Atal with Nice in 2022
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Youcef Atal[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1996-05-17) 17 May 1996 (age 28) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Boghni, Algeria | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Right-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Adana Demirspor | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2008 | CR Belouizdad | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2011 | JS Kabylie | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | USM Alger | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | JS Kabylie | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Paradou AC | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2018 | Paradou AC | 46 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | → Kortrijk (loan) | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2024 | Nice | 101 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Adana Demirspor | 11 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017– | Algeria | 41 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:46, 31 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08:30, 18 June 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Youcef Atal (Arabic: يوسف عطال; born 17 May 1996) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor and the Algeria national team.
Atal joined French club Nice from Paradou AC in 2018. He underwent knee surgery in December 2019.[3]
On 9 February 2024, Atal signed for Turkish Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor.[4]
On 1 June 2017, Atal was called up to the Algeria national team for the first time for a friendly match against Guinea and a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Togo.[5]
In December 2023, he was named in Algeria's squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.[6]
On 14 October 2023, amidst the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Atal posted a video on social media of Palestinian preacher Mahmoud al-Hasanat asking God to "send Jewish people a dark day". He quickly removed the video after receiving criticism, notably from Nice mayor Christian Estrosi, who stated that unless Atal "denounces Hamas terrorists, he no longer has a place at [OGC Nice]".[7] Atal subsequently published a message on Instagram apologizing for posting the video, and clarified his beliefs by stating that he "denounce[s] all forms of violence".[7] On 16 October, the Nice public prosecutor's office initiated a preliminary investigation into Atal on charges of "defending terrorism".[8] Two days later, OGC Nice suspended Atal until further notice after the anti-Semitic post.[9] On 25 October, he was suspended for seven matches by the Ligue de Football Professionnel for posting the message.[10]
On the 24 November, Atal was detained by French Police over the anti-Semitic posts.[11] In January 2024, Atal was convicted of inciting religious hatred and given an eight-month suspended sentence.[12]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 2017 | 4 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 November 2018 | Stade Municipal, Lomé, Togo | 6 |  Togo |
2–0 | 4–1 | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | [14] |
| 2 | 27 September 2022 | Olympic Stadium, Oran, Algeria | 28 |  Nigeria |
2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly | [15] |
Paradou AC
Nice
Algeria
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Adana Demirspor – current squad
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Algeria squads
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