View source for Nassim Akrour

{{short description|Algerian footballer (born 1974)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Nassim Akrour
| image = Ain Sud Foot - Chambéry Savoie Football (2020-09-12) - Nassim Akrour.jpg
|caption=Credit: Benoît Prieur - CC-BY-SA
| fullname = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1974|7|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Courbevoie]], France
| height = {{Height|m=1.81}}
| position = [[Forward (association football)|Striker]]
| currentclub =[[Chambéry SF|Chambéry]] <br > [[Annecy FC|Annecy]] (U16 coach)
| clubnumber = 
| youthyears1 = 
| youthclubs1 = 
| years1 = 1995–1997
| clubs1 = [[Olympique Noisy-le-Sec]]
| caps1 = 
| goals1 = 
| years2 = 1997–1999
| clubs2 = [[Sutton United F.C.|Sutton United]]
| caps2 = 41
| goals2 = 19
| years3 = 1999–2000
| clubs3 = [[Woking F.C.|Woking]]
| caps3 = 38
| goals3 = 12
| years4 = 2000–2002
| clubs4 = [[FC Istres]]
| caps4 = 74
| goals4 = 32
| years5 = 2002–2004
| clubs5 = [[Troyes AC|Troyes]]
| caps5 = 44
| goals5 = 10
| years6 = 2004
| clubs6 = [[Le Havre AC|Le Havre]]
| caps6 = 16
| goals6 = 2
| years7 = 2004–2010
| clubs7 = [[Grenoble Foot 38|Grenoble]]
| caps7 = 194
| goals7 = 54
| years8 = 2010–2013
| clubs8 = [[FC Istres]]
| caps8 = 101
| goals8 = 28
| years9 = 2013–2016
| clubs9 = [[Grenoble Foot 38|Grenoble]]
| caps9 = 85
| goals9 = 40
| years10 = 2016–2019
| clubs10 = [[Annecy FC|Annecy]]
| caps10 = 69
| goals10 = 38
| years11 = 2020–
| clubs11 = [[Chambéry SF|Chambéry]]
| caps11 = 84
| goals11 = 16
| nationalyears1 = 2001–2004
| nationalteam1 = [[Algeria national football team|Algeria]]
| nationalcaps1 = 18
| nationalgoals1 = 6
| manageryears1 = 
| managerclubs1 = 
| pcupdate = 19:33, 19 May 2025 (UTC)
}}

'''Nassim Akrour''' ({{langx|ar|نسيم أكرور}}; born 10 July 1974) is a [[Association football|footballer]] and [[Football coach (association football)|coach]] who currently plays for [[Chambéry SF|Chambéry]] and coaches the youth team at [[Annecy FC|Annecy]], whom he represented as a player between 2016 and 2019. Though born in France, he played for the [[Algeria national football team|Algeria national team]], earning 18 caps and scoring six goals between 2001 and 2004.

Akrour is the all-time leading scorer of French club [[Grenoble Foot 38]] with 94 league goals.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

==Personal life==
Akrour was born in [[Courbevoie]] in the northeastern suburbs of Paris. He holds both [[French nationality law|French]] and [[Algerian nationality law|Algerian]] nationalities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nassim AKROUR - |url=https://www.unfp.org/joueur/nassim-akrour/ |access-date=2023-08-05 |website=www.unfp.org}}</ref>

== Club career ==
He began his career with [[Olympique Noisy-le-Sec]], moving to England in 1997 to join [[Sutton United F.C.|Sutton United]], where he scored 19 goals in 41 appearances during the [[1998-99 Isthmian League|1998-99 season]] as the club won promotion to the [[National League (division)|Football Conference]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/player/74/Nassim_Akrour.html|title = Nassim Akrour}}</ref> He left Sutton in 1999, joining new divisional rivals [[Woking F.C.|Woking]]; he was a fixture of the team throughout the [[1999-2000 Football Conference|1999-2000 season]], scoring twelve league goals as Woking finished in mid-table.

