2025–26 USM Khenchela season

USM Khenchela
2025–26 season
Owner	Algérie Télécom
President	Walid Boukrouma
Head coach	Djilali Bahloul; (from 15 July 2025); (until 11 November 2025); Mourad Okbi; (from 17 November 2025)
Stadium	Amar Hamam Stadium
Ligue 1	4th
Algerian Cup	Round of 32

The 2025–26 season, is USM Khenchela's 6th season and the club's 4th consecutive season in the top flight of Algerian football. In addition to the domestic league, USM Khenchela are participating in this season's editions of the Algerian Cup. The Algerian Professional Football League (LFP) officially released the calendar for the 2025–26 Ligue 1 Mobilis season on July 10, 2025. The Ligue 1 will kick off on Thursday, August 21, 2025, and conclude with the 30th and final matchday on May 16, 2026. As in recent years, league matches will be held every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, offering better scheduling balance and improved logistical conditions for clubs and broadcasters.^[4]

Review

Background

Squad list

Players and squad numbers last updated on 31 August 2025.^[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Name	Position	Date of Birth (Age)	Signed from
Goalkeepers
1	Abdelkader Morcely	GK	(1995-09-07)7 September 1995 (aged 29)	JS Saoura
16	Oussama Litim	GK	(1990-06-03)3 June 1990 (aged 35)	MC Alger
30	Yasser Zitouni	GK	(2005-04-03)3 April 2005 (aged 20)	USM Alger
Defenders
3	Wael Guerroudja	CB	(2005-12-15)15 December 2005 (aged 19)	USM Alger
4	Serge Badjo	CB	(2002-12-28)28 December 2002 (aged 22)	MC Alger
5	Badreddine Souyad	CB	(1995-05-03)3 May 1995 (aged 30)	CR Belouizdad
12	Zineddine Meddour	CB	(2004-02-07)7 February 2004 (aged 21)	Reserve team
13	Mohamed Ezzemani	LB	(1994-11-27)27 November 1994 (aged 30)	ES Mostaganem
19	Abdelhamid Dris	CB	(2002-02-12)12 February 2002 (aged 23)	JS Kabylie
22	Mohamed Guemroud	RB	(1994-08-28)28 August 1994 (aged 30)	JS Kabylie
Midfielders
6	Ahmida Zenasni	DM	(1993-07-10)10 July 1993 (aged 32)	ASO Chlef
7	Hadji Chekal Affari	CM	(2003-02-24)24 February 2003 (aged 22)	JS Kabylie
8	Abdelhakim Sameur (C.)	DM	(1990-11-12)12 November 1990 (aged 34)	US Biskra
11	Mohamed Islam Bakir	CM	(1996-07-13)13 July 1996 (aged 29)	CR Belouizdad
14	Christopher Ngolo	DM / CM	(2000-07-24)24 July 2000 (aged 25)	AS Vita Club
20	Samir Aiboud	CM	(1993-02-11)11 February 1993 (aged 32)	Mudhar
25	Aymen Bendaoud	DM	(2001-06-18)18 June 2001 (aged 24)	JS Kabylie
26	Mohamed Reda Boumechra	AM	(1997-06-03)3 June 1997 (aged 28)	JS Kabylie
Forwards
10	Ammar Oukil	RW	(1996-07-07)7 July 1996 (aged 29)	Olympique Akbou
17	Ayoub Kabouche	ST	(2005-06-09)9 June 2005 (aged 20)	Reserve team
21	Franck Etouga	ST	(2001-09-18)18 September 2001 (aged 23)	Haras El Hodoud
23	Edlin Essang-Matouti	ST	(2003-07-25)25 July 2003 (aged 22)	Al-Najma SC
27	Hamid Djaouchi	ST	(1994-12-19)19 December 1994 (aged 30)	Al-Diriyah Club

Transfers

In

Summer

Date	Pos	Player	Moving from	Fee	Source
14 July 2025	GK	Abdelkader Morcely	JS Saoura	Free transfer	^[6]
15 July 2025	ST	Edlin Randy Essang-Matouti	Al-Najma SC	Free transfer	^[7]
21 July 2025	ST	Franck Etouga	Haras El Hodoud	Free transfer	^[8]
21 August 2025	LB	Mohamed Amine Ezzemani	ES Mostaganem	Free transfer
21 August 2025	CB	Badreddine Souyad	CR Belouizdad	Free transfer
21 August 2025	CB	Abdelhamid Dris	JS Kabylie	Free transfer
23 August 2025	CB	Serge Badjo	MC Alger	Free transfer	^[9]
24 August 2025	CM	Hadji Chekal Affari	JS Kabylie	Free transfer	^[10]
31 August 2025	DM	Aymen Bendaoud	JS Kabylie	Free transfer	^[11]

