Walid Azaro
Moroccan footballer (born 1995)
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Walid Azaro (Arabic: وليد أزارو; born 11 June 1995) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ajman and the Moroccan national team.[3][4]
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Azaro with Al Ahly in 2020 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Walid Azaro[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 11 June 1995[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ait Melloul, Morocco | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Ajman | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2015 | Adrar Union Athletique Souss | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Difaâ El Jadidi | 53 | (18) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Al Ahly | 60 | (26) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | → Al-Ettifaq (loan) | 7 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Al-Ettifaq | 42 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Ajman | 71 | (33) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017– | Morocco A' | 15 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017– | Morocco | 15 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 17 October 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
Azaro was born in Aït Melloul.[5][6] He started his career with Adrar Souss in the third division of the Moroccan league.[7] He joined Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi in 2015, signing for them on a three-year contract. During the 2016–17 season, he finished as the club's top goalscorer with twelve league goals.[3]
In June 2017, Azaro turned down several offers from European clubs to join Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly on a four-year deal for a fee of $1.4 million, despite Moroccan national team manager Hervé Renard attempting to convince him to move to Europe.[8] His transfer saw him become the first Moroccan to play for the club.[9]
In his first season with the club, Azaro scored 18 league goals to finish as the top goalscorer in the Egyptian Premier League and help Al-Ahly win their 40th league title.[10] His tally saw him break the record for the most goals scored by a foreign player in the Egyptian Premier League, surpassing the previous record of 17 jointly held by Flávio Amado and John Utaka.[11] He also surpassed Stanley Ohawuchi's record for the most goals scored in the Egyptian Premier League by a player in their first season.[12] He also scored the only goal of the 2017 Egyptian Super Cup and scored a hat-trick against Tunisian side Étoile Sportive du Sahel in the semi-final of the 2017 CAF Champions League.[13] His performances attracted attention from several clubs and Al Ahly rejected an offer from Saudi club Al-Nassr of William Jebor plus a cash sum.[14]
In October 2020, Azaro agreed to join Saudi club Al-Ettifaq on a permanent deal for two years, after being on loan since January.[15] On 30 January 2022, Azaro was released by Al-Ettifaq.[16]
In 2022, Azaro joined UAE club Ajman.[17]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 1 February 2025[18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| DHJ | 2015–16 | Botola | 25 | 6 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 27 | 7 | |||
| 2016–17 | 28 | 12 | 5 | 2 | – | – | – | 33 | 14 | |||||
| Total | 53 | 18 | 8 | 3 | – | – | – | 61 | 21 | |||||
| Al Ahly | 2017–18 | EPL | 30 | 18 | 1 | 1 | – | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 27 | |
| 2018–19 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | – | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 11 | |||
| 2019–20 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – | 4 | 1 | – | 12 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 60 | 26 | 3 | 3 | – | 26 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 92 | 43 | |||
| Al-Ettifaq | 2019-20 | SPL | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 7 | 3 | |||
| 2020–21 | 25 | 9 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 26 | 9 | |||||
| 2021–22 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 18 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 49 | 14 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 51 | 14 | |||||
| Ajman | 2021–22 | UPL | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 5 | ||
| 2022–23 | 26 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 14 | ||||
| 2023–24 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 24 | 14 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 15 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 71 | 33 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | – | – | 84 | 38 | ||||
| Career total | 233 | 91 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 288 | 116 | ||
- Includes Moroccan Throne Cup, UAE President's Cup
- Includes UAE League Cup
International Goals
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 December 2025 | Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar |  Syria | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2025 FIFA Arab Cup |
International career
Azaro made his debut for Morocco on 24 March 2017 as a substitute during a 2–0 victory over Burkina Faso.[19] He was named in Morocco's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup but was later omitted from the final squad.[20]
Azaro participated in the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup with Morocco and scored v Syria to help Morocco advance to the semi finals and won best player award after shining against Syria. Azaro played vs UAE in the semi finals, the team won 3-0. In the final, Azaro played vs Jordan until the 105th minute, when Marouane Louadni replaced him. Morocco won the game 3-2.[21][22][23][24]
Honours
Club
Al Ahly[25]
International
Morocco
Individual
- (Mars d'Or) Moroccan Footballer of the Year: 2017
- Egyptian Premier League Best Striker: 2017–18
- Egyptian Premier League top goalscorer: 2017–18
