Rachid Mekhloufi

Rachid Mekhloufi (Arabic: رشيد مخلوفي), born August 12, 1936 in Sétif, Algeria and died November 8, 2024, is a French and Algerian footballer playing as a striker who later became a coach.

Rachid Mekhloufi made his debut in 1952 at the USM Sétif club, formerly Union Sportive Musulmane de Sétif. In 1954, at the age of 18, and recommended by Jean Snella, AS Saint-Étienne recruiters came to get him to sign his first professional contract. Recognized as one of the best prospects in French football, in 1957, he was French Champion with AS Saint-Étienne, for whom he scored 25 goals that season. An undisputed starter at ASSE, he wore the jersey of the French A team four times between 1956 and 1957. On July 14, 1957, in Buenos Aires, he was also crowned world champion with the French military team.

During the spring of 1958, his career took a totally unexpected turn. Indeed, on April 14, in the company of players Mokhtar Arribi (ex-Lensois) and Abdelhamid Kermali (Olympique Lyonnais), he joined Tunisia via Switzerland in order to participate in the creation of the FLN team. The desire to peacefully promote the creation of an independent Algerian state during the Algerian War united many Algerian players who played in the French championship. With the FLN team, Rachid played gala matches around the world in order to help the Algerian cause.