet.[19]

Personal life

Aouar is of Algerian descent.[20] He holds Juninho and Zinedine Zidane as role models.[21]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 4 February 2023[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lyon B 2015–16 CFA 60———60
2016–17 CFA 154———154
2017–18 Championnat National 2 10———10
Total 224———224
Lyon 2016–17 Ligue 1 30002[lower-alpha 1]10051
2017–18 Ligue 1 326408[lower-alpha 1]100447
2018–19 Ligue 1 377207[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3] 0477
2019–20 Ligue 1 253438[lower-alpha 2]14[lower-alpha 3]2419
2020–21 Ligue 1 30731——338
2021–22 Ligue 1 366009[lower-alpha 1]2—458
2022–23 Ligue 1 9110——101
Total 172301443455222541
Career total 194341443455224745
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearance(s) in the Coupe de la Ligue

International
As of match played 7 October 2020[2]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
France 202010
Total10

Honours

Lyon

Individual

References
  1. "Houssem Aouar". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  2. "France - H. Aouar - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  3. "HA Diffusion". Verif.com (in French). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
    "Houssem-Eddine Aouar". Verif.com (in French). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  4. "AZ Alkmaar vs. Lyon - 19 February 2017 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  5. "Lyon vs. AZ Alkmaar - 23 February 2017 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  6. "Ligue 1 : L'OL se voit attribuer la victoire face au Sporting Club de Bastia". olweb.fr. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  7. Polden, Jake (2 July 2018). "Golden Boy 2018 award nominees announced". mirror.
  8. "OL: les numéros de Tolisso et Lacazette réattribués". RMC Sport (in French). 9 July 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  9. "Lyon 2 - 2 RB Leipzig - Match Report & Highlights - Sky Sports". skysports.com. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  10. "Lyon 0-3 Bayern Munich: Bayern breeze through to final showdown with PSG". BBC Sport. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  11. Saada, Hana (2 January 2019). "National team coach due to explain Algeria project to Houssem Aouar". DZ Breaking. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  12. "Spain versus France Match Report". UEFA. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  13. "Bleus: Houssem Aouar, blessé, déclare forfait pour le rassemblement (Deschamps)". beIN Sports (in French). 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  14. "Dernière sélection". French Football Federation (in French). 26 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  15. "Club statement". Olympique Lyonnais. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  16. Westwood, James (31 August 2020). "Lyon star Aouar tests positive for Covid-19 ahead of Ligue 1 season opener". Sporting News. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  17. "France v Ukraine game report". ESPN. 7 October 2020.
  18. Blow, Tom (6 January 2023). "Houssem Aouar changes international allegiance after earning just one France cap". mirror. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  19. "Houssem Aouar: Meet the Lyon player Pep Guardiola calls 'incredible'". 29 November 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  20. Vavel (14 November 2016). "Qui es-tu, Houssem Aouar ?". VAVEL.com (in French). Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  21. "The Young Lyon wanted in Liverpool and Barcelona - Meet Ligue 1 Rising Star Houssem Aouar | Goal.com". Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  22. "Paris St-Germain beat Lyon in French League Cup final for another treble". BBC Sport. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  23. "UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season". UEFA. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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