Akrour returned to his native France in the summer of 2000 to join [[FC Istres]], where he scored sixteen goals in his first season as the team earned promotion to [[Ligue 2|Division 2]], and matched that tally in his second season. This good form prompted [[Troyes AC|Troyes]] to sign Akrour in 2002, but he struggled to adapt to Ligue 1, managing only 13 appearances and one goal. He stayed with the club following their relegation, and again proved a regular scorer at Ligue 2 level, [[2003-04 Ligue 2|this time]] scoring 9 times in 31 games.

He moved to [[Grenoble Foot 38|Grenoble]] in 2004, beginning a six-year association with the club; scoring at least ten goals a season for three consecutive seasons between 2005 and 2008, he reached his peak in his early thirties, helping the team to promotion to Ligue 1 in 2008, and survival the following year.

In July 2010, Akrour returned to FC Istres, signing a one-year contract with an option for a second year. He remained with Istres until the summer of 2013, when he rejoined Grenoble, who were now playing in the [[2013-14 Championnat de France Amateur|fourth tier of French football]].

Akrour scored regularly for Grenoble in the fourth division, registering twelve in 25 appearances as they missed out on promotion by four points in 2013–14, then 16 in 29 appearances as they missed out by one point [[2014–15 Championnat de France Amateur|the following season]], and 12 in 29 appearances as they missed out by three points in [[2015–16 Championnat de France Amateur|2015-16]].

Now aged 42, Akrour moved to [[FC Annecy|Annecy]] in 2016; he initially announced his retirement from playing in July 2019 aged 45, in order to take up a role as a youth coach with the club,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.footamateur.fr/a-45-ans-nassim-akrour-a-decide-de-raccrocher-les-crampons/|title=A 45 ans, Nassim Akrour a décidé de raccrocher les crampons|publisher=footamateur.fr|language=fr|date=7 July 2019}}</ref> but reversed this decision six months later when he signed as a player for [[Chambéry SF|Chambéry]].

He scored on his début for Chambéry in a friendly match,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ledauphine.com/sport/2020/01/05/nassim-akrour-(45-ans)-debarque-a-chambery-je-suis-toujours-ambitieux|title=L'INVITÉ SPORTIF. Nassim Akrour (45 ans) débarque à Chambéry : "Je suis toujours ambitieux"|website=www.ledauphine.com}}</ref> and followed this with good performances in the league, managing two goals in six appearances before the end of the 2019–20 season.
Akrour remained with the club into his 48th year and the 2021–22 season, continuing to score with some regularity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uk.soccerway.com/players/nassim-akrour/39460/|title = Algeria - N. Akrour - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway}}</ref> During the 2023–24 season, he was limited to frequent appearances as a substitute and did not start a match throughout most of the season, but remained a force in front of goal; in April 2024, aged 49 years and 9 months, he scored Chambéry's only goal, and his fifth of the campaign, as they drew 1–1 with [[US Feurs|Feurs]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uk.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/13/france/cfa-2/so-chambery-foot/us-feurs/4173340/|title=Chambéry vs. Feurs - 13 April 2024 - Soccerway|website=uk.soccerway.com}}</ref> The following week, he made his first start of the season, playing 67 minutes of a 0–0 draw with [[Espaly-Saint-Marcel]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uk.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/20/france/cfa-2/espaly-saint-marcel/so-chambery-foot/4173345/|title=Espaly-Saint-Marcel vs. Chambéry - 20 April 2024 - Soccerway|website=uk.soccerway.com}}</ref>

==International career==
On 5 December 2001 Akrour made his debut for the [[Algeria national football team|Algerian national team]] as a 60th-minute substitute in a 1–1 friendly with [[Ghana national football team|Ghana]] in [[Algiers]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dzfoot.com/fiche-1115.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623001228/http://www.dzfoot.com/fiche-1115.php|url-status=dead|title=Algérie 1-1 Ghana &#124; Football algérien|archivedate=June 23, 2010|website=Football Algérien - DZFOOT.COM}}</ref>

