Kenza Dali

Kenza Dali

Dali with Paris Saint-Germain in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Kenza Dali [1]
Date of birth	(1991-07-31) 31 July 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth	Sainte-Colombe, [2] France
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) [3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	San Diego Wave
Number	10
Youth career
2005–2009	Lyon
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2010	Lyon	1	(0)
2010–2011	Rodez	22	(2)
2011–2016	Paris Saint-Germain	89	(36)
2016–2018	Lyon	2	(0)
2018	→ Lille (loan)	10	(1)
2018–2019	Dijon	17	(6)
2019–2021	West Ham United	32	(5)
2021–2022	Everton	20	(0)
2022–2025	Aston Villa	48	(7)
2025–	San Diego Wave	0	(0)
International career‡
2007–2008	France U17	5	(3)
2009	France U19	7	(3)
2012	France U20	2	(0)
2014–2018	France U23	8	(4)
2014–	France	75	(13)
Medal record Women's football Representing   France UEFA Women's Nations League Runner-up 2024
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 December 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 December 2024

Kenza Dali (born 31 July 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the France national team.

Early life

Dali was born in Sainte-Colombe, Rhône, ^[4] and grew up in the suburbs of Lyon. She is of Algerian descent, with her father immigrating to France from Algeria at 18 years old. ^[5] Dali lost her brother when she was 13 and subsequently saw her mother beat breast cancer. ^[6] She has cited these moments as experiences which have strengthened her mentally. ^[7] She started playing football at 6 years old and joined Olympique Lyonnais at the age of 11.

Club career

Lyon

Dali spent the majority of her career with Lyon playing on the club's reserve team in D3 Féminine, the third level of women's football in France. She signed her first professional contract at age 16, but only played one match with Lyon's first team. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

Rodez

On 25 July 2010, Dali was announced at Rodez. ^[11]

Paris Saint-Germain

Dali was announced at Paris Saint-Germain. ^[12]

Lyon

In the summer of 2016, Kenza Dali returned to her training club Olympique Lyon, where she subsequently found it difficult to secure a regular place, mainly due to a knee injury. Dali made her league debut against ASJ Soyaux-Charente on 11 September 2016. ^[13]

Loan to Lille

On 17 January 2018, Dali was announced at Lille. ^[14]

Dijon

Dali made her league debut against Montpellier HSC on 25 August 2018. ^[15]

West Ham United

On 25 July 2019, Dali was announced at West Ham. ^[16] She made her league debut against Arsenal on 8 September 2019. ^[17] Dali scored her first league goal against Brighton on 13 October 2019, scoring a penalty in the 70th minute. ^[18] On 21 May 2021, Dali was released by West Ham United. ^[19]

Everton

On 1 July 2021, Dali was announced at Everton. ^[20] She made her league debut against Manchester City on 4 September 2021. ^[21] Dali scored her first goal for Everton in the Women's FA Cup on 27 February 2022 against Charlton Athletic, scoring in the 34th minute. ^[22]

Aston Villa

On 5 August 2022, Dali was announced at Aston Villa. ^[23] On 2 June 2023, Dali signed a new contract until June 2025 with the option of a further year. ^[24] On 7 February 2024, in the 2023–24 Conti Cup quarterfinal against Brighton, Dali assisted the goal to tie the game 1-1, and her team later advanced on penalties. ^[25] Dali scored in the 2-1 away victory against Everton. ^[26]

San Diego Wave FC

Dali joined National Women's Soccer League club San Diego Wave FC on 24 January 2025. She signed a two-year contract with the team. ^[27]

International career

Dali was called up to the France national team for the first time in her career in 2014. She played her first game in a 2015 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Hungary, being substituted into the game in the 76th minute. She scored her first goal for the senior national team in a friendly match against Brazil. ^[28]

Dali was included in the squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. ^[29]

Dali was included in the squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics. ^[30]

Career statistics

Club

As of 5 October 2024 ^{[31] [32]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lyon	2009–10	Division 1 Féminine	1	0	—		—		0	0	1	0
Rodez	2010–11	Division 1 Féminine	22	2	2	1	—		0	0	24	3
Paris Saint-Germain	2011–12	Division 1 Féminine	22	10	5	2	—		4	1	31	13
	2012–13		21	6	5	2	—		0	0	26	8
	2013–14		22	6	3	0	—		1	0	26	6
	2014–15		17	11	3	2	—		7	1	27	14
	2015–16		7	3	2	0	—		4	0	13	3
	Total		89	36	18	6	–		16	2	123	44
Lyon	2016–17	Division 1 Féminine	2	0	4	1	—		0	0	6	1
	2017–18		0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
	Total		2	0	4	1	–		0	0	6	1
Lille (loan)	2017–18	Division 1 Féminine	10	1	0	0	—		0	0	10	1
Dijon	2018–19	Division 1 Féminine	17	6	2	3	—		0	0	19	9
West Ham United	2019–20	Women's Super League	14	2	0	0	4	5	—		18	7
	2020–21		18	3	0	0	2	0	—		20	3
	Total		32	5	0	0	6	5	—		38	10
Everton	2021–22	Women's Super League	20	0	3	1	4	0	—		27	1
Aston Villa	2022–23	Women's Super League	21	5	4	1	5	1	—		30	7
	2023–24		17	1	1	0	5	0	—		23	1
	2024–25		3	0	0	0	1	0	—		4	0
	Total		41	6	5	1	11	1	—		57	8
Career total			234	55	34	13	21	6	16	2	305	76

