Ibrahim Maza: Algeria’s ‘Mazadona’ earns first Ballon d’Or nomination

Ibrahim Maza, the 20-year-old attacking midfielder at Bayer Leverkusen, has received his first Ballon d’Or nomination after being included among the 10 candidates for the young player of the year award.

Maza is known in Algeria by the nickname “Mazadona”, a reference to Argentina great Diego Maradona. The award is presented by French magazine France Football, with Maza nominated alongside Manchester City’s new signing, Morocco international Ayoub Bouaddi.

According to the official Ballon d’Or website, Maza was born in Berlin on 24 November 2005. His father is an Algerian doctor and his mother, who is Vietnamese, manages a nursery. The pair met while studying in Cologne.

Maza began his football education at Reinickendorfer Fuchse before joining Hertha Berlin in 2018, aged 12. He also attended a school for young athletes during his time at the club.

His routine was demanding. Training ran from 08:00 to 10:00 each morning before resuming from 17:30 until 20:00. After matches in which he had performed below his standards, his father would add further training sessions.

“From eight in the morning until eight in the evening, there was no time for messing around, and by the end of the day you were exhausted,” Maza said. He believes the schedule helped him develop calmness and discipline.

Maza spent seven seasons with Hertha Berlin and made his professional first-team debut in 2023 at the age of 17. He scored nine goals in 51 appearances for the club.

The Algeria international moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 2025 and had scored five goals in 45 matches by September 2026. One of his standout moments came in the UEFA Champions League, when he set up Patrick Schick during Leverkusen’s 2-0 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Bayer Leverkusen rejected an offer from Atletico Madrid for Maza during the previous summer transfer window. His head coach, Kasper Hjulmand, has praised both his ability and his attitude.

“He is an exceptional player with a brilliant future. He is an exceptional person who is asked to do a lot and replies: ‘Thank you,’ then works every day and learns quickly,” Hjulmand said.

Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes has also highlighted Maza’s constant desire to improve.

Although he was born and raised in Germany with his two brothers, Maza has maintained close links with his family’s heritage. He spent summers on the outskirts of Algeria and winters in Vietnam. German is his main language, while he speaks Vietnamese with his mother and Arabic with his father.

Maza represented Germany at youth level between 2022 and 2024 before switching his sporting nationality at the end of 2024 to play for Algeria. He has since made 21 appearances for the national team, scoring twice, with both goals coming at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

As a child, Maza dreamed of playing alongside fellow Algeria international Riyad Mahrez. “I watched him on television and dreamed of playing with him,” he said. That ambition was eventually fulfilled.

Maza also featured in four matches at the 2026 World Cup, describing the experience as “unforgettable”.

Now nominated for the young player award, he says he is determined to remain grounded.

“Sometimes the spotlight can be useful and motivating, but I deal with it with both feet on the ground,” he said.