| Mohamed Ait El Hadj | |
| Birth Date: | 2002 3, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Beni Messous, Algeria |
| Position: | Winger |
| Currentclub: | USM Alger |
| Clubnumber: | 72 |
| Youthyears1: | –2021 |
| Youthclubs1: | USM Alger |
| Years1: | 2021– |
| Caps1: | 44 |
| Goals1: | 4 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2022 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 0 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalteam2: | Algeria A' |
| Nationalyears2: | 2022– |
| Nationalcaps2: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 14 June 2024 |
Mohamed Ait El Hadj (Arabic: محمد آيت الحاج; born 22 March 2002) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays for USM Alger in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1.
On 16 January 2022, Mohamed Ait El Hadj made his first league appearance with USM Alger against MC Alger.[1] Aït El Hadj was going to be free in the summer 2022, because his old contract was to expire on July 7, 2022, making it necessary for him to extend it as soon as possible, at the risk of seeing him join another club. Aït El Hadj and Abderraouf Othmani represent the future of the club, and it is therefore logical that they have been extended underlined the Usmist management.[2] On 1 April, Ait El Hadj scored his first league goal against JS Kabylie.[3] On June 3, 2023, Ait El Hadj won the first title in his football career by winning the 2022–23 CAF Confederation Cup after defeating Young Africans of Tanzania.[4] [5]
On August 16, 2023, Ait El Hadj renewed his contract for two seasons until 2026, although he was not in the plans of his coach Abdelhak Benchikha.[6] [7] On 15 September 2023, Ait El Hadj won the CAF Super Cup title after winning against Al Ahly, it is the second African title with USM Alger in three months.[8] After a complicated season, Ait El Hadj having been patient for a long time ended up demanding his release. Ait El Hadj rejected the idea of loaning him to another club and insisted on changing his direction, and chose another club that would give him the opportunity to play regularly. Ait El Hadj accompanied by his agent, conducted an interview with the club's sporting director Taoufik Korichi who convinced him to stay.[9]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| USM Alger | 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 12 | 2 | — | — | — | 12 | 2 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6[11] | 0 | — | 27 | 1 | ||||
| 2023–24 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 44 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | 56 | 4 | ||||
| Career total | 44 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | 56 | 4 | ||||
In December 2022, Mohamed Ait El Hadj was called up by Madjid Bougherra for the first time to the Algeria A' National Team for a week-long training camp in Algiers.[12] On January 2, 2023, Ait El Hadj was selected for the 28-man squad to participate in the 2022 African Nations Championship.[13] Where he played one match in the semi-finals and reached the final, where they lost the title against Senegal.[14]
USM Alger