International

As of match played 3 December 2024 ^[33]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
France	2014	5	1
	2015	9	1
	2016	5	0
	2017	0	0
	2018	3	2
	2019	3	0
	2020	6	1
	2021	8	4
	2022	10	1
	2023	13	2
	2024	13	1
Total		75	13

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

List of international goals scored by Kenza Dali ^[34]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 November 2014	Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France	Brazil	2–0	2–0	Friendly
2	6 March 2015	Estádio Algarve, Loulé, Portugal	Denmark	3–0	4–1
3	9 October 2018	Stade des Alpes, Grenoble, France	Cameroon	4–0	6–0
4				5–0
5	1 December 2020	Stade de la Rabine, Vannes, France	Kazakhstan	6–0	12–0	2022 UEFA Women's Euro qualification
6	10 June 2021	Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg, France	Germany	1–0	1–0	Friendly
7	22 October 2021	Stade Dominique Duvauchelle, Créteil, France	Estonia	11–0	11–0	2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
8	26 October 2021	Astana Arena, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	2–0	5–0
9	26 November 2021	Stade de la Rabine, Vannes, France	Kazakhstan	6–0	6–0
10	2 September 2022	Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	2–0	9–0
11	18 February 2023	Stade Raymond Kopa, Angers, France	Uruguay	2–1	5–1	2023 Tournoi de France
12	8 August 2023	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia	Morocco	2–0	4–0	2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
13	25 July 2024	Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu, France	Colombia	2–0	3–2	2024 Summer Olympics

References

1. "FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 – Squad List: France (FRA)" (PDF). FIFA. 11 July 2023. p. 10. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
2. "Fédération Française de Football". Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
3. "2015 World Cup" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
4. "Football féminin : polémique après l'autorisation du port du voile". Le Parisien. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
5. Cédric Lecocq (December 2013). "Le rêve éveillé de Kenza Dali" (in French). Le Parisien. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
6. Wrack, Suzanne (31 October 2019). "West Ham's Kenza Dali: 'Football was my escape. I had a bad life then'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 23 February 2025.
7. "Kenza Dali : « Ma mère c'est un super héros »". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 23 February 2025.
8. "Here Come the Girls". French Football Weekly. 4 September 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
9. "Kenza Dali savoure la victoire du PSG". UEFA. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
10. "Kenza Dali : « Ma meilleure saison". Le Parisien. 21 January 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
11. "Kenza Dali signe à Rodez". FootoFeminin (in French). 25 July 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
12. "Kenza Dali: Tout a Changé". Paris St. Germain. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
13. "Soyaux vs Olympique Lyon - 11 September 2016". uk.women.soccerway.com.
14. "Kenza Dali : "retrouver mon meilleur niveau"". www.losc.fr (in French).
15. "Dijon vs Montpellier - 25 August 2018". uk.women.soccerway.com.
16. "West Ham United capture France international Kenza Dali". www.whufc.com.
17. "Arsenal vs West Ham - 8 September 2019". uk.women.soccerway.com.
18. "Brighton and Hove Albion vs West Ham United - 13 October 2019". uk.women.soccerway.com.
19. Fisher, Bethany (21 May 2021). "West Ham announce the departure of eight senior players". Her Football Hub. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
20. "Kenza Dali: France midfielder completes move to Everton Women on two-year deal after leaving West Ham". www.skysports.com.
21. "Everton vs Manchester City - 4 September 2021". uk.women.soccerway.com.
22. "Charlton Athletic vs Everton - 27 February 2022". uk.women.soccerway.com.
23. "Kenza Dali joins Villa Women!". www.avfc.co.uk. 5 August 2022.
24. "Kenza Dali signs contract extension!". www.avfc.co.uk. 2 June 2023.
25. "Aston Villa beat Brighton in shootout to reach semis". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
26. Media, P. A. (16 March 2024). "Kenza Dali and Ebony Salmon quick to take Aston Villa past Everton". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 17 March 2024.
27. Grueskin, Birgen (24 January 2025). "San Diego Wave FC Acquires French Midfielder Kenza Dali". San Diego Wave Fútbol Club. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
28. "France - Brésil" (in French). Retrieved 20 December 2014.
29. "Les vingt-trois Bleues retenues pour la Coupe du monde". www.fff.fr.
30. Mayen, Phillipe. "La liste des Bleues pour les JO". www.fff.fr (in French).
31. "Kenza Dali" (in French). footofeminin. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
32. "France - K. Dali - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Women Soccerway". uk.women.soccerway.com. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
33. "Equipe de France A - Kenza Dali" . Retrieved 14 April 2021.
34. "Equipe de France A - Kenza Dali". footofeminin.fr. Retrieved 9 June 2015.

External links

• Paris Saint-Germain player profile
• Kenza Dali at the French Football Federation (in French)
• Kenza Dali at the French Football Federation (archived2020-03-30) (in French)
• Player stats (in French) at footofeminin.fr