Mehdi Embareck Zeffane (Arabic: مهدي إمبارك زفان; born 19 May 1992) is a professional footballer who most recently played for Ligue 2 club Clermont. Although primarily a right-back, he has played as a left winger and left midfielder for ES Mostaganem. Born in France, he played for the Algeria national team from 2014 to 2021.
Born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Zeffane made his debut for the Olympique Lyonnais B side on 21 August 2010 against RCO Agde at the Stade Louis Sanguin, in which he played the full 90 minutes, as Lyon's B team lost the match 1–0.[3] He scored his first goal for the Lyon B team the next season on 13 August 2011 against FC Villefranche at the Stade Armand Chouffet, when he found the net in the 54th minute in what turned out to be Lyon B's last goal in a 6–0 rout over Villefranche.[4]
In August 2015, Zeffane joined Ligue 1 club Rennes, signing a four-year contract with the club.[5] On 22 August 2015, he scored the winning goal against his former side Lyon in a 2–1 away win for Rennes.[6]
On 30 January 2020, Zeffane signed a two-year contract with Russian Premier League club Krylia Sovetov Samara.[7]
On 14 January 2022, he joined Süper Lig club Yeni Malatyaspor on a one-and-a-half-year contract, with an option to extend for another year.[8] He agreed the termination of his contract in April after the club failed to play his salary and that of teammates.[9] He made nine appearances while Yeni Malatyaspor placed last in the league.[9]
On 15 June 2022, Zeffane returned to France and signed a contract with Clermont for two years with an option for a third year.[10]
Born in France to Algerian parents, Zeffane was initially eligible to represent either France or Algeria. In August 2014, he was named in a provisional 31-man squad by new Algeria coach Christian Gourcuff for a pair of 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ethiopia and Mali.[11] Ten days later, he was included in the final squad for the matches.[12]
On July 19, 2019, he won the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations under Djamel Belmadi.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lyon B | 2010–11 | CFA | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | CFA | 26 | 1 | — | — | — | 26 | 1 | ||||
| 2012–13 | CFA | 27 | 0 | — | — | — | 27 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | CFA | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15 | CFA | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 74 | 1 | — | — | — | 74 | 1 | ||||||
| Lyon | 2012–13 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2013–14 | Ligue 1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[a] | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | Ligue 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
| Rennes | 2015–16 | Ligue 1 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | |
| 2016–17 | Ligue 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Ligue 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[a] | 0 | 31 | 1 | |
| Total | 52 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 66 | 2 | ||
| Rennes B | 2016–17 | CFA | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Krylia Sovetov Samara | 2019–20 | Russian Premier League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Russian National League | 24 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Russian Premier League | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| Total | 45 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 50 | 0 | ||||
| Yeni Malatyaspor | 2021–22 | Süper Lig | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| Clermont | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 1 | ||
| 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 25 | 1 | |||
| Total | 41 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 44 | 2 | ||||
| Career total | 236 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 270 | 5 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 19 | 1 | |
Algeria squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
