Ayoub El Kaabi

Racing de Casablanca

After playing for CH Khadija as a youth player, El Kaabi joined Racing de Casablanca in 2014. Prior to breaking into the first team at Racing de Casablanca, El Kaabi played for amateur sides Ettifaq Lalla Meryem and Club Chaâb de Casablanca on loan. El Kaabi initially began his career at Racing de Casablanca as a left-back due to his speed and stamina, the club switched him to defensive midfielder, and then to forward after Racing de Casablanca's manager saw his great finishing ability. He was credited with helping the club gain promotion to the Botola Pro.

RS Berkane

Ayoub El Kaabi joined RS Berkane on transfer from Racing during summer 2017 as top scorer in the Botola 2 during the 2016–17 season with 25 goals. El Kaabi won the 2018 Moroccan Throne Cup when Berkane defeated Wydad de Fès in the final on penalties.

Hebei China Fortune

In 2018, El Kaabi was purchased by Hebei China Fortune for a transfer fee of €6.5 million. On 2 August, El Kaabi scored his first goal for the club against Beijing Guoan.

Wydad

In July 2019, El Kaabi joined Wydad AC. He took part in the qualifying stages of the 2019–20 CAF Champions League before signing to the Turkish side Hatayspor. During the competition El Kaabi managed to score a hat-trick against Atlético Petróleos de Luanda marking his final match for Wydad. He finished as the top scorer of the Botola in the 2020–21 season with 18 goals.

Hatayspor

In 2021, El Kaabi…

El Kaabi made his international debut for the Morocco national team on 13 January 2018 in a 2018 Africa Nations Championship group stage match against Mauritania, scoring two goals. The footballer was named Man of The Match on 31 January after Morocco's match against Libya during CHAN's semi-final match. Morocco won the game 3-1. Morocco was set to face Nigeria in the finals. On 4 February 2018, Morocco defeated Nigeria 4–0, El Kaabi scored a goal in the 73rd minute of the match. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) chose El Kaabi as the best player of the tournament, and he was top scorer with 9 goals in 5 matches. El Kaabi scored his first international hat trick for the local national team on 17 January 2018 against Guinea. In May 2018, he was named in Morocco's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He played only 2 matches out of the 3 in the World Cup, played the first match as the starting 11 against Iran and coming on the 69th minute as substitute for Khalid Boutaib against Portugal. El Kaabi represented Morocco in the 2020 African Nations Championship, scoring a total of three goals which helped his country to achieve the title and becoming the first and only country to win the Championship back to back. His most appreciated goal is the goal he scored in the final against Mali in the 79th minute that guaranteed them the win. After his performances with the Moroccan A' for two years achieving two African titles, the coach of the main Morocco…

A competition ambassador at the 2018 African Nations Championship, Adel Chedli, described El Kaabi as reminiscent of Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o and Florent Malouda.

Ayoub El Kaabi was born and raised in the disadvantaged neighborhood of Derb Milla in Casablanca. His family is from Zagora in southern Morocco, but moved to the region of Mediouna near Casablanca. The El Kaabi family went through difficult times in the 1990s. As a result, El Kaabi left school at the age of 15 and worked at a shop in the Mediouna district as an apprentice carpenter. As he explained in an interview with the Moroccan press: "I was born into a modest family. To support myself, I had to learn a trade. That's how I got into carpentry." Like nearly all young people in the city, El Kaabi was interested in football from a young age and he played football with his neighborhood friends. Realising his unique talent, his entourage advised him to join a club in the Hay Khadija district. After only a few months, he came to the attention of the scouts of Racing de Casablanca who were impressed with his technical ability and physical presence. El Kaabi gave up carpentry to devote himself to football and signed his first professional contract at the age of 21 with Racing Club in 2014.