Meriame Terchoun[1] (born 27 October 1995) is a Swiss footballer who plays for Première Ligue club Dijon and the Switzerland women's national team.

Meriame Terchoun
Terchoun in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-10-27) 27 October 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Lausanne, Switzerland
Height 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Dijon
Number 11
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 FC Zürich 74 (27)
2017 FC Basel 1 (0)
2017–2022 FC Zürich 36 (17)
2022– Dijon 18 (1)
International career
2011–2012 Switzerland U17 7 (0)
2014–2015 Switzerland U19 3 (0)
2015– Switzerland 22 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:15, 15 October 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 September 2023 (UTC)

Terchoun is a representative of the Swiss Association of Football Players.[2]

Club career

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Terchoun played for SC YF Juventus from 2006 to 2009, then moved to FC Zürich, where she played from 2009 to 2022 with a brief hiatus. In the first half of 2017 she was in the FC Basel. With Zurich, she won the Swiss Championship eight times and the Swiss Cup seven times. During this time she also suffered three cruciate ligament tears (2016, 2017, 2019), each of which entailed long rehabilitation breaks.[3] After her injuries, she returned to lead her club to a domestic league and cup double.[2]  She played a total of 166 competitive games for FCZ, scoring 53 goals and recording 28 assists.

In 2012/13 she made her debut in the UEFA Women's Champions League, where the team prevailed in qualifying with three wins at a tournament in Slovenia. She scored her first Champions League goal in the 8-0 win over FC Gintra.

Finally, in July 2022, she moved to Dijon FCO in the French first division.

National career

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Youth

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Born in Switzerland, Terchoun is of Algerian descent through her father.[4] On 22 August 2011 she was used for the first time in a game of the U-17 team, but lost with her team 0-2 against Austria.[5]  In October, she took part with the team in the first qualifying round for the 2012 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship. With three wins, they qualified for the second round. She also made three appearances there and reached the finals in Nyon with a 3-3 win against Belgium and two 1-0 wins against Iceland and England. Here, however, in June 2012 they lost 5-1 in the semi-finals to France and the match for third place on penalties to Denmark.

In September she made her first appearances for the U-19 team in two friendlies against Denmark. This was followed by further friendly matches in March 2013 and 2014. In April 2014 she then took part with the team in the second qualifying round for the 2019 U-19 European Championship . After victories against Belarus (5-0) and hosts Portugal (2-1), they missed out on the finals with a 0-1 defeat as the fourth-best runners-up in their group.

Senior

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On 22 September 2015 she played for the first time on the senior national team. She started the 4-1 friendly win against Denmark and was substituted in the second half. In the first qualifying game for Euro 2017 against Italy on 24 October 2016, she was used for the first time over 90 minutes.[6] With a 3-0 victory in Italy, it was their first successful qualification for the European Championship. She was used in four games. During the qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games that took place in between, she was used in all three games. After the second European Championship qualifier against Italy, which was won 2-1, she had to wait 14 months for another assignment. In the last preparation game for the European Championship finals against England, she was used as a center forward, but substituted after 48 minutes when the score was 0:2 (final score 0:4).[7]  She was called up for the finals, but only for the last 11 minutes of the third group game against France came on as a left striker when the score was 1:1. The Swiss were eliminated as third in the group. In the subsequent qualification for the 2019 World Cup, she came on as a second-half substitute in the first game against Albania. She played in April 2019 in two friendlies against Poland.

She was in the squad for Euro 2022 in England but was not used. She was named to the Swiss squad for the 2023 World Cup.

International goals

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No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 1 December 2015 Stade de la Maladière, Neuchâtel, Switzerland   Czech Republic 5–1 5–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
2. 9 April 2016 Tissot Arena, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland   Italy 2–0 2–1
3. 16 July 2024 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland   Azerbaijan 1–0 3–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying

Honours

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FC Zürich

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 – Squad List: Switzerland (SUI)" (PDF). FIFA. 11 July 2023. p. 29. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Meriame Terchoun kämpft für die Schweizer Nati" (in German). Schweizer Illustrierte. 9 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Fussballerin Meriame Terchoun nach ihrem Kreuzbandriss". AXA Schweiz | Fussballerin Meriame Terchoun nach ihrem Kreuzbandriss (in German). Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  4. ^ Curty, Ugo (6 February 2022). "Meriame Terchoun, la footballeuse qui revient de très loin". Blick (in French). Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Schweizerischer Fussballverband - Statistik und Resultate". www.football.ch. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Schweizerischer Fussballverband - Statistik und Resultate". www.football.ch. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Schweizerischer Fussballverband - Statistik und Resultate". www.football.ch. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
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