Islam Slimani facts for kids
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Slimani with Algeria in 2014
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 June 1988 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Algiers, Algeria | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Striker | |||||||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||||||
| Current club | Westerlo | |||||||||||||||
| Number | 19 | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | JSM Chéraga | 38 | (19) | |||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | CR Belouizdad | 98 | (32) | |||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Sporting CP | 82 | (48) | |||||||||||||
| 2016–2021 | Leicester City | 36 | (8) | |||||||||||||
| 2018 | → Newcastle United (loan) | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | → Fenerbahçe (loan) | 15 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | → Monaco (loan) | 18 | (9) | |||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Lyon | 30 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 2022 | Sporting CP | 9 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Brest | 16 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2023 | Anderlecht | 10 | (8) | |||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Coritiba | 11 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 2024 | Mechelen | 13 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 2024– | CR Belouizdad | 8 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 2025– | → Westerlo (loan) | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| National team‡ | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012– | Algeria | 102 | (46) | |||||||||||||
| 2013 | Algeria A' | 1 | (1) | |||||||||||||
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Honours
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† Appearances (Goals). |
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Islam Slimani (born 18 June 1988) is a famous Algerian football player. He plays as a striker, which means he's usually focused on scoring goals. He currently plays for Westerlo in Belgium, on loan from CR Belouizdad in Algeria. He also plays for the Algeria national team.
Slimani started his football journey in Algeria. He played for clubs like JSM Chéraga and CR Belouizdad. In 2013, he moved to Europe to play for Sporting CP in Portugal. He scored many goals there and helped his team win the Taça de Portugal in 2015. Later, in 2016, he joined Leicester City in England for a record fee.
Islam Slimani is also a key player for Algeria. He has played in many Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, even winning the 2019 tournament. He also played in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He has played over 100 games for his country and is Algeria's all-time top goalscorer!
Contents
Club Career
Starting Out in Algeria
In May 2009, Slimani joined CR Belouizdad from JSM Chéraga. He signed a two-year contract. In August, he played his first official game for the club. He scored 8 goals in 30 games in his first season.
On 17 May 2011, Slimani scored four goals in one game! This helped CR Belouizdad win 7–1 against JS Kabylie. Even though some French clubs wanted to sign him, Slimani decided to stay with CR Belouizdad for two more years.
Playing in Portugal with Sporting CP
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2013–14 Season
On 6 August 2013, Slimani moved to Sporting CP in Portugal. At first, he often came on as a substitute. But he became known for scoring important goals when he entered the game. He soon became a regular starter.
In March 2014, he scored four goals in four matches. He even scored the winning goal against their rivals, Porto. In December 2013, he was named the best Algerian footballer of the year.
2014–15 Season
In his second season, Slimani became a very important player for Sporting. He scored his first goal of the season in a big game against Benfica. In European games, he scored against Schalke 04.
Sporting finished third in the league that year. But they won the Taça de Portugal cup! Slimani scored a goal in the final against Braga. This helped Sporting come back from being two goals down. They won the cup after a penalty shootout. This was his first big title with the club. He scored 15 goals in 33 games that season.
2015–16 Season
For the 2015–16 season, Slimani hoped to win the Primeira Liga title. This title had not been won by Sporting for 14 years. The new coach, Jorge Jesus, planned to rely a lot on Slimani. They started by winning the Supertaça against Benfica. This was Slimani's second title.
He scored his first goal of the league season on 4 October 2015. He then scored his first hat-trick (three goals in one game) in the Portuguese league. Slimani scored two goals against famous goalkeeper Iker Casillas of Porto. This helped his team get back to the top of the league.
He kept scoring in many games, including against Vitória de Setúbal and Braga. He scored two more goals against Porto at their home stadium. In the end, Slimani scored 27 goals in the league that season. However, Sporting finished second, just two points behind Benfica.
After this great season, Slimani wanted to leave Sporting. The club agreed. He played his last game and scored his last goal for Sporting on 28 August 2016.
Moving to Leicester City
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2016–17 Season
On 31 August 2016, Slimani joined Premier League champions Leicester City. He signed a five-year contract. The transfer fee was about £28 million, which was a record for Leicester.
