Mehdi Nafti

Born in Toulouse, France, Nafti made his professional debut with his hometown club, Toulouse FC. He was used sparingly during a three-year spell, and also played several games with the reserves. His best season was 1999–2000, as he appeared in 13 games and scored once to help the team return to Ligue 1 after one year of absence. In summer 2000, Nafti joined Racing de Santander in La Liga and, as in his previous club, started his stint appearing for the B-team. In the 2000–01 season he played in just three games for the main squad, which was eventually relegated, then proceeded to become a very important midfield element for the Cantabrians in the following three years, whilst collecting 41 yellow cards and three red. Nafti was signed on loan by Birmingham City in the final minutes of the January 2005 transfer window, making his Premier League debut on 5 February in a 2–0 loss away to Manchester United in which he started and was booked. Sometimes referred to as "Nasty" due to his fiery nature and tendency for cautions, he was primarily signed to replace the outgoing Robbie Savage, and finished the season strongly, which led to a permanent deal being agreed in the summer. Nafti's 2005–06 campaign came to end before it had even begun, with a severe injury to his cruciate ligaments in a friendly with Deportivo La Coruña in early August 2005. He recovered sooner than expected, and was able to start the last match of the season, a 1–0 loss at Bolton Wanderers, with relegation…

A Tunisia international since 2002, Nafti represented the nation in three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, helping it win the 2004 edition played on home soil. He then appeared in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, playing against Australia (2–0 win) and Germany (3–0 loss). Nafti was selected for the squad that competed in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, appearing in all three matches as Tunisia exited in the group stage. The previous 4 June, he scored his only international goal to equalise in a 3–1 qualifying win away to Botswana.

On 10 June 2016, Nafti was given his first managerial job, at Segunda División B club Marbella FC, despite reportedly not possessing the licence required to manage at that level. After a series of poor results, he was fired on 7 March 2017. Nafti was hired by another Segunda B club, Mérida AD, on 27 June 2017; he lasted until 20 December. The following 12 March, after the resignation of his successor, Loren, he returned to the Estadio Romano as manager, but left at the end of the season after failing to prevent their relegation. In October 2018, Nafti took over as manager of CD Badajoz, also of the third division, until the end of the season. In the 2019–20 season, his team eliminated UD Las Palmas (second tier) and SD Eibar (top flight) from the Copa del Rey before an extra-time loss to Granada CF in the last 16. He was dismissed on 4 February 2020 with the team fourth in the league. On 9 October 2020, Nafti was announced as manager of Étoile Sportive du Sahel in his home nation, but returned to Spain five days later, after being appointed in charge of second division side CD Lugo. He was sacked from the latter club the following 28 February, after a 1–4 loss to UD Almería. Nafti replaced sacked Asier Garitano at the helm of CD Leganés, also in the Spanish second division, on 31 October 2021. He left the following 5 June, as his contract would not be renewed. A week after leaving Leganés, Nafti signed a one-year contract with newly relegated Levante UD. He was sacked on 10…

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International

Score and result list Tunisia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Nafti goal.