Khalid Boutaïb retires at 39 after career largely in France | OneFootball

Moroccan international Khalid Boutaïb has retired at 39 after a season with KAC Marrakech, closing a career spent mostly in France.

He confirmed the decision in an Instagram post late last week, calling it the end of a chapter. Team-mates Younès Belhanda and Romain Saïss offered tributes, praising his journey and recalling the 2018 World Cup qualifying run.

Born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Boutaïb scored 55 goals in 186 Ligue two matches across five clubs, Gazélec Ajaccio, Strasbourg, Le Havre, Paris FC and Pau. He hit 20 for Strasbourg in 2016-2017, finishing as the division’s second top scorer.

He also featured for Uzès, Bagnols-Pont, Istres and Luzenac at amateur level. In Ligue one he played the 2015-2016 season with Gazélec, scoring six in 31.

Abroad, he had spells with Yeni Malatyaspor in Türkiye, netting 17 in 51 between 2017 and 2019, and with Zamalek in Egypt, where he scored five in 24 from 2019 to 2020. His final stint came with KAC Marrakech.

Between 2016 and 2019 he won 24 caps for Morocco, scoring nine times, and appeared at the 2018 World Cup, opening the scoring in the 2-2 group-stage draw with Spain. In his farewell, he said representing his country and family surpassed anything he had imagined.

Source: L'Équipe

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