Mehdi Zeffane

Mehdi Zeffane

Zeffane with Rennes in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Mehdi Embareck Zeffane [1]
Date of birth	(1992-05-19) 19 May 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, France
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Position(s)	Right-back
Youth career
2003–2012	Lyon
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2014	Lyon B	74	(1)
2012–2015	Lyon	12	(0)
2015–2019	Rennes	52	(2)
2016–2017	Rennes B	3	(0)
2020–2021	Krylia Sovetov Samara	45	(0)
2022	Yeni Malatyaspor	9	(0)
2022–2024	Clermont	41	(1)
International career
2014–2021	Algeria	19	(1)
Medal record Men's football Representing   Algeria Africa Cup of Nations Winner 2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:41, 10 October 2024 (UTC)

Mehdi Embareck Zeffane (Arabic : مهدي إمبارك زفان; born 19 May 1992) is a professional footballer who most recently played for Ligue 2 club Clermont. Although primarily a right-back, he has played as a left winger and left midfielder. Born in France, he played for the Algeria national team from 2014 to 2021.

Club career

Born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Zeffane made his debut for the Olympique Lyonnais B side on 21 August 2010 against RCO Agde at the Stade Louis Sanguin, in which he played the full 90 minutes, as Lyon's B team lost the match 1–0. ^[3] He scored his first goal for the Lyon B team the next season on 13 August 2011 against FC Villefranche at the Stade Armand Chouffet, when he found the net in the 54th minute in what turned out to be Lyon B's last goal in a 6–0 rout over Villefranche. ^[4]

In August 2015, Zeffane joined Ligue 1 club Rennes, signing a four-year contract with the club. ^[5] On 22 August 2015, he scored the winning goal against his former side Lyon in a 2–1 away win for Rennes. ^[6]

On 30 January 2020, Zeffane signed a two-year contract with Russian Premier League club Krylia Sovetov Samara. ^[7]

On 14 January 2022, he joined Süper Lig club Yeni Malatyaspor on a one-and-a-half-year contract, with an option to extend for another year. ^[8] He agreed the termination of his contract in April after the club failed to play his salary and that of teammates. ^[9] He made nine appearances while Yeni Malatyaspor placed last in the league. ^[9]

On 15 June 2022, Zeffane returned to France and signed a contract with Clermont for two years with an option for a third year. ^[10]

International career

Born in France to Algerian parents, Zeffane was initially eligible to represent either France or Algeria. In August 2014, he was named in a provisional 31-man squad by new Algeria coach Christian Gourcuff for a pair of 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ethiopia and Mali. ^[11] Ten days later, he was included in the final squad for the matches. ^[12]

On July 19, 2019, he won the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations under Djamel Belmadi.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 4 May 2024 ^[13]

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 B	2010–11	CFA	12	0	—		—		—		12	0
	2011–12	CFA	26	1	—		—		—		26	1
	2012–13	CFA	27	0	—		—		—		27	0
	2013–14	CFA	8	0	—		—		—		8	0
	2014–15	CFA	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
			74	1	—		—		—		74	1
Lyon	2012–13	Ligue 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [a]	0	1	0
	2013–14	Ligue 1	8	0	2	0	2	0	5 [a]	0	17	0
	2014–15	Ligue 1	4	0	0	0	1	0	1 [a]	0	6	0
	Total		12	0	2	0	3	0	7	0	24	0
Rennes	2015–16	Ligue 1	16	1	0	0	2	0	—		18	1
	2016–17	Ligue 1	1	0	0	0	1	0	—		3	0
	2017–18	Ligue 1	15	0	0	0	0	0	—		15	0
	2018–19	Ligue 1	20	1	3	0	2	0	6 [a]	0	31	1
	Total		52	2	3	0	5	0	6	0	66	2
Rennes B	2016–17	CFA	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
Krylia Sovetov Samara	2019–20	Russian Premier League	6	0	0	0	—		—		6	0
	2020–21	Russian National League	24	0	5	0	—		—		29	0
	2021–22	Russian Premier League	15	0	0	0	—		—		15	0
	Total		45	0	5	0	—		—		50	0
Yeni Malatyaspor	2021–22	Süper Lig	9	0	0	0	—		—		9	0
Clermont	2022–23	Ligue 1	18	1	1	0	—		—		19	1
	2023–24	Ligue 1	23	0	2	1	—		—		25	1
	Total		41	1	3	1	—		—		44	2
Career total			236	4	13	1	8	0	13	0	270	5

1. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 7 September 2021 ^[14]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Algeria	2014	1	0
	2015	5	0
	2016	5	0
	2017	0	0
	2018	0	0
	2019	4	0
	2021	4	1
Total		19	1

Honours

Rennes

• Coupe de France: 2018–19 ^{[ citation needed ]}

Algeria

• Africa Cup of Nations: 2019 ^[15]

References

1. "Algeria" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. 15 June 2019. p. 1. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
2. "Zeffane". Stade Rennais F.C. (in French). Retrieved 17 April 2019.
3. "AGDE VS. OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS II 1 - 0 Summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
4. "VILLEFRANCHE VS. OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS II 0 - 6". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
5. "Mehdi Zeffane rejoint le Stade Rennais F.C." (in French). Stade Rennais F.C. / Ouest Médias. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
6. "Olympique Lyonnais vs. Stade Rennais F.C". ligue1.com. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
7. "Зеффан Мехди – первый новичок "Крыльев" в этом году" (Press release) (in Russian). PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara. 30 January 2020.
8. "Kulübümüz, Cezayir Milli Takımı oyuncusu sağ bek Mehdi Zeffane ile 1 yılı opsiyonlu 1.5 yıllık sözleşme imzalamıştır" (in Turkish). Yeni Malatyaspor. 14 January 2022.
9. "Mehdi Zeffane résilie au Yeni Malatyaspor". L'Équipe (in French). 2 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
10. "MEHDI ZEFFANE, 3ÈME RECRUE DU CLERMONT FOOT 63" (in French). Clermont. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
11. Amar K (14 August 2014). "Liste : retours de Belfodil, Boudebouz et Chaouchi, première pour Zeffane" (in French). DZfoot. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
12. HMF (25 August 2014). "CAN 2015 : Les 27, Zeffane convoqué, retour de Belfodil et Boudebouz" (in French). DZfoot. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
13. Mehdi Zeffane at Soccerway
14. Mehdi Zeffane at National-Football-Teams.com
15. "Algeria hold on against Senegal to win Afcon". BBC Sport. 19 July 2019.

External links

• Mehdi Zeffane – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
• Mehdi Zeffane at L'Équipe Football (in French)