Zakaria El Ouahdi

Zakaria El Ouahdi (born 31 December 2001) is a professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Genk. He plays as a right-winger or a right-back. Born in Belgium, he represents Morocco at youth level.

Early life
El Ouahdi was born in Hoboken in the Antwerp Province in a family of eight children. His parents are of Moroccan descent.

Club career
In June 2021, El Ouadhi joined the under-21 side of RWD Molenbeek. After good performances, El Ouadhi was regularly invited to train with the first team, and was awarded his first professional contract on 9 September 2021.

On 14 August 2021, he made his professional debut in Challenger Pro League in RWD Molenbeek's 3–1 victory against Royal Excel Mouscron. On 3 October, he scored his first goal in professional, awarding a 2-1 win for his club against Deinze.

On 12 March 2023, El Ouadhi scored his first career hattrick against Club NXT, offering an important 3-2 win for RWD Molenbeek for their fight for promotion. He terminated the 2022-23 season by winning the league with RWD Molenbeek and gained a promotion to the Jupiler Pro League. El Ouadhi named was as Molenbeek's player of the season and figured in the league's best XI of the season.

On 5 September 2023, El Ouahdi signed for Genk on an initial three-year deal with the option for a further twelve months.

International career
Holding both Belgian and Moroccan citizenship, El Ouadhi chose to represent Morocco in international level. On 9 June 2023, he was called up by coach Issame Charaï in Morocco U-23 squad for the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations. El Ouadhi appeared in four out of five matches during the tournament, and scored one goal against Mali U-23 in the semi-final match. Morocco U-23 won the tournament as El Ouadhi figured in the competition's team of the tournament as the best right-back.

Honours
RWD Molenbeek
 * Challenger Pro League: 2022–23

Morocco U-23
 * U-23 Africa Cup of Nations: 2023

Individual
 * Challenger Pro League best XI: 2022–23
 * U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the tournament: 2023