He played his first game for Leicester in the UEFA Champions League on 14 September. Three days later, he played his first Premier League game. He scored two goals in a 3–0 win against Burnley. On 27 September, Slimani scored the only goal in Leicester's 1–0 Champions League win against Porto. This was his sixth goal against Iker Casillas that year!
Slimani continued to help Leicester. He scored important goals and gave assists to his teammates. He scored the winning goal against West Ham United on the last day of 2016. After playing in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, Slimani got injured. This meant he didn't play as much for the rest of the season. He scored two more goals in the league and two in the League Cup.
Loans to Other Clubs
- Newcastle United (2018): On 31 January 2018, Slimani joined Newcastle United on loan. He had a thigh injury, so he didn't play his first game until two months later. He helped set up the winning goal in a game against Huddersfield Town. He also helped set up another winning goal against Arsenal.
- Fenerbahçe (2018–2019): On 11 August 2018, Slimani went on loan to Fenerbahçe in Turkey. He scored his first goal for them on 1 September 2018.
- Monaco (2019–2020): On 21 August 2019, Slimani joined Monaco in France on loan. He had a great season, scoring nine goals and making seven assists in 18 games. However, Monaco decided not to sign him permanently.
Playing for Lyon
On 13 January 2021, Slimani signed with Lyon in France. He made his league debut on 18 January. He scored his first goal for Lyon in a cup game on 9 February. His first league goal came on 21 March. On 1 February 2022, Slimani and Lyon ended his contract early.
Return to Sporting CP
After leaving Lyon, Slimani immediately returned to Sporting CP. He signed a contract for one and a half years. He played his first game back on 6 February 2022. He scored his first goal in his return on 26 February.
Short Stays in Europe and Brazil
- Brest (2022): On 25 August 2022, Slimani signed with Brest in France.
- Anderlecht (2023): On 1 February 2023, he joined Anderlecht in Belgium. He scored 8 goals in 10 games for them!
- Coritiba (2023): On 20 August 2023, Slimani moved to Brazil to play for Coritiba.
- Mechelen (2024): On 1 February 2024, he signed with Mechelen in Belgium.
Back to Algeria and Loan to Westerlo
In September 2024, Slimani rejoined his old Algerian club, CR Belouizdad. Then, on 16 January 2025, he went back to Belgium. He signed with Westerlo on loan until the end of the 2024–25 season.
International Career
In May 2012, Islam Slimani was called up to the Algeria national team for the first time. On 26 May, he played his first game for Algeria in a friendly match. A week later, on 2 June, he scored his first international goal for Algeria! He scored the third goal in a 4–0 win. He then scored in the next game against Mali and two more goals against Gambia.
Slimani played in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Algeria didn't do very well that year, but he played in all their group games.
Algeria qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Slimani was chosen for the team. On 22 June 2014, he scored the first goal for Algeria in a 4–2 win against South Korea. He also helped set up another goal. On 26 June, Slimani scored with a header in Algeria's 1–1 draw with Russia. This goal helped Algeria reach the knockout rounds of the World Cup for the first time ever! In the next game against Germany, Algeria lost, but they were praised for their great performance.
In the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Slimani scored a goal in Algeria's first game.
Slimani was part of the Algeria team that won the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations! He scored one goal in the tournament against Tanzania.
On 2 September 2021, Slimani scored four goals in an amazing 8–0 win against Djibouti. On 8 October 2021, he scored two more goals against Niger. This made him Algeria's all-time top scorer with 38 goals! He broke a record that had stood for 19 years.
In December 2023, he was again chosen for Algeria's squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. He played his 100th game for the national team in the first match of this tournament.
Honours
Islam Slimani has won several important titles and awards:
Sporting CP
- Taça de Portugal: 2014–15
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2015
Algeria
Individual Awards
- Algerian Footballer of the Year: 2013
- Taça de Portugal Final Man of the Match: 2015
- SJPF Player of the Month: December 2015
- Leões/Lions Awards 2016: Player of the Season
- Primeira Liga's Forward of the Month: February 2022
See also
In Spanish: Islam Slimani para niños
- List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
- List of top international men's football goalscorers by country
