Hussein Ammouta

Hussein Ammouta (الحسين عموتة; born 24 October 1969), also written as Houcine Ammouta, is a Moroccan professional football manager and former player, who is now the manager of Emirates club Al Jazira.

As a former midfielder, Ammouta spent his entire playing career in the Middle East and Africa, namely IZ Khemisset, Fath Union Sport, Al-Riyadh, Al Sadd, Sharjah and Qatar SC. As a Moroccan international, he was capped on 5 occasions, he also competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics with his nation.

As a manager, Ammouta began his career coaching a local team named Zemmouris. He went on to spend his next 15 years coaching different clubs, most notably Wydad AC, winning the CAF Champions League.

In 2020, Ammouta was named as the new manager of the Morocco A' national football team. He led the team to victory in the 2020 African Nations Championship.

On 27 June 2023, Ammouta was appointed as the Jordan national team coach. Under the leadership of Hussein Ammouta, the Jordanian national team reached the 2023 AFC Asian Cup final for the first time in their history.

Playing career
His career began in his hometown club of Ittihad Khemisset in 1988. He joined Al Sadd in 1997, helping them win the Emir Cup and the Crown Prince Cup in his second season at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. He was the league top goalscorer that season.

He had spells in United Arab Emirates with Al Sharjah and in Saudi Arabia with Al Riyadh.

Managerial career
He began his managerial career as a player-coach at Zemmouis SC in 2003.

In 2007, he returned to his first club, Ittihad Khemisset, winning the league. He left in the 2007–08 season, and from 2008 to 2011, he took over the reins of a well-known club, FUS de Rabat. After he left, he joined Al Sadd as the technical director, before being named as a replacement for head coach Jorge Fossati in 2012.

His skills would be tested for the 2012 Sheikh Jassem Cup where they played most of their matches with their second team, and were in the final defeated by Al Rayyan SC, 1–0. Talk in the league, even among pundits, praised the team's form having consecutively won the set of nine matches that began the season, setting a league record. Sadd were eventually held to a goalless draw by Al Kharaitiyat on 8 December 2012. Al-Sadd won the league on 13 April 2013, one match before the end of the league. The victory followed a hiatus since the Al-Sadd league victory in 2007.

Return to Wydad AC
On 5 January 2017, Ammouta was announced as the new Wydad AC head coach, after long negotiations, as the Moroccan coach signed a contract extending for one and a half seasons, replacing French coach Sébastien Desabre.

On 18 August 2022, Ammouta was announced as the new Wydad AC head coach, replacing Walid Regragui who was transferred to coach the Moroccan national team.

AS FAR
From May to June 2023, he led the AS FAR Club as general supervisor at the end of the remaining season, because the coach law adopted by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation does not allow coaching two teams in the league during the same season, He led them to win the Moroccan League title.

Jordan
On 27 June 2023, Ammouta was appointed as the Jordan national team coach. In the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, Jordan qualified to the knockout stages as one of the best teams placed third in the group stage. He later led the Jordanians to defeat Iraq 3–2 in the round of 16, and Tajikistan 1–0 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Jordan achieved a significant victory by defeating South Korea 2–0, which guaranteed their first appearance in the final of the Asian Cup. However, in the final, Jordan was defeated by the hosting country, Qatar, with a score of 3–1. In June 2024, he stepped down as the head coach of Jordan after successfully leading the team to the top of their group in the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, securing their spot in the third round.

Al Jazira
On 8 July 2024, Ammouta was appointed as the new coach of Emirati club Al Jazira by signing a contract until 2026.

Player
Fath Union Sport
 * Moroccan Throne Cup: 1994–95

Al-Sadd
 * Qatar Stars League: 1999–2000
 * Emir of Qatar Cup: 1999–2000, 2000–01
 * Crown Prince Cup: 1998
 * Sheikh Jassim Cup: 1997, 1999

Qatar SC
 * Qatar Stars League: 2002–03
 * Crown Prince Cup: 2002

Manager
Fath Union Sport
 * Botola 2: 2008–09
 * Moroccan Throne Cup: 2010
 * CAF Confederation Cup: 2010
 * CAF Super Cup runner-up: 2011

Al-Sadd
 * Qatar Stars League: 2012–13
 * Emir of Qatar Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15
 * Sheikh Jassem Cup: 2014

Wydad AC
 * Moroccan League: 2016–17
 * CAF Champions League: 2017
 * CAF Super Cup runner-up: 2022

AS FAR
 * Moroccan League: 2022–23

Morocco
 * African Nations Championship: 2020

Jordan
 * AFC Asian Cup runner-up: 2023

Individual

 * Moroccan League Top Goalscorer: 1993–94
 * Qatar Stars League Top Goalscorer: 1997–98
 * Qatar Emir Cup Top Goalscorer: 2000–01 (7 goals 7 games)
 * Qatar Stars League Manager of the Season: 2012–13
 * Qatar Stars League Manager of the Month: October 2014, April 2015
 * Botola Manager of the Season: 2016–17
 * African Nations Championship Best Coach: 2020

Order
 * Silver Jubilee Medal (Jordan): 2024