Zack Elbouzedi
Irish footballer (born 1998)
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Zachary Elbouzedi (born 5 April 1998) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic.
![](#/media/File:Zachary_"Zack"_Elbouzedi_(Elfsborg_vs_AIK,_23_October_2023).jpg) Elbouzedi in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Zachary Elbouzedi[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 5 April 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | St Patrick's Athletic | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2014 | Malahide United | ||
| 2014–2017 | West Bromwich Albion | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 4 | (0) |
| 2018 | → Elgin City (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2019 | Waterford | 27 | (6) |
| 2020–2021 | Lincoln City | 7 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2021–2024 | AIK | 52 | (2) |
| 2024 | → Swindon Town (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2024– | St Patrick's Athletic | 39 | (5) |
| International career | |||
| 2012 | Republic of Ireland U15 | 4 | (2) |
| 2013–2014 | Republic of Ireland U16 | 7 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Republic of Ireland U17 | 12 | (1) |
| 2016 | Republic of Ireland U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | Republic of Ireland U19 | 10 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 13 | (3) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:52, 1 March 2026 (UTC) | |||
Club career
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Elbouzedi started his career with Malahide United. He joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a free transfer deal in the summer of 2017 from West Bromwich Albion.[2] He was not able to play immediately due to an injury, but manager John Robertson believed he would compete for a place in the team when healthy.[3]
Elgin City (loan)
He was signed by Elgin City on a 28-day long emergency loan contract on 30 December 2017.[4]
After working himself back to match fitness by playing for Elgin City,[5] Elbouzedi made his professional debut for Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 13 March 2018 against Dunfermline Athletic.[6]
Waterford
Elbouzedi left Inverness on 31 August 2018, after terminating his contract by mutual consent after an injury ravaged season and only playing in one game in the 2018–19 season, which was a League Cup win over Cove Rangers.[7]
On 7 November 2018, Elbouzedi joined League of Ireland Premier Division side Waterford.[8]
He made 29 appearances for the Blues in all competitions, scoring 6 goals in an impressive season personally despite a disappointing season for the club as they finished in sixth place.[9]
Lincoln City
On 16 December 2019, it was announced that Elbouzedi would move to English club Lincoln City on 1 January 2020 after signing a long-term deal with the club.[10][11] He scored his first goal for Lincoln in an EFL Trophy tie against Shrewsbury Town on 8 December 2020.[12]
Bolton Wanderers (loan)
On 16 January 2021, he would join Bolton Wanderers on loan for the remainder of the season.[13] He would make his debut a few hours later, starting the EFL League Two game against Cheltenham Town.[14]
AIK
On 15 July 2021, it was confirmed that he would join Swedish Allsvenskan side AIK for an undisclosed fee, signing a contract until 31 December 2024.[15][16] He would make his AIK and Allsvenskan debut just a few days later, coming off the bench in the 85th minute against Kalmar FF.[17]
Swindon Town (loan)
On 30 January 2024, it was confirmed that he had joined EFL League Two club Swindon Town on loan until the end of the 2023–24 season.[18]
St Patrick's Athletic
2024 season
On 17 July 2024, it was announced that Elbouzedi had returned to Dublin, signing for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic on a multi-year contract.[19] He made his debut for the club on 21 July 2024, replacing Kian Leavy from the bench in the 63rd minute of an FAI Cup defeat away to Derry City.[20] On 25 July 2024, Elbouzedi made his first start for the club, in a 3–1 win over Vaduz of Liechtenstein in the UEFA Conference League.[21] He scored his first goal for the club in the away leg against Vaduz, levelling the scores at 1–1 in an eventual 2–2 draw at the Rheinpark Stadion to secure progression to the Third Qualifying round where his side would face Sabah of Azerbaijan.[22] On 15 August 2024, he scored the only goal of the game in his sides away win over Sabah at the Bank Respublika Arena to earn a tie with Turkish side İstanbul Başakşehir in the Play-off Round of the UEFA Conference League.[23][24]
2025 season
On 28 February 2025, he scored his first goal of the 2025 season, opening the scoring in a 4–3 win over Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park.[25] He scored his second goal of the season on 2 May 2025, adding a second goal with a deflected effort from 25 yards in a 2–0 win at home to Galway United to put his side top of the league.[26] On 16 May 2025, Elbouzedi replaced Aidan Keena from the bench in the 70th minute of 3–2 victory over Cork City at Richmond Park, as he scored the equaliser in the 89th minute, before assisting Jamie Lennon's 95th minute winner.[27] On 24 July 2025, Elbouzedi suffered a dislocated shoulder in a 1–0 win win over Estonian side Nõmme Kalju on the UEFA Conference League, with the injury requiring surgery that would keep him out of action for the rest of the season, resulting in winger Jordon Garrick being signed as short term cover.[28][29]
2026 season
Having returned from injury during pre-season, Elbouzedi scored his first goal of the season on 27 February 2026, in a 4–0 win over Dundalk at Richmond Park, though he was forced off injured in the second half with the recovery period set to be several weeks.[30]
International career
Elbouzedi has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth international level.[31] He remains eligible to play for the Libya national football team due to his father being Libyan and has been contacted about representing Libya but has always stated he only ever wanted to play for the Republic of Ireland.[32] Elbouzedi was capped at under 21 level for the first time in 2019 and was selected for their squad for the 2019 Toulon Tournament.
Personal life
Career statistics
- As of match played on 27 February 2026
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | 2016–17[33] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2[c] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 2017–18[34] | Scottish Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1[d] | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[35] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 0[d] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |||
| Elgin City (loan) | 2017–18[34] | Scottish League Two | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Waterford | 2019[35] | LOI Premier Division | 27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 0[d] | 0 | 29 | 6 | |
| Lincoln City | 2019–20[36] | EFL League One | 5 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 2020–21[37] | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | |||
| Total | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 2 | 11 | 2 | |||
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2020–21[37] | EFL League Two | 14 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 14 | 0 | ||||
| AIK | 2021[35] | Allsvenskan | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 21 | 1 | |||
| 2022[35] | 25 | 1 | 5 | 2 | – | 4[e] | 0 | – | 34 | 3 | ||||
| 2023[35] | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||||
| 2024[35] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 52 | 2 | 7 | 2 | – | 4 | 0 | – | 63 | 4 | ||||
| Swindon Town (loan) | 2023–24[35] | EFL League Two | 17 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 17 | 0 | ||||
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2024[35] | LOI Premier Division | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 6[f] | 2 | 0[g] | 0 | 18 | 3 | |
| 2025[35] | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[f] | 0 | 2[g] | 0 | 31 | 3 | |||
| 2026 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0[g] | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 39 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 7 | |||
| Career total | 159 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 196 | 19 | ||
- Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup, FAI Cup & Svenska Cupen
- Includes EFL Cup, Scottish League Cup & League of Ireland Cup
- Appearances for West Bromwich Albion U23 in the EFL Trophy
- Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
- Appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
- Appearances in the UEFA Conference League
- Appearances in the Leinster Senior Cup