Wahbi Khazri is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Rennes and the Tunisia national team. He was born on February 8, 1991 in Ajaccio, France.
He began his career in 2008 with local side Jeunesse Sportive Ajaccio before moving to SC Bastia.
He scored his first career goal on 13 March 2009, in a 1–0 victory over Montpellier. Wahbi scored 34 goals in 183 competitive games, winning the Championnat National and Ligue 2 in consecutive seasons. After his 5 years career in Bastia, Khazri signed a four-year contract with FC Girondins de Bordeaux in July 2014. After 18 months at Bordeaux of Ligue 1, he transferred to Sunderland in January 2016.
Khazri scored his first goal for Sunderland against Manchester United on 13 February 2016, opening the scoring with a direct free kick that beat David de Gea at his far post. He later set up Lamine Koné’s 82nd-minute goal from a corner, as Sunderland won 2–1. On 7 May 2016, Khazri scored a volley in a 3–2 win over Chelsea as manager Sam Allardyce’s team neared survival in the Premier League. On 31 August 2017, Khazri returned to Ligue 1, signing a season-long loan at Rennes.
He represented Tunisia at under-20 level and France at under-21. In 2009, Khazri made his debut for the Tunisia national under-20 football team and in November 2011, he was called up by Erick Mombaerts to the France national under-21 football team for a pair of 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifiers against Romania and Slovakia.
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In 2012, Khazri switched his international allegiance once again to Tunisia, accepting a call-up from Sami Trabelsi, the Tunisian national team’s coach, including him in the squad for the 2013 African Cup of Nations. He made his senior debut for tTunisia in 2013 and represented the country at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
He was among the 23 man squad selected by Manager Nabil Maâloul for 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He assisted Dylan Bronn in the second group match, and scored himself in added time in a 5–2 loss to Belgium in Moscow. He played his part in a 2–1 comeback win over Panama marking Tunisia’s first at the World Cup since 1978.
