Fayçal Fajr
Fajr with Morocco at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Fayçal Fajr
Date of birth (1988-08-01) 1 August 1988
Place of birth Rouen, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
Al-Wehda
Number 76
Youth career
1994–2000 Sotteville-Lès-Rouen
2000–2003 Le Havre
2003–2005 Rouen
2005–2006 Oissel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Oissel 20 (4)
2008–2011 Fréjus Saint-Raphaël 91 (12)
2011–2014 Caen 78 (11)
2014–2016 Elche 34 (1)
2015–2016Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 38 (5)
2016–2017 Deportivo La Coruña 24 (0)
2017–2018 Getafe 31 (1)
2018–2019 Caen 36 (5)
2019–2020 Getafe 10 (0)
2020–2022 Sivasspor 65 (9)
2022– Al-Wehda 42 (6)
International career
2015– Morocco 49 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:32, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 05:11, 21 November 2022 (UTC)

Fayçal Fajr (Arabic: فيصل فجر; born 1 August 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al Wehda.[2] Born in France, he plays for the Morocco national team.

Career

Early career

Fajr was born in the city of Rouen and began his career with local amateur club Sottevillais Cheminots.[3] In 2000, he joined the youth academy of professional club Le Havre.[3] After three years, Fajr was released after being told he lacked the physical requirements to remain.[4] He, subsequently, returned home to join hometown club Rouen.[3] Fajr spent two years at the club and, in 2005, signed a contract with CMS Oissel. With Oissel, he played in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth division of French football.[3]

After two seasons playing on the senior team of Oissel, in 2008, Fajr moved up one division to sign with Étoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël, then known as ES Fréjus. In his first season with the club, he appeared in 29 matches scoring four goals. Fréjus finished second in its group, however, due to the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (National Directorate of Management Control) (DNCG) imposing sanctions on several clubs in the Championnat National, the club was given a spot in the third division. After playing mainly as a substitute in his inaugural season with the club, Fajr became a starter in the club's first season in National. He appeared in 29 league matches as Fréjus finished mid-table. In his final season with the club, Fajr became the club's primary play-maker. He posted career-highs in appearances (34) and goals (8). Fréjus finished the campaign in sixth place.

Caen

Fayçal Fajr playing for Deportivo de La Coruña.

After a successful campaign with Fréjus, Fajr was linked to several professional clubs, most notably Nice, Dijon, Lens, and Reims.[3][4] On 18 July 2011, it was confirmed that he would be joining Ligue 1 club Caen on a three-year contract.[5] The transfer was completed the following day.[6] Fajr was assigned the number 29 shirt and simultaneously made his professional and club debut on 28 August in a league match against Rennes.[7] Three days later, in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Brest, he scored his first goal for Caen in a 3–2 victory.[8] Caen were relegated to the Ligue 2 in his first season, but he helped them back up two seasons later. In the 2013–14 season, he scored 8 league goals in 35 games and Caen were promoted to the top-flight Ligue 1.

Spain

On 24 June 2014, Fajr passed his medical and completed the move to the La Liga side Elche.[9] He made his debut in the category on 24 August, coming on as a substitute for Ferrán Corominas in a 0–3 away loss against FC Barcelona.

On 6 August 2015 Fajr was loaned to fellow league team Deportivo de La Coruña, for one year.[10] Ahead of the 2016–17 campaign, he signed a permanent contract with the club.

On 20 July 2017, Fajr signed a two-year deal with Getafe CF, still in the first division.[11]

Later career

On 3 August 2018, Fajr returned to his former club Caen.[12] A year later, he went back to Getafe.[13]

On 14 September 2020, Fajr signed a two-year deal with Turkish Süper Lig side Sivasspor.

On 19 June 2022, Fajr joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Wehda.[14]

International career

Born and raised in France, Fajr holds both French and Moroccan nationalities.[15]

He made his senior debut for the Morocco national football team in a 2018 World Cup qualifying game against Equatorial Guinea in a 1–0 loss.[16]

In May 2018 he was named in Morocco's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[17] Morocco's national football team played against Iran, Portugal, and Spain in the group stage. During Morocco's match against Spain, Fajr made the corner kick that led to Youssef En-Nesyri's goal with nine minutes remaining.[18][19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 10 December 2023[20]
Club statistics
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Fréjus 2009–10 Championnat National 30100301
2010–11 32720347
Totals 62820648
Caen Reserves 2011–12 CFA 137137
2012–13 1010
Total 147147
Caen 2011–12 Ligue 1 1301130171
2012–13 Ligue 2 3031230345
2013–14 35832103910
Total 781155709016
Elche 2014–15 La Liga 34140381
Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 2015–16 La Liga 38530415
Deportivo La Coruña 2016–17 La Liga 24010250
Getafe 2017–18 La Liga 31120331
Caen 2018–19 Ligue 1 3653010405
Getafe 2019–20 La Liga 100105[lower-alpha 3]0160
Sivasspor 2020–21 Süper Lig 364305[lower-alpha 3]0444
2021–22 295505[lower-alpha 4]0395
Total 65980100839
Al-Wehda 2022–23 Saudi Pro League 26341304
2023–24 16320183
Total 42661487
Career totals 434533568015049259

International

As of match played 12 July 2019[21]
Morocco
YearAppsGoals
201510
201660
2017122
2018101
201940
Total333
Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.[21]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.24 March 2017Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco Burkina Faso1–02–0Friendly
2.1 September 2017Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco Mali5–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.13 October 2018Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco Comoros1–01–02019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Sivasspor

References

  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. "Fayçal Fajr Demir Grup Sivasspor'umuzda - Demir Grup Sivasspor Kulübü Resmi İnternet Sitesi". 14 September 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Fayçal Fajr: "L'EN du Maroc, j'y pense tous les jours"". Maroc Football (in French). 21 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Fayçal Fajr: "C'est comme dans un rêve"". Sportacaen (in French). 19 July 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  5. "Fayçal Fajr pour 3 ans à Caen?". Normandie (in French). 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  6. "Fayçal Fajr est à Caen". Sportacaen (in French). 19 July 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  7. "Rennes v. Caen Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 28 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  8. "Caen v. Brest Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  9. "Fayçal Fajr, primer fichaje del Elche para la nueva temporada". Elche CF (in Spanish). 24 June 2014. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  10. "Fayçal Fajr, nuevo jugador del Deportivo. "Si alguien no conoce al Dépor, no conoce el fútbol"" [Fayçal Fajr, new player of Deportivo. "If anybody does not know Dépor, does not know football"] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  11. "Fayçal Fajr llega al Getafe" [Fayçal Fajr arrives at Getafe] (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  12. "Fayçal Fajr revient à Caen" (in French). L'Équipe. 3 August 2018.
  13. "Faycal Fajr: Getafe sign Caen midfielder". Goal.com. 2 August 2019.
  14. "من هو فيصل فجر لاعب الوحدة الجديد؟".
  15. "Faycal FAJR -". www.unfp.org. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  16. FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Equatorial Guinea-Morocco - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  17. "Boufal left out of Morocco squad".
  18. "2018 FIFA World Cup- Spain 2 Morocco 2- Match Report! Live Streaming Information, Predicted Teams, World Cup Fixtures, Team News, Kick-off times". beIN SPORTS. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  19. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Spain - Morocco - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  20. Fayçal Fajr at Soccerway
  21. 1 2 Fayçal Fajr at National-Football-Teams.com
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