Leila Ouahabi Spanish Footballer Born 1993 in Mataró

Early life

Leila Ouahabi El Ouahabi was born on 22 March 1993 in Mataró, in Catalonia, Spain, into a family of Moroccan origin. As a child she played futsal with her brother and at one point joined a team of boys. Her first club was the girls' youth side of UE Vilassar de Mar. In 2007, at the age of thirteen, she joined the youth teams of FC Barcelona and spent roughly five years working her way through the club's La Masia academy. She is listed at 171 centimetres tall and plays as a full-back, usually on the left.

Career

Ouahabi moved up to Barcelona's first team for the 2011-12 season, in which the club won its first league title. She stayed until 2013, winning a second Primera División title in 2012-13, but she was dissatisfied with her playing time and joined Valencia that year. She remained there until 2016.

In the summer of 2016 she returned to Barcelona. In her second spell she won three further league titles, five more Copa de la Reina titles, two Supercopa de España titles and the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2020-21. In 2021 the club completed the continental treble of league, cup and Champions League. She left Barcelona in 2022 for Manchester City on a two-year deal, made her debut in a Champions League qualifying tie against FC Tomiris Turan on 19 August 2022, and scored her first goal for the club on 21 April 2024 in a 5-0 win over West Ham United. In February 2024 she signed an extension that ran to the summer of 2026. In the 2025-26 season City won the Women's Super League, its first title in ten years, and the Women's FA Cup, completing a domestic double. The club announced her departure on 29 May 2026.

In June 2026 the Chicago Stars of the National Women's Soccer League announced her signing on a contract running to the end of 2028. She made her debut in the competition on 18 July 2026 as a substitute and played eleven matches, nine of them as a starter, before the contract was ended by mutual agreement about three months later. On the same day she joined Gotham FC on a contract through 2028.

Ouahabi has also played for the Catalonia national team, in a spell listed from 2014 to 2023.

For her country, she played for Spain at under-19 level between 2010 and 2012 and received her first senior call-up in February 2016 from the coach Jorge Vilda. She made her senior debut on 4 March 2016, starting a goalless friendly against Romania. In February 2017 she was named in the squad for the Algarve Cup, her first senior tournament, and her first international goal was the winner in the final against Canada.

She was selected for the 2019 FIFA World Cup, starting the group match against China, a 0-0 draw that took Spain through a World Cup group stage for the first time, and the round of 16 match against the United States, which Spain lost 2-1. She played 180 minutes in the tournament. She was also in the squad for the UEFA Euro 2022. In September 2022 she was one of fifteen players, later known as Las 15, who made themselves unavailable for selection because of dissatisfaction with Vilda. She was among those not involved in the squad that won the 2023 World Cup. In June 2025 she was called up for the UEFA Euro 2025, where Spain finished as runners-up. Her international teammates on record include Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmatí and Mapi León.

Recognition

With Barcelona, Ouahabi won the Primera División in 2011-12, 2012-13, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22. She also won the Copa de la Reina seven times, the Supercopa Femenina in 2019-20 and 2021-22, the Copa Catalunya in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2020-21. With Manchester City she won the Women's Super League and Women's FA Cup in 2025-26. With Spain she won the 2017 Algarve Cup and was part of the team that finished second at the 2025 European Championship.