Akrour was a member of the Algerian [[2002 African Nations Cup]] team, who were eliminated in the first round after finishing last in their group. He played in all three of Algeria's games, starting in one, and scored one goal in the second group game against [[Liberia national football team|Liberia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dzfoot.com/fiche-727.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405083532/http://www.dzfoot.com/fiche-727.php|url-status=dead|title=Libéria 2-2 Algérie &#124; Football algérien|archivedate=April 5, 2010|website=Football Algérien - DZFOOT.COM}}</ref>

He was also part of the Algerian [[2004 African Nations Cup]] team, who finished second in their group in the first round of competition before being defeated by [[Morocco national football team|Morocco]] in the quarter-finals.

==National team statistics==
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/74.html |title=Player profile |website=National-Football-Teams.com }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan=3 | [[Algeria national football team|Algeria national team]]
|-
!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|2001||2||0
|-
|2002||7||4
|-
|2003||5||2
|-
|2004||4||0
|-
!Total||18||6
|}

===International goals===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align: left"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
!#
!Date
!Venue
!Opponent
!Score
!Result
!Competition
|-
|1.
|14 January 2002
|[[Stade 5 Juillet 1962]], [[Algiers]], [[Algeria]]
|{{fb|Benin}}
|{{center|'''3''' – 0}}
|{{center|4 – 0}}
|[[Exhibition game|Friendly match]]
|-
|2.
|25 January 2002
|[[Stade 26 mars]], [[Bamako]], [[Mali]]
|{{fb|Liberia}}
|{{center|'''1''' – 1}}
|{{center|2 – 2}}
|[[2002 African Cup of Nations]]
|-
|3.
|11 October 2002
|[[Stade 19 Mai 1956]], [[Annaba]], [[Algeria]]
|{{fb|Chad}}
|{{center|'''1''' – 0}}
|{{center|4 – 1}}
|[[2004 African Cup of Nations (qualification)]]
|-
|4.
|11 October 2002
|[[Stade 19 Mai 1956]], [[Annaba]], [[Algeria]]
|{{fb|Chad}}
|{{center|'''4''' – 1}}
|{{center|4 – 1}}
|[[2004 African Cup of Nations (qualification)]]
|-
|5.
|29 March 2003
|[[Estádio da Cidadela]], [[Luanda]], [[Angola]]
|{{fb|Angola}}
|{{center|1 – '''1'''}}
|{{center|1 – 1}}
|[[Exhibition game|Friendly match]]
|-
|6.
|14 November 2003
|[[Stade 5 Juillet 1962]], [[Algiers]], [[Algeria]]
|{{fb|Niger}}
|{{center|'''6''' - 0}}
|{{center|6 - 0}}
|[[2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)|2006 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{LFP|id=akrour-nassim}}
* {{NFT}}

{{Algeria Squad 2002 Africa Cup of Nations}}
{{Algeria Squad 2004 Africa Cup of Nations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akrour, Nassim}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Kabyle people]]
[[Category:French people of Kabyle descent]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Courbevoie]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Algerian men's footballers]]
[[Category:French men's footballers]]
[[Category:Olympique Noisy-le-Sec players]]
[[Category:Sutton United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Woking F.C. players]]
[[Category:Istres FC players]]
[[Category:ES Troyes AC players]]
[[Category:Le Havre AC players]]
[[Category:Grenoble Foot 38 players]]
[[Category:FC Annecy players]]
[[Category:Ligue 1 players]]
[[Category:Ligue 2 players]]
[[Category:Championnat National players]]
[[Category:Championnat National 2 players]]
[[Category:Algeria men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Algerian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England]]
[[Category:French expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:French expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:2002 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:2004 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:Footballers from Hauts-de-Seine]]
[[Category:Chambéry SF players]]