Morocco striker Khalid Boutaib retires after final season with Kawkab Marrakech

Khalid Boutaib has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 39, bringing to an end a career spent largely in France and featuring spells with nine French clubs.

The Morocco international made his final appearance during the 2025-2026 season with Kawkab Marrakech, before confirming his decision to stop playing. His retirement announcement has continued to attract attention in the European media, with French newspaper L’Equipe among those to report it.

Boutaib announced the decision on Instagram, accompanying his message with videos highlighting key moments from his career. “A page turns,” he wrote.

Born in Bagnols-sur-Ceze, in the Gard department of France, Boutaib spent most of his playing career in the French leagues, particularly the second tier. He scored 55 goals in 186 matches for Gazelec Ajaccio, Strasbourg, Le Havre, Paris FC and Pau.

His most productive season in France came with Strasbourg in 2016-2017, when he scored 20 goals and finished second in the competition’s scoring charts.

Boutaib also played for four amateur clubs in France: Uzes, Bagnols-Pont, Istres and Luzenac. His only season in Ligue 1 came with Gazelec Ajaccio in 2015-2016, when he scored six goals in 31 appearances.

Outside France, the striker represented three clubs. He scored 17 goals in 51 matches for Turkish side Malatya Spor between 2017 and 2019, before moving to Egyptian club الزمالك, where he found the net five times in 24 games between 2019 and 2020.

His last club was Kawkab Marrakech. Boutaib scored once in 15 appearances during the 2025-2026 season, ending his professional career in Morocco.

At international level, Boutaib won 24 caps for Morocco between 2016 and 2019 and scored nine goals. He was part of the squad at the 2018 World Cup and opened the scoring against Spain in a group-stage match that ended in a 2-2 draw.

Reflecting on his time with the national team in his farewell video, Boutaib said: “Wearing this shirt, representing my country and making my family happy was much greater than I had imagined.”

Following the end of his professional career, Boutaib returned to his formative club, FC Bagnols-Pont, who play in the third regional division.