Yassine Meriah
Tunisian footballer (born 1993)
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Yassine Meriah (Arabic: ياسين مرياح; born 2 July 1993) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club Espérance de Tunis, whom he captains, and the Tunisia national team.
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Meriah lining up with Tunisia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Yassine Meriah[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 2 July 1993 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ariana, Tunisia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Espérance de Tunis | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| AS Ariana | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | ES Métlaoui | 27 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2018 | CS Sfaxien | 81 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | Olympiacos | 23 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | → Kasımpaşa (loan) | 15 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | → Çaykur Rizespor (loan) | 28 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Al Ain | 10 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Espérance de Tunis | 65 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015– | Tunisia | 95 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 4 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 3 January 2026 | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
Mariah was formed in AS Ariana, the team that was active in the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 2. In the 2013–14 season, he was transferred to ES Métlaoui when he was 20 years old. After spending two seasons with the team, he was prominently featured and invited to the Tunisian Olympic team. He attracted the attention of the officials of CS Sfaxien, one of the most important teams in the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 who sought to sign with him, starting from the 2014–15 season. From his first season with CS Sfaxien, Meriah was a key figure in the squad and played in many of the team's defensive positions.
Olympiacos
On 28 July 2018, Meriah joined Olympiacos for an estimated transfer fee of €1,500,000, signing a four-year contract.[3] On 2 September 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 home win against PAS Giannina.[4]
On 31 January 2020, Meriah officially loaned in Süper Lig club Kasımpaşa, until the end of the 2019–20 season, with a €5 million buyout clause expected in the summer. Meriah started this year as de facto leader in Olympiakos defence, having a great presence in the Champions League qualifiers. Later, however, there were some games in which he made mistakes, so he was sidelined.[5] On 13 September 2020, he signed a long season loan with another Süper Lig club Çaykur Rizespor.[6]
Al Ain
On 28 July 2021, Meriah joined Al Ain for a reported transfer fee of €2 million signing a two-year contract.
Espérance de Tunis
On 4 August 2022, Meriah joined Espérance de Tunis as a free agent signing a two-year contract.
International career
Meriah's success with his club led him to the Tunisia national team for the first time by coach Georges Leekens on 13 June 2015 against Morocco in 2016 African Nations Championship qualification.
He scored his first goal against DR Congo in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.
In May 2018 he was named in Tunisia's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[7][8] In June 2019 he was named in Tunisia's final 23-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.[9]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| ES Métlaoui | 2013–14 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| Total | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||||
| CS Sfaxien | 2014–15 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 2 | |
| 2015–16 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8[a] | 0 | — | 32 | 3 | ||
| 2017–18 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | |||
| Total | 81 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 95 | 6 | |||
| Olympiacos | 2018–19 | Super League Greece | 18 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | — | 26 | 1 | |
| 2019–20 | Super League Greece | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11[c] | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| Total | 23 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 0 | — | 44 | 1 | |||
| Kasımpaşa (loan) | 2019–20 | Süper Lig | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||
| Rizespor (loan) | 2020–21 | Süper Lig | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | ||
| Al Ain | 2021–22 | UAE Pro League | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 1 | |
| Espérance de Tunis | 2022–23 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 12[d] | 0 | — | 39 | 3 | |
| 2023–24 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18[e] | 2 | 3[f] | 0 | 42 | 8 | |
| 2024–25 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3[d] | 1 | 3[g] | 0 | 16 | 3 | |
| 2025–26 | Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6[d] | 1 | 1[h] | 0 | 20 | 2 | |
| Total | 65 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 39 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 117 | 16 | ||
| Career total | 247 | 20 | 20 | 1 | 62 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 336 | 25 | ||
- Appearances in CAF Confederation Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- Appearances in CAF Champions League
- Fourteen appearances and two goals in CAF Champions League, four appearances in African Football League
- Appearances in Arab Club Champions Cup
- Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
- Appearance in Tunisian Super Cup
International
- As of match played 3 January 2026[10]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tunisia | 2015 | 3 | 0 |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 13 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 17 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 14 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 13 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 95 | 6 | |
- Scores and results list Tunisia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Meriah goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 September 2017 | Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia |  DR Congo | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 13 October 2018 |  Niger | 1–0 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | ||
| 3 | 22 March 2019 |  Eswatini | 4–0 | 4–0 | ||
| 4 | 17 November 2023 |  São Tomé and Príncipe | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 5 | 15 October 2024 | Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast |  Comoros | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 6 | 7 December 2025 | Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar |  Qatar | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2025 FIFA Arab Cup |
Honours
Olympiacos
Al Ain
Espérance de Tunis
- Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1: 2023–24, 2024–25
- Tunisian Cup: 2024–25
- Tunisian Super Cup: 2024, 2025
Tunisia
- FIFA Arab Cup runner-up: 2021
- Africa Cup of Nations fourth place: 2019
Individual
- Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2019
