Bilal El Khannouss (Arabic: بلال الخنوس; born 10 May 2004) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Leicester City. Born in Belgium, he plays for the Morocco national team.
 El Khannouss with Morocco in 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bilal El Khannouss[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 May 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Strombeek-Bever, Belgium | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Leicester City | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2019 | Anderlecht | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Genk | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Genk | 78 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Leicester City | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Belgium U15 | 3 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Belgium U16 | 7 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Belgium U18 | 3 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Morocco U20 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Morocco U23 | 12 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Morocco | 18 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:12, 10 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Club career
editGenk
editA youth exponent from Anderlecht, El Khannouss moved to Genk in 2019.[2] On 24 July 2020, he signed his first professional contract.[3] He made his league debut on 21 May 2022 against Mechelen.[4]
On 1 November 2023, El Khannouss was nominated for the 2023 African Young Player of the Year by CAF.[5]
Leicester City
editEl Khannouss signed for Premier League club Leicester City on 29 August 2024 on a four-year deal for a reported £20m fee plus addons.[6][7] He wears the number 11 shirt,[8] last worn by Marc Albrighton until he left the club in 2024.[9]
International career
editBorn in Belgium, El Khannouss is of Moroccan descent.[10] A former youth international for Belgium, El Khannous switched to represent the Morocco U20s.[11]
On 10 November 2022, he was named in Morocco's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[12][13] On 17 December, he made his international debut in the World Cup third-place playoff against Croatia, which ended in a 2–1 defeat.[14]
In June 2023, he was included in the final squad of the under-23 national team for the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, hosted by Morocco itself,[15][16] where the Atlas Lions won their first title[17][18] and qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[17][19]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of match played 10 November 2024[20]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Genk | 2021–22 | Belgian Pro League | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | Belgian Pro League | 39 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 1 | |||
| 2023–24 | Belgian Pro League | 37 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 12[a] | 0 | 51 | 3 | ||
| 2024–25 | Belgian Pro League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 78 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 94 | 4 | ||
| Leicester City | 2024–25 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 9 | 1 | |
| Career total | 85 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 103 | 5 | ||
- ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League, eight appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
International
edit- As of match played 18 November 2024[21]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 11 | 0 | |
| Total | 18 | 0 | |
Honours
editMorocco U23
- U-23 Africa Cup of Nations: 2023[17][18]
- Summer Olympics Bronze Medal: 2024[22]
Individual
- Belgian Golden Shoe Best Young Player: 2022[23]
- Belgian Lion Award: 2023[24]
- Genk Player of the Season: 2023–24[25]
- Belgian Pro League Young Professional Footballer of the Season: 2023–24[26]
Orders
- Order of the Throne: 2022[27]
References
edit- ^ "2024/25 Premier League squad lists". Premier League. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ^ "El Khannous verlaat Anderlecht". www.anderlecht-online.be.
- ^ Projects, Sanmax. "Jeugdinternational Bilal El Khannouss (16) tekent eerste contract | KRC Genk". www.krcgenk.be.
- ^ "ONZE PUNTEN. Niet de avond van Paul Onuachu, knap debuut van Bilal El Khannous". www.hbvl.be.
- ^ "CAF announces CAF Awards 2023 Nominees for Men's Categories". CAF. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Owynn, Palmer-Atkin. "X Post". X. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Bilal El Khannouss Signs Four-Year Deal With Leicester City". lcfc.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Bilal El Khannouss Signs Four-Year Deal With Leicester City". lcfc.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Marc Albrighton
- ^ "Un joueur de Genk préfère le Maroc à la Belgique". www.footnews.be.
- ^ l'Atlas, Lions De (22 June 2021). "Coupe arabe U20 : Les Lionceaux se préparent au festin face aux Requins du Djibouti".
- ^ "Morocco World Cup 2022 squad: Who's in and who's out? | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- ^ "Moroccan coach unveils list of 26 Atlas Lions in 2022 World Cup". HESPRESS English – Morocco News. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- ^ Bart De Vré (17 December 2022). "Bilal El Khannouss, Racing Genk, maakte een prima debuut voor Marokko: "Zeker geslaagd"". voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch).
- ^ "Sei bianconeri con le nazionali". FC Lugano (in Italian). 9 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "تشكيلة المنتخب الوطني لاقل من 23 سنة امام غينيا". Royal Moroccan Football Federation (in Arabic). 24 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ a b c "Morocco win maiden TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations title with victory over Egypt | Total U-23 Africa Cup of Nations 2023". CAFOnline.com. 8 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Le Maroc remporte la CAN U23 au bout de la prolongation". SO FOOT.com (in French). 9 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Le Mali, le Maroc et l'Égypte qualifiés pour les JO 2024". SO FOOT.com (in French). 8 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Bilal el Khannouss Signs Four-Year Deal".
- ^ "El Khannouss, Bilal". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "Egypt U23 vs Morocco U23: Olympics". BBC Sport. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Gala du Soulier d'Or : Bilal El Khannouss élu Espoir de l'année avec un point d'avance sur Charles De Ketelaere". DHnet (in French). 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ Erraji, Abdellah (5 December 2023). "Morocco's Bilal El Khannouss Wins Belgian Lion Award 2023". Morocco World News. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "Bilal El Khannouss wint Gouden Schoen van het OSV" (in Dutch). K.R.C. Genk. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "KRC Genk plukt drie prijzen weg op Pro League Awards" (in Dutch). K.R.C. Genk. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ "King receives members of national soccer team, decorates them with Royal wissams". HESPRESS. 20 December 2022. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.