As the breakout star in the Morocco team that reached the semi-finals, Azzedine Ouniah became a transfer gossip column fixture.
Barcelona were linked with him. He ultimately moved from Angers to Marseille in the January transfer window but despite an electric debut when he came on and scored, things didn’t follow the path that his World Cup performances suggested.
He was in and out of the Marseille team. He struggled to adapt to Igor Tudor’s 3-4-2-1 system. That continued in the following season and by the summer of 2024, he had been loaned to Panathinaikos in Greece. After a season there, he signed for Girona in Spain, which is where he rediscovered his form.
Girona were relegated but Ounahi stood out as one of the better midfielders in Spain. A more attacking, roaming role allowed him to flourish; that ability to not only eat up ground but turn his feet into football magnets, so impressive four years ago, was there again.
His two goals and man-of-the-match performance against Canada in Morocco’s 3-0 win in this World Cup feels like the culmination of his revival, an upward point on a satisfying narrative arc.
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