Out

Summer

Date	Pos	Player	Moving to	Fee	Source
7 July 2025	DF	Oussama Kaddour	MC Oran	Free transfer	^[12]

Pre-season and friendlies

Competitions

Overview

Competition	Record								Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Competition	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Ligue 1	13	5	5	3	15	11	+4	038.46	—	To be confirmed	23 August 2025	In Progress
Algerian Cup	2	1	0	1	2	2	+0	050.00	Round of 64	Round of 32	5 December 2025	13 December 2025
Total	15	6	5	4	17	13	+4	040.00

Updated to match played 19 December 2025
Source: Competitions

Ligue 1

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	MC Oran	13	6	3	4	16	11	+5	21	Qualification for CAF Champions League
3	Olympique Akbou	12	6	3	3	14	11	+3	21	Qualification for CAF Confederation Cup^[a]
4	USM Khenchela	13	5	5	3	15	11	+4	20
5	USM Alger	12	4	7	1	14	10	+4	19
6	CS Constantine	12	5	3	4	15	12	+3	18

Updated to match(es) played on 19 December 2025. Source: lfp.dz
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) total goals; 6) fairplay ranking; 7) playoff.
Notes:

^ The winners of the 2025–26 Algerian Cup will be the second representative team for the 2026–27 CAF Confederation Cup

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
13	5	5	3	15	11	+4	20	3	3	1	9	4	+5	2	2	2	6	7	−1

Last updated: 19 December 2025.
Source: Competitive matches

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	D	W	D	D	D	D	W	L	L	L	W	W	W
Position	8	3

Updated to match(es) played on 19 December 2025. Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 31 July 2025.^[13]

All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).

Win Draw Loss Postponed

23 August 2025 Round 1	USM Khenchela	1–1	ES Sétif	Khenchela
17:00	Bakir 20'	Soccerway LFP	Hamidi 41'	Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium Referee: Rafik Aouina

30 August 2025 Round 2	ASO Chlef	1–2	USM Khenchela	Chlef
19:00	Sadahine 59'	Soccerway LFP	Driss 24' Djaouchi 90+7'	Stadium: Mohamed Boumezrag Stadium Referee: Tayeb Benyabka

6 September 2025 Round 3	USM Khenchela	1–1	CR Belouizdad	Khenchela
17:00	Chekal 33'	Soccerway LFP	Ben Hammouda 72'	Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium Referee: Ayoub Belhachemi

13 September 2025 Round 4	USM Alger	1–1	USM Khenchela	Blida
19:00	Guenaoui 75'	Soccerway LFP	Bakir 45+3'	Stadium: Mustapha Tchaker Stadium Attendance: 6.000 Referee: Mohamed Bouteraa VAR: Anes Azrine
Note: USM Alger played on September 13, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. against USM Khenchela, as part of Matchday 4 of Ligue 1 Mobilis, at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida, with the exclusive presence of 6,000 USMA supporters.^[14]

20 September 2025 Round 5	USM Khenchela	1–1	ES Ben Aknoun	Khenchela
16:00	Boumechra 61'	Soccerway LFP	Hachoud 85'	Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium Referee: Tahar Boudjemaa

28 September 2025 Round 6	Olympique Akbou	1–1	USM Khenchela	Béjaïa
16:00	Zamoum 28'	Soccerway LFP	Matouti 32'	Stadium: Maghrebi Unity Stadium Referee: Abdelali Ibrir

4 October 2025 Round 7	USM Khenchela	2–0	MC Oran	Khenchela
15:00	Ezzemani 58' Chekal 66'	Soccerway LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium Referee: Anes Azrine

21 October 2025 Round 8	JS Kabylie	1–0	USM Khenchela	Tizi Ouzou
19:00	Bott 87'	Soccerway LFP		Stadium: Hocine Aït Ahmed Stadium Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal

30 October 2025 Round 9	USM Khenchela	0–1	MC Alger	Khenchela
15:00		Soccerway LFP	Bayazid 37'	Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium Referee: Alaa Bouab

3 November 2025 Round 10	Paradou AC	2–0	USM Khenchela	Belouizdad
14:30	Soukkou 11' Abdelkader 42'	Soccerway LFP		Stadium: 20 August 1955 Stadium Referee: Yahia Dahar

8 November 2025 Round 11	USM Khenchela	1–0	ES Mostaganem	Khenchela
14:30	Etouga 15'	Soccerway LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium Referee: Lotfi Bekouassa

