Mohamed Amine Elyounoussi (; born 4 August 1994), nicknamed Moi (), is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Danish Superliga club Copenhagen. Born in Morocco, he previously played for the Norway national team.
Early life
Elyounoussi was born in Al Hoceima, Morocco and moved to Sarpsborg in Norway at a young age, where he started his professional career.
Club career Sarpsborg 08 He made his debut in Tippeligaen when he came on as a substitute in Sarpsborg 08's match against Odd Grenland on 8 May 2011.
Molde On 15 March 2014, Elyounoussi moved to fellow Tippeligaen side Molde FK. During his first season with Molde FK he played in every league match and was the club's top scorer with 13 goals. With the club, Elyounoussi won both Tippeligaen and the Norwegian Cup in his first season, which meant that Molde won the double for the first time in the club's history. He scored four goals in the 2014 Norwegian Cup, of which one was scored in the final against Odd. Elyounoussi scored a total of 17 goals in all competitions in the 2014 season and became Molde's top goalscorer.
In 2015, Elyounoussi scored three goals in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, all in the group stage. He scored twice against Celtic and once against Fenerbahçe and helped the team advance to the Round of 16 where they lost 1–3 on aggregate against Sevilla.
Basel On 6 July 2016, Elyounoussi moved to Swiss Super League side FC Basel on a four-year contract. He joined Basel's first team for their 2016–17 season under head coach Urs Fischer. After playing in four test games he made his domestic league debut on 24 July in the 3–0 home win at the St. Jakob-Park against Sion. He scored his first goal for his new club just one week later on 31 July during the away game against Vaduz. It was the third Basler goal of the game and they won 5–1. Elyounoussi scored a hat trick for Basel on 4 February 2017 during the home game against Lugano. These were the first three goals and were scored during the first 36 minutes of the game that Basel won 4–0. Under trainer Urs Fischer, Elyounoussi won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2016–17 season. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total. They also won the Swiss Cup for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the club's history.
He stayed with the club for two seasons and during this time Elyounoussi played a total of 102 games for Basel scoring a total of 27 goals. 65 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, eight in the Swiss Cup, 11 in the Champions League and 18 were friendly games. He scored 21 goals in the domestic league, two in the Champions League and the other four were scored during the test games.
Southampton
2018–19: Debut season in the Premier League On 29 June 2018, Elyounoussi was signed by Southampton for a reported fee of £16 million, signing a five-year contract. On 12 August 2018, Elyounoussi made his Premier League debut in a 0–0 draw with Burnley, replacing Cédric in the 56th minute. Despite making 19 appearances in all competitions throughout the season, Elyounoussi would not score any goals for the club. Elyounoussi stated he found it “hard” to gain momentum.
2019–2021: Loan to Celtic On 30 August 2019, Elyounoussi joined Celtic on loan until the end of the season. On 14 September 2019, Elyounoussi made his first appearance for Celtic in a 0–1 victory against Hamilton. Elyounoussi would score his first goal for the club on 3 October 2019 in a 2–0 victory against CFR Cluj in the Europa League. On 19 October 2019, Elyounoussi scored his first goals in the Scottish Premiership when he scored a brace in a 6–0 victory against Ross County.
On 30 June 2020, the loan was extended for a further season. Elyounoussi scored a brace on 18 August 2020 in a 6–0 victory against KR Reykjavik in the Champions League. On 8 November 2020, Elyounoussi scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory at Motherwell. On 21 March 2021, Elyounoussi scored in a 1–1 draw against Rangers which meant they could not match Celtic's 106-point haul in the 2016–17 season.
2021–22: Return to Southampton On 25 August 2021, he scored a hat-trick in an emphatic 8–0 win over League Two side Newport County in the second round of the EFL Cup. It was the biggest away win in Southampton's 135-year history and matched their biggest post-war win. On 28 August 2021, Elyounoussi scored his first Premier League goal for Southampton in their 2–2 draw with Newcastle. On 26 December 2021, Elyounoussi scored in a 2–3 victory against West Ham. Elyounoussi scored his first goal in the FA Cup on 8 January 2022 in a 2–3 victory against Swansea City. On 9 February 2022, Elyounoussi scored in a 2–3 victory against Tottenham Hotspur. His final goal of the 2021–22 season came on 13 March 2022 in a 1–2 defeat to Watford. This was his most prolific season for Southampton.
2022–23 On 13 August 2022, Elyounoussi made his first appearance of the season in a 2–2 draw with Leeds United. He scored his only goal of the campaign in the penultimate game of the season in a 3–1 defeat to Brighton. On 14 June 2023, Elyounoussi confirmed he would leave Southampton following the expiry of his contract at the end of the month.
F.C. Copenhagen On 27 July 2023, Elyounoussi signed a four-year contract with FC Copenhagen on a free transfer.
International career In June 2011, Elyounoussi was called up for the Norway U-17 team.
In November 2013, he was called up to the senior Norwegian national team for their January 2014 international matches in Abu Dhabi. He made his debut there against Poland on 18 January 2014, replacing Erik Huseklepp in the 33rd minute of a 3–0 defeat. He scored his first goal for Norway on 13 June 2017 against Sweden. He scored his first hat-trick for Norway on 5 October 2017 against San Marino.
Personal life His cousin, Tarik Elyounoussi, is also a Norwegian international footballer who last played for the Japanese side, Shonan Bellmare.
Elyounoussi's father used to own a pizza parlour in Norway, where Mohamed worked while living in his home town.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonDivisionLeagueNational cupLeague cupEuropeTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSarpsborg 082011Tippeligaen9010——10020121. divisjon26931——29102013Tippeligaen29610——306Total641551—006916Molde2014Tippeligaen301344—3037172015Tippeligaen281210—11740192016Tippeligaen12511—20156Total703065—1679242Basel2016–17Swiss Super League321050—3040102017–18Swiss Super League331130—824413Total652180—1128423Southampton2018–19Premier League1602010—1902019–20Premier League000000—002020–21Premier League000000—002021–22Premier League3042113—3382022–23Premier League3311030—371Total7955153—899Celtic (loan)2019–20Scottish Premiership1042132612182020–21Scottish Premiership34102120964517Total441442521576625Copenhagen 2023–24Danish Superliga301031—12345142024–25Danish Superliga27861—15248112025–26Danish Superliga31762—13250112026–27Danish Superliga7600—62138Total9531154—46915644Career total41711643131058825556159
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsNorway20142020153020160020179420188120192020204120211132022100202351202410Total5510
Norway score listed first, score column indicates score after each Elyounoussi goal
+ List of international goals scored by Mohamed ElyounoussiNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 13 June 2017 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–0 1–1 Friendly2 5 October 2017 San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino 4–0 8–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification3 5–04 7–05 16 October 2018 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–0 1–0 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C6 7 September 2020 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland 1–0 5–1 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B7 4 September 2021 Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia 2–0 2–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification8 11 October 2021 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–0 2–0 9 2–010 19 November 2023 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland 3–3 3–3 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
Honours Molde Tippeligaen: 2014 Norwegian Cup: 2014
Basel Swiss Super League: 2016–17 Swiss Cup: 2016–17
Celtic Scottish Premiership: 2019–20 Scottish Cup: 2019–20Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020 Scottish League Cup: 2019–20
Copenhagen Danish Superliga: 2024–25 Danish Cup: 2024–25
Individual Swiss Super League Team of the Year: 2017–18 Danish Superliga Team of the Month: March 2024
References
External links
Profile at the F.C. Copenhagen website Profile at altomfotball.no Profile at sarpsborg08.no