| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Zakaria Bakkali | ||
| Date of birth | 26 January 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | Liège, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 4 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | PSV | ||
| Number | 33 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2005 | R.F.C. de Liège | ||
| 2005–2008 | Standard Liège | ||
| 2008–2013 | PSV | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2013– | PSV | 11 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2009–2010 | Belgium U15 | 6 | (6) |
| 2010–2011 | Belgium U16 | 4 | (4) |
| 2011–2012 | Belgium U17 | 9 | (7) |
| 2012– | Belgium U21 | 4 | (1) |
| 2013– | Belgium | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 October 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 August 2013 | |||
Zakaria Bakkali (born 26 January 1996) is a Belgian footballer of Moroccan descent who currently plays for the Dutch Eredivisie club PSV. He has also been selected for the Belgium national football team. He is most famous for becoming the youngest Eredivisie player of all-time to score a hat-trick, at the age of 17 years and 196 days.[1]
Club career
PSV Eindhoven
Bakkali is a youth exponent of the club. He joined the club in 2008 from Standard Liège and plays as a winger.
On 30 July 2013, he started in the Champions League qualification game between PSV Eindhoven and S.V. Zulte Waregem. He was replaced by Florian Jozefzoon in the 80th minute of the game.[2][3][4] He scored his first goal for PSV Eindhoven in a Champions League qualifier against Belgian side S.V. Zulte Waregem at 7 August 2013.[5] During a 5-0 win against NEC Nijmegen on 11 August 2013, Bakkali scored a hat-trick in just his second ever appearance in the Eredivisie.[6]
International
Bakkali has gradually throughout the Belgian youth-system risen and become a reliable goal-scorer. Scoring 7 goals on 9 games for the Belgian U17 national side, he became promoted to the U21s; gaining trust from the coach Johan Walem.
After Bakkali's superb Champions League-debut, Belgium coach Marc Wilmots selected him in the 25-man squad in the friendly-game against France.[1] Due to a training injury sustained the day before the game, he pulled out of the squad. With his dual nationality and without international appearances, he still had the choice to play for either Belgium or Morocco, but on 7 October 2013 (shortly before Belgium's last two 2014 World Cup qualifiers) he formally opted for the Belgian squad