22 November 2025 Round 12	USM Khenchela	3–0	JS Saoura	Khenchela
14:00	Oukil 33' Boumechra 76', 79'	Soccerway LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium Referee: Tahar Boudjemaa

19 December 2025 Round 13	MC El Bayadh	1–2	USM Khenchela	El Bayadh
14:30	El Orfi 87' (pen.)	Soccerway LFP	Etouga 41', 71'	Stadium: Zakaria Medjdoub Stadium Referee: Youcef Tayeb Bouderbal

26 December 2025 Round 14	USM Khenchela	–	CS Constantine	Khenchela
14:30		Soccerway LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium

10 January 2026 Round 15	MB Rouissat	–	USM Khenchela	Ouargla
:		Soccerway LFP		Stadium: 18 February Stadium

22 January 2026 Round 16	ES Sétif	–	USM Khenchela	Sétif
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: 8 May 1945 Stadium

29 January 2026 Round 17	USM Khenchela	–	ASO Chlef	Khenchela
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium

Round 18	CR Belouizdad	–	USM Khenchela	Baraki
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Nelson Mandela Stadium

Round 19	USM Khenchela	–	USM Alger	Khenchela
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium

Round 20	ES Ben Aknoun	–	USM Khenchela	Belouizdad
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: 20 August 1955 Stadium

Round 21	USM Khenchela	–	Olympique Akbou	Khenchela
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium

Round 22	MC Oran	–	USM Khenchela	Bir El Djir
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Miloud Hadefi Stadium

Round 23	USM Khenchela	–	JS Kabylie	Khenchela
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium

Round 24	MC Alger	–	USM Khenchela	Douéra
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Ali La Pointe Stadium

Round 25	USM Khenchela	–	Paradou AC	Khenchela
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium

Round 26	ES Mostaganem	–	USM Khenchela	Mostaganem
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Mohamed Bensaïd Stadium

Round 27	JS Saoura	–	USM Khenchela	Béchar
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: 20 August 1955 Stadium

Round 28	USM Khenchela	–	MC El Bayadh	Khenchela
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium

Round 29	CS Constantine	–	USM Khenchela	Constantine
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Chahid Hamlaoui Stadium

Round 30	USM Khenchela	–	MB Rouissat	Khenchela
:		[ Soccerway] LFP		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium

Algerian Cup

5 December 2025 Round of 64	USM Khenchela	1–0	MB Rouissat	Khenchela
14:30	Oukil 15'	Report		Stadium: Amar Hamam Stadium Referee: Youcef Gamouh

13 December 2025 Round of 32	MC Alger	2–0	USM Khenchela	Douéra
17:00	Messoussa 6' Bayazid 49'	Report	Djaouchi 11'	Stadium: Ali La Pointe Stadium Referee: Yahia Dahar

Squad information

Appearances and goals

As of 13 December 2025

No.	Pos	Player	Nat	Ligue 1			Algerian Cup			Total
No.	Pos	Player	Nat	App	St	G	App	St	G	App	St	G
Goalkeepers
1	GK	Abdelkader Morcely		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	GK	Oussama Litim		0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
30	GK	Yasser Zitouni		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
3	CB	Wael Guerroudja		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	CB	Serge Badjo		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	CB	Badreddine Souyad		0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
12	CB	Zineddine Meddour		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	LB	Mohamed Ezzemani		0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
19	CB	Abdelhamid Dris		0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
22	RB	Mohamed Guemroud		0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
6	DM	Ahmida Zenasni		0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
7	CM	Hadji Chekal Affari		0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
8	DM	Abdelhakim Sameur		0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0
11	CM	Mohamed Islam Bakir		0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
14	DM	Christopher Ngolo		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	CM	Samir Aiboud		0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
25	DM	Aymen Bendaoud		0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
26	AM	Mohamed Reda Boumechra		0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0
Forwards
10	RW	Ammar Oukil		0	0	0	2	2	1	0	0	0
17	ST	Ayoub Kabouche		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	ST	Franck Etouga		0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
23	ST	Edlin Essang-Matouti		0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
27	ST	Hamid Djaouchi		0	0	0	2	2	1	0	0	0
Players transferred out during the season
9	LW	Abdelkader Ghorab		1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total				0		0	2		2	0		0

Last updated: 13 December 2025
Source: soccerway.com

Goalscorers

As of 19 December 2025

Includes all competitive matches.

