Ziyad Baha
Moroccan footballer (born 2009)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ziyad Baha Abelhadj (Arabic: زياد باها; born 10 August 2009) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Olympique Marseille. Born in Spain, he is a youth international for Morocco.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ziyad Baha Abelhadj[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 10 August 2009 | ||
| Place of birth | Málaga, Spain[1] | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Olympique Marseille | ||
| Youth career | |||
| FUS Rabat | |||
| 2023–2024 | Málaga | ||
| 2024–2026 | Real Betis | ||
| 2026- | Olympique Marseille | ||
| International career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2023–2024 | Morocco U15 | 6 | (2) |
| 2023–2024 | Morocco U16 | 5 | (2) |
| 2024– | Morocco U17 | 15 | (10) |
Early and personal life
Baha was born in Málaga, Spain, to former Moroccan international footballer Nabil Baha, who was playing for Málaga at the time, and former Spanish-Moroccan model Farah Farabian.[2][3] His sister, Mayssa Baha, is also a footballer, and currently plays in the academy of Barcelona Femení.[4][5]
Club career
Baha began his footballing career in Morocco with FUS Rabat, where he won the national youth championship in 2022, before a move to his father's former club, Málaga, in 2023.[2] Following a good season with Málaga's youth sides, scoring 21 goals, he signed for Real Betis in June 2024 on a three-year deal.[6][7]
He later secured a move to Olympique de Marseille's U-17 side in January 2026, later going up to Olympique Marseille's U-19s in July 2026. [8]
International career
Baha was called up to the Morocco under-17 side for the 2024 UNAF U-17 Tournament in Morocco, where his three goals helped his nation to qualify for the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.[9] At the Africa Cup of Nations tournament, again hosted in Morocco, he kept up his goalscoring form, netting twice against Uganda in the opening match.[9]
In the quarter-finals, Baha scored twice against South Africa to earn the Man-of-the-Match award in Morocco's 3–1 win, becoming the first Moroccan to score more than once in a knockout game at the competition.[10][11] Following Morocco's 0–0 draw in their semi-final match against the Ivory Coast, Baha scored his penalty in the resulting 4–3 shoot-out win, with his father Nabil admitting he was unable to watch his son take the shot.[12] Another successful Baha penalty in Morocco's 4–2 shoot-out win against Mali saw his nation lift the trophy.[13]
Style of play
When his father, Nabil Baha, was asked what it was like to coach his son at the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, he described Baha as a "number 10 or number 9", and highlighted that he was playing "phenomenally" against players older than him at the tournament.[14] Baha himself states that he watched clips of his father, who also played as a centre-forward, in order to improve.[15]
He was described by Spanish football website El Desmarque as a "complete forward" noted for his dribbling and ability to create chances with little space to work in.[16] This was shown in Baha's goal in a 5–1 win against Egypt at the 2024 UNAF U-17 Tournament; receiving the ball on the goal-line, he shrugged off defender Hamza El Degawy, before beating Nour Ashraf and then El Degawy again, then rifling the ball beyond goalkeeper Amr Taha.[17][18] His prolific form at under-17 level for Morocco lead to him being described as a "goal machine".[19]
Honours
Morocco U17