Raja CA Under-21s & Academy

Entry gate of the Oasis Complex
Full name	Raja Club Athletic Under-21s & Academy
Nickname(s)	Green Eagles الرجاء العالمي (Worldwide Raja) نادي الشعب (The People's Club) الخضرة الوطنية (The National Green)
Founded	20 March 1949; 75 years ago (1949-03-20)
Ground	Stade Mohammed V Raja CA Academy Raja-Oasis Sports Complex
Current season

Raja CA Under-21s and Academy are the youth teams of Raja CA. The U21 team (or reserve team) mainly consists of Under-21 players and some senior players that occasionally join them, for instance when they are recovering from injury. The Academy refers to the other development teams below under-21, that complete Raja's youth system: Juniors "A" and "B"; Cadets "A", "B" and ''C''; Minimes "A", "B" and "C".

Raja CA is considered to have the best football academy in Morocco, the first team has historically relied heavily on academy players and its youth teams are generally very competitive in the different leagues that they compete in at the regional, inter-regional and national levels.^[1][2][3] It has produced many successful players such as Houmane Jarir, Saïd Ghandi, Petchou, Abdelmajid Dolmy, Mustapha El Haddaoui, Redouane Hajry, Mustapha Khalif, Mustapha Moustawdae, Salaheddine Bassir, Omar Nejjary, Abdelilah Fahmi, Talal El Karkouri, Marouane Zemmama, Amin Erbati, Hicham Aboucherouane, Mouhcine Iajour, Mohsine Moutaouali, Abdelilah Hafidi, Badr Benoun and Soufiane Rahimi, among many others.

The youth teams play their home games at Oasis Sports Complex or at the Raja CA Academy. Up until 2011, the U-21 team sometimes played the Derby against Wydad AC in Stade Mohammed-V before the first team Derby kick-off.^[4]

Raja's academy in the Oasis Sports Complex was one of the first football centres to comply with international standards in Africa, and the first to adopt the "sport-study" system that combine both football and education in Morocco.^[5][6] In 2021, it was chosen by the technical direction of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation as the best player development center.^[5][6]

The club's development strategies have long been run by Abdelkader Jalal [fr], a former Raja player and its main head of player development between 1950 and 1989, retiring only after an accident that occurred in 23 May and cost him his left hand.^[7] After the opening of the development centre in 1999, the management was given to experienced coaches who were also former Raja players like Fathi Jamal, Mhamed Fakhir and Mohamed Madih. Raja was the first Moroccan club to offer to its young players a sporting and educational program that was provided by the OFPPT [fr]. The first generation consisted of 26 selected players, aged between 16 and 17 with the exception of goalscorer Tarik Bendamou and the goalkeeper Yassine El Had who are respectively 13 and 14 years old.^[8] In general, the club relies on its former players to coach youth teams to conserve the club's football style. ^[9]

In September 2022, Raja CA Academy finally opened its doors after a year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the first team facilities, it houses the club's academy structure that offers to its young footballers, in association with the Oasis Complex, accommodation, education and a high-level football development. The facilities were built for the first team and the youth teams competing in their respective championships (U17, U19, U21). The younger teams are trained in Oasis. The academy is equipped with a natural grass pitch, a new generation synthetic turf and four mini-football. The sports center has also a gym, a rehabilitation room, a medical center and a restaurant.

Raja CA's youth teams are generally dominant in their national championships like in the 2014–15 season, when both U17 and U19 teams won th national league. Since 2019, the U21 team no longer compete with their peers since their promotion to senior football at the D5 Championship. They finished second twice in a row, in 2019-20 and 2020–21 and came close to promotion to D4 under the management of Bouchaib El Moubarki.^[10][11]

In November 2023, club's president Mohamed Boudrika stated that the Academy, apart from the first teams, host twelve football teams, three futsal teams and three women teams.

Due to the high number of players in the Academy, each age category have two or three teams (for example: Juniors A, Juniors B...) that compete in regional or inter-regional competitions, in addition to the main teams that respectively play in the U-15, U-17 and U-19 national leagues.^[12] After their promotion to senior football in 2019, the U-21 category has one single team that directly give players to the first team.

