Zakaria El Ouahdi (born 31 December 2001) is a Moroccan-Belgian footballer who plays for Belgian club RWD Molenbeek. He plays as a right-winger or a right-back.

Early life
El Ouahdi was born in Hoboken in the Antwerp Province in a family of eight children. His parents are of Moroccan descent.

Club career
In June 2021, El Ouadhi joined the under-21 side of RWD Molenbeek. After good performances, El Ouadhi was regularly invited to train with the first team, and was awarded his first professional contract on 9 September 2021.

On 14 August 2021, he made his professional debut in Challenger Pro League in RWD Molenbeek's 3–1 victory against Royal Excel Mouscron. On 3 October, he scored his first goal in professional, awarding a 2-1 win for his club against Deinze.

On 12 March 2023, El Ouadhi scored his first career hattrick against Club NXT, offering an important 3-2 win for RWD Molenbeek for their fight for promotion. He terminated the 2022-23 season by winning the league with RWD Molenbeek and gained a promotion to the Jupiler Pro League. El Ouadhi named was as Molenbeek's player of the season and figured in the league's best XI of the season.

International career
Holding both Belgian and Moroccan citizenship, El Ouadhi chose to represent Morocco in international level. On 9 June 2023, he was called up by coach Issame Charaï in Morocco U-23 squad for the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations. El Ouadhi appeared in four out of five matches during the tournament, and scored one goal against Mali U-23 in the semi-final match. Morocco U-23 won the tournament as El Ouadhi figured in the competition's team of the tournament as the best right-back.

Honours
RWD Molenbeek
Challenger Pro League: 2022-23

Morocco U-23
U-23 Africa Cup of Nations: 2023

Individual
Challenger Pro League best XI: 2022-23
U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the tournament : 2023

References

External links

2001 births
Living people
Men's association football wingers
Belgian people of Moroccan descent
Belgian men's footballers
Moroccan men's footballers
Morocco men's youth international footballers
R.W.D. Molenbeek (2015) players
Belgian Pro League players
Challenger Pro League players
People from Hoboken