Kenza Dali

Kenza Dali (born 31 July 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the France national team.

Dali was born in Sainte-Colombe, Rhône, and grew up in the suburbs of Lyon. She is of Algerian descent, with her father immigrating to France from Algeria at 18 years old. Dali lost her brother when she was 13 and subsequently saw her mother beat breast cancer. She has cited these moments as experiences which have strengthened her mentally. She started playing football at the age of 6 and joined Olympique Lyonnais at the age of 11.

Dali spent the majority of her career with Lyon playing on the club's reserve team in D3 Féminine, the third level of women's football in France. She signed her first professional contract at age 16, but only played one match with Lyon's first team. Due to an interest in gaining more playing time, Dali ultimately departed from Lyon after three years with the club.

On 25 July 2010, Dali signed with Rodez. She made a total of 24 appearances with the club across all competitions in her quest to gain more experience. Following a successful stint at Rodez, Dali transferred to Paris Saint-Germain. She made 89 league appearances in 5 seasons with the club. Her final campaign with PSG was marred by a knee injury that kept Dali sidelined for the first half of the season.

In the summer of 2016, Dali returned to her training club Olympique Lyon. She made her league debut against ASJ Soyaux-Charente on 11 September 2016. 9 days later, she injured her knee and subsequently underwent surgery and re-surgery. She was eventually able to return to full fitness, but found it difficult to secure a regular place in the Lyon squad. In a quest to find more playing time, Dali was loaned out to Lille on 17 January 2018. She did not end up returning to Lyon, instead joining Dijon after her loan expired. She debuted for Dijon against Montpellier HSC on 25 August 2018.

On 25 July 2019, Dali was announced by West Ham. She made her league debut against Arsenal on 8 September 2019. Dali scored her first league goal against Brighton on 13 October 2019, scoring a penalty in the 70th minute. On 21 May 2021, Dali was released by West Ham United.

On 1 July 2021, Dali signed a two-year contract with Everton. She made her league debut against Manchester City on 4 September 2021. Dali scored her first goal for Everton in the Women's FA Cup on 27 February 2022 against Charlton Athletic, scoring in the 34th minute. She made 27 appearances across all competitions for Everton before departing from the club in August 2022.

After her stints with West Ham and Everton, Dali originally planned to depart from England. However, after a conversation with Carla Ward, she changed her mind and signed a contract with Aston Villa on 5 August 2022. She scored a goal in her club debut, helping Aston Villa beat Manchester City 4–3 at Villa Park in September 2022. Within her first seven months at Aston Villa, Dali racked up 6 goals and 10 assists across all competitions. On 2 June 2023, she signed a new contract until June 2025 with the option of a further year. On 7 February 2024, in the 2023–24 Conti Cup quarterfinal against Brighton, Dali assisted the goal to tie the game 1–1, and her team later advanced on penalties.