Sofiane Hanni

Nantes

Born in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, Hanni started out his career at Ivry, where his father was coaching when he first joined, and Boulogne-Billancourt before joining FC Nantes in 2005. When he turned eighteen, Hanni signed his first professional contract with FC Nantes. In the last game of the 2008–09 season against Auxerre, Hanni was called up to the first team for the first team by Manager Élie Baup, appearing as an unused substitute. Hanni made his professional debut on 1 December 2009 in a league match against Sedan, making his only appearance in the 2009–10 season. On 11 June 2010, Hanni was slated to sign a one-year contract with hometown club Paris Saint-Germain. However, a week later, it was announced that he would not be joining the club due to a disagreement between the club and the player's father. It wasn't until on 12 February 2011 when he made his first appearance of the 2010–11 season, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Vannes OC. Hanni made his first starts for FC Nantes, playing 71 minutes before being substituted, in a 0–0 draw against Châteauroux. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Hanni went on to make three appearances for the side. Following this, Hanni was not offered a new contract by FC Nantes, which disappointed him, as he was expected to succeed at the club and experienced this as a failure. Despite this, he was asked about the memories at FC Nantes and responded: "Good. It was there that I got to know the world and the…

Having been called up for France youth teams, Hanni, however, revealed that injuries prevented him from playing. He announced his intent to play for Algeria at international level in November 2009, though he was still eligible at that moment to play for France. Hanni explained his decision to choose for Algeria, citing lack of competition compared to France. It wasn't until 26 March 2016 that he was called up for the Algeria national team against Ethiopia in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification. Hanni made his debut for Algeria in a 2–0 win over the Seychelles on 2 June 2016. In December 2016, it was announced that Hanni was called up to the national team by manager Georges Leekens for the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. He then scored his first Algeria goal, scoring an equaliser, in a 3–1 win against Mauritania on 7 January 2017. After appearing as an unused substitute in the first match of the group stage, he scored his first goal of the tournament, having come on in the 74th minute and scored a late consolation, in a 2–1 loss against Tunisia on 19 January 2017. However, Algeria were eliminated in the group stage. Following the tournament, Hanni scored his next two goals against Guinea and Togo.

Club

As of match played 9 December 2024

International

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

Growing up in Val-de-Marne, France to an Algerian parent, Hanni has a brother and two sisters. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Nordine, who was a footballer himself, and said: "Sofiane is football. He was quickly persuaded to become a professional". Hanni considered Ronaldo to be his lifelong idol. During his time at FC Nantes, Hanni developed a friendship with former teammate, Adrien Trebel. Hanni is a Muslim and credited the religion with making it easier for him to settle during his time at Turkey, though he still faced a culture shock. Hanni also said he studied until seventeen and earned a diploma for BEP accounting, which pleased his parents and described himself as "a good student but dispersed" at school, and ultimately couldn't balance it with his footballing career. During his time at FC Spartak Moscow, he spoke about his time in Russia, saying: "Adaptation in Spartak is going well. The first time I came to Russia and did not know how everything would go, so I was worried. But in the end I was well received. True, the adaptation is not finished yet. I still expect the best results from myself, I want to show everything that I am capable of and benefit Spartak." Hanni is married to his wife, Nadia, and has a daughter, Camilla. In addition to speaking French, Hanni speaks Turkish and Dutch. He said in an interview that he would like to be a coach once his playing days are over and also referred to 94, the ZIP code in his hometown, as his lucky number and…