Ibrahim Maza

Ibrahim Maza
Maza in 2026
Personal information
Date of birth (2005-11-24) 24 November 2005
Place of birth Berlin, Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Bayer Leverkusen
Number 30
Youth career
2011–2018 Reinickendorfer Füchse
2018–2023 Hertha BSC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2024 Hertha BSC II 9 (2)
2023–2025 Hertha BSC 51 (9)
2025– Bayer Leverkusen 44 (5)
International career‡
2022–2023 Germany U18 8 (3)
2024 Germany U19 3 (1)
2024 Germany U20 2 (0)
2024– Algeria 21 (2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16 May 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 2 July 2026

Ibrahim Maza (Arabic: إبراهيم مازة, romanized: Ibrāhīm Māza; born 24 November 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Born in Germany, he plays for the Algeria national team.

The product of Hertha BSC's academy, Maza debuted professionally with Hertha in 2023, spending two years in second tier of German football, before moving to Bayer Leverkusen in 2025.

Maza represented Germany at youth level, before changing to represent Algeria. He represented them at 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, where he scored two goals and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Maza is a youth product of Reinickendorfer Füchse, before moving to the youth academy of Hertha BSC in 2018. He started his senior career with the Hertha reserves in 2022. On 27 April 2023, he signed his first professional contract with Hertha until 2026.[1] He made his professional debut with Hertha BSC as a substitute in a 2–0 Bundesliga loss to Bayern Munich on 30 April 2023. With Hertha having already been relegated the previous week, Maza came on as a substitute and scored his first senior goal, equalising in a 2–1 away win against VfL Wolfsburg on 27 May 2023.[2]

On 1 May 2025, it was announced that Maza would join Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season. He was transferred for a reported fee of €12 million, and he signed a contract until 2030.[3][4] As the year progressed, he scored his first goals for the club on 8 November by netting a brace in a 6–0 win over Heidenheim.[5] Later that month, on 25 November, he provided his first assist in the UEFA Champions League in a 2–0 away win over Manchester City.[6]

International career

Born in Germany, Maza is of Algerian and Vietnamese descent. He holds Algerian and German passports. He is a former youth international, having played for Germany at the U18, U19, and U20 level.[7]

In October 2024, Maza was called up to the Algeria national football team for the first time for a pair of 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Togo. He made his debut in the 89th minute of the match.[8] He was included in the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and made his World Cup debut in the first group stage match against Argentina. He started the match as a midfielder and played for 82 minutes. Maza is nicknamed "Mazadona" within Algeria, named after Maradona.[9]

Personal life

Maza was born in Germany and is of Algerian-Kabyle and Vietnamese descent. His father, Sofiane, immigrated to Germany from Algiers, and met his mother. He reportedly vacationed in Algeria over several summers with his family.[10]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 22 August 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hertha BSC II 2022–23[11] Regionalliga Nordost 72——72
2023–24[12] Regionalliga Nordost 20——20
Total 92——92
Hertha BSC 2022–23[11] Bundesliga 2100—21
2023–24[12] 2. Bundesliga 13100—131
2024–25[13] 2. Bundesliga 33532—367
Total 48732—519
Bayer Leverkusen 2025–26[14] Bundesliga 2834212[a]0445
2026–27[15] Bundesliga 00100010
Career total 85128412010516
  1. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 2 July 2026[16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Algeria 202410
2025102
2026100
Total212
As of match played 31 December 2025
Algeria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Maza goal.
List of international goals scored by Ibrahim Maza
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
124 December 2025Moulay Hassan Stadium, Rabat, Morocco9 Sudan3–03–02025 Africa Cup of Nations
231 December 2025Moulay Hassan Stadium, Rabat, Morocco11 Equatorial Guinea3–03–12025 Africa Cup of Nations

References

  1. ↑ "ZEIT ONLINE | Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl". www.zeit.de. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Hertha end the season with a 2-1 win in Wolfsburg". Hertha BSC. 27 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "Bayer Leverkusen signs highly rated teenager Ibrahim Maza from Hertha Berlin". AP News. 1 May 2025. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
  4. ↑ "Bayer 04 verpflichtet Offensiv-Juwel Maza von Hertha BSC | Bayer04.de". Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fussball GmbH (in German). Retrieved 1 May 2025.
  5. ↑ "Ibrahim Maza shines as Bayer Leverkusen run riot against Heidenheim". Bundesliga. 8 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "Champions League: Pep Guardiola charmed by Ibrahim Maza". OneFootball. 26 November 2025.
  7. ↑ Farid Kada rabah (30 April 2023). "Un jeune joueur d'origine Algérienne de 17ans fait ses débuts en Bundesliga". DZBallon L'actu du football Algérien. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "ÉLIMINATOIRES CAN 2025 : LA LISTE DE PETKOVIC POUR LA DOUBLE CONFRONTATION FACE AU TOGO" (in French). FAF.dz. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  9. ↑ Hoad, Alexander (16 June 2026). "Messi, Argentina begin World Cup title defence against Algeria: All to know". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  10. ↑ Sten-Ziemons, Andreas (15 June 2026). "Ibrahim Maza: Algeria's 'multicultural kid' from Berlin". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Spiele von Ibrahim Maza – 2022/23" [Games played by Ibrahim Maza – 2022/23]. kicker (in German). Olympia-Verlag. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Spiele von Ibrahim Maza – 2023/24" [Games played by Ibrahim Maza – 2023/24]. kicker (in German). Olympia-Verlag. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  13. ↑ "Spiele von Ibrahim Maza – 2024/25" [Games played by Ibrahim Maza – 2024/25]. kicker (in German). Olympia-Verlag. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  14. ↑ "Spiele von Ibrahim Maza – 2025/26" [Games played by Ibrahim Maza – 2025/26]. kicker (in German). Olympia-Verlag. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  15. ↑ "Spiele von Ibrahim Maza – 2026/27" [Games played by Ibrahim Maza – 2026/27]. kicker (in German). Olympia-Verlag. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  16. ↑ "Ibrahim Maza". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
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