Sunday the fifth of July, 2026 will forever be a poignant date for Moroccan football, as MAS Fes ended an agonising 41-year wait for domestic glory. With their 2-0 win over Olympique Dcheira on the final day, the Yellow Tigers finally got their hands on a fifth league title, and excitedly re-announced themselves amongst the Maghrebi sporting establishment.
Now, while regaining their seat at the Moroccan big clubs’ table was a formidable reflection of team spirit, one man in particular stood above the rest, and that was striker Soufiane Benjdida.
Advertisement
The poised 24-year-old’s chart-topping 20 league goals played a crucial role in powering Pablo Franco’s team to the league summit. However, as somewhat surprised followers of Belgian football will tell you, this confident hitman is far beyond the shadow of a player they witnessed in the lowlands.
Early career origins
Soufiane Benjdida began his football career with steady progression at the Mohammed VI Football Academy. He then moved on through the youth ranks of both Fath US and FAR in the Moroccan capital Rabat, before being picked up by giants Raja Casablanca from his home city.
Here, two years were enough to see his tenacious style turn heads in Europe. Under former Belgian national team boss Marc Wilmots, Benjdida registered eight goals in 17 games in the 2021-22 Botola Pro campaign as the Green Eagles finished second to bitter rivals Wydad.
Advertisement
Following this breakout, and Wilmots’ departure, he continued to impress in the 2022-23 CAF Champions League, where he registered three goals in nine matches as Raja reached the quarter-finals.
Following a well-trodden path to Europe
Similar to many emerging Moroccan talents before him, Benjdida was ultimately lured onto the North-Eastern transfer trail.
Thanks to a plethora of promising performances and the confidence shown by the well-respected Wilmots, the Belgian connection continued in August 2023, as Standard Liege brought him in on a four-year deal. The future looked promising.
Benjdida was immediately sent out on loan to RL16, Standard’s development side in the second-tier Challenger Pro League. There he would have to get used to the pace of play and adapt. Initially, he made a positive impact in admittedly adverse surroundings.
Advertisement
With 23 appearances for the ultimately-relegated second team, he scored six goals and notched one assist. He also accumulated six yellow cards in this stint, hinting at something of an offensive edge and competitive unpredictability.
Nonetheless, first-team manager Ivan Leko was happy with what he saw, and called him up for Standard’s end-of-season European qualifiers. Although Les Rouches failed to reach the Europa League that term, a goal in two games was enough to keep Benjdida in consideration for the 2024-25 season.
Frustration from the fringes turns to anger and exile
In the next campaign, Soufiane Benjdida managed 15 appearances for Standard, yet struggled to make an impact.
Advertisement
Often arriving from the fringes due to the addition of loan signings Dennis Eckert and Andi Zeqiri, his two goals and one assist weren’t that bad of a return for an ever-adapting player limited for game time (561 minutes to be exact). At a crucial moment in his development, however, he needed more.
Subsequently, in January 2025, he returned to the second division on loan with RWD Molenbeek. Of course, though, this spell wasn’t smooth sailing either. Far from it. Of his 10 appearances, five of these came from the bench. He did manage one goal in this stint, but his time in Brussels wasn’t renowned for hitting the back of the net. It was more about hitting his teammates.
Following one frustrating game that saw RWD draw 1-1 with Patro Eisden, tempers flared and a scuffle broke out between Benjdida and Achraf Laaziri. The striker completely lost his rag and punched the fellow hot-headed Moroccan. Laaziri was reportedly seen leaving the dressing room with an ice pack on his jaw, and the incident forced Molenbeek to cancel Benjdida’s loan with immediate effect.
Advertisement
Even worse, this hardly improved his prospects back at Standard, and the club decided to let the forward leave for free.
Rebirth and emphatic push to the Moroccan summit
With time in Belgium ending in a boisterous crescendo, Benjdida decided to take a sideways step. Now 23 years old, his status as a young talent had somewhat faded, and it was imperative that he got regular playing time. Thus, he returned to a scene he knew well, and somewhere he knew he could score goals.
Through a near-wistful lens, joining MAS Fes back in Morocco was almost meant to be, as club and player alike seemed to be at respective crossroads. Fes had finished seventh the season prior, and although they had a storied history with 10 domestic honours accompanied by two further CAF triumphs in the Confederations and Super Cups, the last time they’d lifted a trophy was with 2016’s Throne Cup.
Advertisement
For once, Benjdida’s experience and antics abroad weren’t used as a bone of contention. It was something to boost the team. He was trusted as a starter and was even given the number nine jersey. It was the perfect environment to focus on his craft, and he wasted little time getting off the mark, scoring a bustling poacher’s goal in his side’s 2-0 win over RCA Zemamra.
Two games later, Benjdida was on the scoresheet again as he converted a penalty coolly against his old side Raja in a 1-1 draw. He then went on a superb run, notching four goals in three games as Fes ground out some solid results. There was a deft poke against Union Touarga (1-0), an accurate sidefoot against Ittihad Tanger (1-1), and a smart brace against OC Safi in a 4-0 rout.
It can’t be emphasised enough, but when Benjdida was targeted or kept quiet, Fes just didn’t score. It sounds obvious, but he quickly became the focal point. For every goalless outing, it was almost like he would come back with vengeance. Nothing against AS FAR; how about a hat-trick in the next match? Empty-handed away at Difaa El Jadida, how about four goals in the next four outings?
These weren’t just good goals, though; it was almost like he was putting on a shooting clinic. In that aforementioned trifecta (against FUS Rabat), his catalogue boasted of an impressive bicycle kick, a rocket of a volley into the top-left corner, and then a sprint in behind to evade an onrushing keeper. Red-hot form continued against El-Mansour with another jaw-dropping volley, this time looping in after a touch down from nearly 30 yards out. He simply looked levels above.
The second half of the campaign saw Benjdida score predominantly inside the box with both his head and his favoured right foot. His final tally saw him reach 20, which was half of Fes’ 40 league goals that season.
Advertisement
Despite slowing up a little towards the closing stages, he was a ridiculous 16 goals ahead of Fes’ second-best goal scorer. In the league standings, he was four ahead of second place.
Such was Benjdida’s scoring prowess that some rival fans even went as far as to claim that he was doping. This was quickly dismissed by MAS Fes in an official statement.
Moving on to continental giants
It’s no wonder then that clubs began to circle at the campaign’s end. There were reports of European interest, with Russia rumoured to be one potential destination.
However, with the whole Molenbeek scandal deep in the rear-view mirror, Benjdida was more comfortable staying in Africa as Egyptian powerhouses Al Ahly came calling with a reported 25 million Dirham (£2 million) offer.
Benjdida turns 25 in September, and this move to Cairo, as well as recently receiving his first Moroccan cap, coincide for increasingly exciting times for the Belgian outcast. Still yet to hit his prime, he is a testament to the notions of perseverance and self-belief. It will be interesting to see just what he can do at one of Africa’s biggest football clubs.
Advertisement
GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield
Read the full article here