As of 28 September 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  MAR Yassine Zoubir — GK  MAR Hatim Siouah — GK  MAR Nabil Douah — GK  MAR Adam Alami — DF  MAR Mehdi Mchakhchekh (Vice-Captain) — DF  MAR Saad Chamach — DF  SEN Ibrahima — DF  MAR Abdellah Azrour — DF  MAR Mohamed Youssef Gaidi — DF  MAR Karim Achqar — DF  MAR Adham Al Khalfi (Captain) — MF  MAR Yassine Oumast — MF  MAR Anouar Aalam — MF  MAR Saad Essamouani

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  GUI Ahmadou Camara — MF  MAR Brahim Bensaber — MF  MAR Youness Barti — MF  MAR Ziad Nejjary — FW  MAR Houssam Djellal — FW  MAR Akram El Khouidssi — FW  MAR Yasser Zahli — FW  MLI Idrissa — FW  MAR Hamza Moustawdae — FW  MAR Amine Essabah — FW  MAR Youssef Hafidi — FW  MAR Mansour Nachet — FW  MAR Reda Smaili

On 19 May 2019, Raja played the U-21 national league play-offs final and gained promotion for the first time to a senior league, which is Amateurs 3 (North West Group), the fifth level of Moroccan football, despite losing to Kawkab Marrakech on penalties after a 0–0 draw.^[13]

As of 5 October 2024

Sporting director	Mohamed Madih[30]
Technical director	Hicham Aboucherouane
Head of Player Development	Jean-Marc Nobilo
Under-21s head coach
Under-18s head coach	Rachid Soulaimani
Under-17s head coach	Mohamed Armoumen
Under-16s head coach	Hamid Nater
Under-15s head coach	Mustapha Khalif
Under-14s head coach	Adil Bekkari
Under-13s head coach	Mustapha Moustawdae

This is a list of former Raja CA youth graduates who have gone on to represent their country at full senior international level.