No.	Player	Pos.	L1	AC	TOTAL
26	Mohamed Reda Boumechra	AM	3	0	3
21	Franck Etouga	ST	3	0	3
11	Mohamed Islam Bakir	CM	2	0	2
7	Hadji Chekal Affari	CM	2	0	2
10	Ammar Oukil	RW	1	1	2
27	Hamid Djaouchi	ST	1	1	2
5	Abdelhamid Dris	CB	1	0	1
23	Edlin Essang-Matouti	ST	1	0	1
13	Mohamed Ezzemani	LB	1	0	1
Own Goals			0	0	0
Totals			15	2	17

Clean sheets

As of 19 December 2025

Includes all competitive matches.

					Clean sheets
No.	Nat	Name	GP	GA	L 1	AC	Total
1		Abdelkader Morcely	0	0	0	0	0
16		Oussama Litim	15	13	3	1	4
30		Yasser Zitouni	0	0	0	0	0
		TOTALS		13	3	1	4

Notes

References

^ "USM KHENCHELA : Djilali Bahloul nouvel entraîneur". L'est Republicain. 12 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
^ "Football: USM Khenchela: Séparation à l'amiable avec l'entraîneur". rivalite.dz. 12 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
^ "USM Khenchela: Mourad Okbi, nouvel entraîneur". competition.dz. 17 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
^ "Ligue 1 : La LFP détaille un calendrier 25/26 complet !". DZfoot. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
^ "Players".
^ "USM KHENCHELA : Djilali Bahloul nouvel entraîneur". L'est Republicain. 12 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
^ "Edlin Randy Essang-Matouti relance sa carrière avec l'USM Khenchela". Gabon Eco. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
^ "Mercato : Franck Etouga Mbella s'engage avec l'USM Khenchela". Camerfoot Infos. 22 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
^ "Serge Badjo s'engage avec l'USM Khenchela". 225 Foot. 23 August 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
^ "JSK : Chekal rejoint l'USMK". Sport 24. 25 August 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
^ "USM Khenchela: Bendaoud s'engage pour deux saisons". Competition. 31 August 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
^ "MC Oran : Oussama Kaddour 1ère recrue". Media Foot. 7 July 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
^ "Ligue 1 (2025-2026) : un début de saison explosif pour les cadors". Competition. 31 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
^ "USMA – USMK se jouera au stade Mustapha Tchaker". Competition. 9 September 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.

[table_note_res_CCC0.79992724945765-13] The winners of the 2025–26 Algerian Cup will be the second representative team for the 2026–27 CAF Confederation Cup

[1] "USM KHENCHELA : Djilali Bahloul nouvel entraîneur". L'est Republicain. 12 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.

[2] "Football: USM Khenchela: Séparation à l'amiable avec l'entraîneur". rivalite.dz. 12 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.

[3] "USM Khenchela: Mourad Okbi, nouvel entraîneur". competition.dz. 17 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.

[4] "Ligue 1 : La LFP détaille un calendrier 25/26 complet !". DZfoot. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 3 August 2025.

[5] "Players".

[usm-khenchela-djilali-bahloul-nouvel-entraineur-6] "USM KHENCHELA : Djilali Bahloul nouvel entraîneur". L'est Republicain. 12 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.

[edlin-randy-essang-matouti-relance-sa-carriere-avec-lusm-khenchela-7] "Edlin Randy Essang-Matouti relance sa carrière avec l'USM Khenchela". Gabon Eco. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.

[mercato-franck-etouga-mbella-sengage-avec-lusm-khenchela-8] "Mercato : Franck Etouga Mbella s'engage avec l'USM Khenchela". Camerfoot Infos. 22 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.

[serge-badjo-sengage-avec-lusm-khenchela-9] "Serge Badjo s'engage avec l'USM Khenchela". 225 Foot. 23 August 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

[jsk-chekal-rejoint-lusmk-10] "JSK : Chekal rejoint l'USMK". Sport 24. 25 August 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.

[usm-khenchela-aymen-bendaoud-sengage-pour-deux-saisons-11] "USM Khenchela: Bendaoud s'engage pour deux saisons". Competition. 31 August 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2025.

[mc-oran-oussama-kaddour-1ere-recrue-12] "MC Oran : Oussama Kaddour 1ère recrue". Media Foot. 7 July 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.

[14] "Ligue 1 (2025-2026) : un début de saison explosif pour les cadors". Competition. 31 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.

[usma-usmk-se-jouera-au-stade-mustapha-tchaker-15] "USMA – USMK se jouera au stade Mustapha Tchaker". Competition. 9 September 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[a]

[13]

[14]

Union Sportive de la Médina Khenchela
Founded in July 28, 1943 Based in Khenchela
The Club	Players Managers Presidents Records and statistics Seasons Current season
Home stadium	Amar Hamam Stadium (1962–present)
Seasons	2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26