As of 13 October 2023

Player	Years played in the Academy	Years played for first team	National team	Years played for national team	Notes	Ref.
Mohamed Choukri Roudani	1950–1951	1951–1964	Morocco	1957–1960	He was part of Morocco's first national team at the 1957 Arab Games	[31]
Moussa Hanoun [fr]	1951–1953	1953–1963 1964–1966	Morocco	1963–1964		[32]
Hamid Bahij [fr]	1951–1954	1954–1964 1966–1967	Morocco	1959–1966	Winner of 1961 Arab Games and played the 1964 Olympics	[33]
Mohamed Bhaïja [fr]	1952–1956	1956–1971	Morocco	1960–1966		[34]
Mustapha Fahim Milazzo	1954–1956	1956–1967	Morocco	1959–1964		[35]
Ali Bendayan Aliouate	1954–1962	1962–1975	Morocco	1963–1967		[36]
Houmane Jarir	1955–1962	1962–1977	Morocco	1966–1970	He scored Morocco's first-ever World Cup goal	[37]
Saïd Ghandi	1955–1964	1964–1979	Morocco	1966–1974		[38]
Abdallah Zhar [fr]	1953–1956	1965–1966	Morocco	1960–1966		[39]
Mohamed Abdelalim Bénini	1959–1965	1965–1977	Morocco	1965–1966		[40]
Mohamed Maaroufi	1960–1965	1965–1966	Morocco	1967–1974		[41]
Mustapha Choukri	1956–1966	1966–1975	Morocco	1970–1979		[42]
Abdelhak Fethi	1965–1971	1971–1986	Morocco	1977–1980		[43]
Abdelmajid Hadry	1966–1971	1971–1979	Morocco	1972–1973		[44]
Abdelmajid Dolmy	1969–1974	1971–1987 1990–1991	Morocco	1971–1988	Winner of 1976 AFCON and one of Morocco's most-capped players
Jawad El Andaloussi	1965–1972	1972–1977 1983–1985	Morocco	1976–1981	Winner of 1976 AFCON	[45]
Abdellatif Beggar [fr]	1965–1973	1974–1978 1979–1983 1986–1987	Morocco	1979–1981		[46]
Najib Mokhles	1971–1975	1975–1982	Morocco	1976–1979		[47]
Abdelhak Souadi [fr]	1970–1977	1977–1986	Morocco	1983–1988	Winner of 1983 Mediterranean Games and runner-up of 1985 Arab Games	[48]
Hassan Mouahid	1973–1978	1978–1990	Morocco	1986–1988		[49]
Mustapha El Haddaoui	1973–1979	1979–1985	Morocco	1982–1994	Winner of 1983 Mediterranean Games and runner-up of 1985 Arab Games
Mohamed Nejmi	1973–1974	1979–1989	Morocco	1981–1983		[50]
Aziz Kharbouch	1972–1979	1979–1980 1983–1988	Morocco	1987–1988		[51]
Abderrahim Hamraoui [fr]	1973–1982	1982–1993	Morocco	1986–1988		[52]
Redouane Hajry	1975–1985	1985–1987	Morocco	1993–1995
Tijani El Maataoui	1980–1985	1985–1993	Morocco	1988–1993		[32]
Mustapha Khalif	1985–1988	1988–2000	Morocco	1993–1998
Mustapha Moustawdae	1987–1989	1988–1999	Morocco	1994–1998
Salaheddine Bassir	1983–1991	1991–1997	Morocco	1994–2002	Morocco's all-time second top goalscorer.
Omar Nejjary	1988–1992	1992–2000 2007–2010	Morocco	1996
Abdelilah Fahmi	1988–1993	1994–1999	Morocco	1995–2005
Talal El Karkouri	1994–1995	1995–2000	Morocco	2000–2009	Runner-up of AFCON 2004 and 2005 Islamic Solidarity Games
Mohamed Kharbouch	1994–1997	1997–2003	Morocco	2000–2001
Hafid Abdessadek	1992–1997	1997–2002	Morocco	2006
Adil Serraj	1989–1998	1998–2000	Morocco	2008
Hicham Misbah	1994–1999	1999–2007	Morocco	2004
Zakaria Aboub	1993–1999	1999–2002	Morocco	2004–2007
Sami Tajeddine	1993–2000	2000–2009	Morocco	2002–2004
Mohamed Armoumen	1995–2000	2000–2003 2008–2009	Morocco	2002–2006	Winner of 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie
Nabil Mesloub [fr]	1996–2000	2000–2011	Morocco	2002–2006
Marouane Zemmama	1997–2000	2000–2006 2013–2014	Morocco	2008–2009	Runner-up of 2005 Islamic Solidarity Games
Amin Erbati	1997–2001	2001–2008 2010–2013	Morocco	2002–2009
Hicham Aboucherouane	1999–2001	2001–2007 2010–2011	Morocco	2002–2009
Mouhcine Iajour	1998–2003	2004–2007 2012–2014 2017–2019	Morocco	2004–2015
Modibo Maïga	2004–2005	2005–2007	Mali	2007–2016	Bronze medalist of 2013 AFCON
Abdessamad Chahiri	2003–2005	2005–2007	Morocco	2007–2008
Said Fattah	1996–2004	2005–2011 2014–2015	Morocco	2011–2012
Mohsine Moutaouali	1994–2006	2006–2014 2019–2022	Morocco	2012–2015
Abdou Razack Traoré	2006–2007	2006–2007	Burkina Faso	2011–	Runner-up of 2013 AFCON and bronze medalist of 2017 AFCON
Mohamed Oulhaj	1999–2007	2007–2019	Morocco	2008–2014
Yassine Salhi	2006–2007	2007–2016	Morocco	2011–2012	Winner of 2012 Arab Cup
Ismail Belmaalem	1999–2009	2009–2015 2018	Morocco	2012	Winner of 2012 Arab Cup
Mohamed Chibi	2001–2011	2011–2013	Morocco	2021–	Winner of 2013 Islamic Solidarity Games
Abdelilah Hafidi	2009–2011	2011–2022 2023	Morocco	2013–2021	Winner of 2018 CHAN and 2020 CHAN
Marouane Hadhoudi	2003–2011	2020–2023	Morocco	2018	Winner of 2018 CHAN
Badr Benoun	2001–2013	2015–2020	Morocco	2016–	Winner of 2018 CHAN and 2013 Islamic Solidarity Games Fourth of the 2022 World Cup
Abderrahim Achchakir	2000–2003	2017–2021	Morocco	2013–2015
Soufiane Rahimi	2006–2017	2018–2021	Morocco	2021–	Winner and best player of 2020 CHAN
Nawfel Zerhouni	2006–2015	2015–2016 2023–	Morocco	2018	Winner of 2020 CHAN
Azzedine Ounahi	2010–2015	–	Morocco	2022–	Fourth of the 2022 World Cup
Reda Slim	2014–2017	–	Morocco	2021	Winner of 2020 CHAN

This list only includes U-21s honours in national leagues:

• Championnat du Maroc Espoirs / GNF (until 2018–19)
  • Winners: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91,1991–92,^[19] 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07,^[53] 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12,^[54] 2012–13,^[55] 2013–14.^[56]
  • Runners-up: 2010–11,^[57] 2014–15, 2015–16,^[58] 2018–19.^[59]
• Amateurs 3 (North West) [fr]
  • Runners-up: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23.