Sonia Ouchene

Sonia Ouchene
Ouchene in 2023
Personal information
Full name Sonia Ouchene Salón[1]
Date of birth (2000-03-14) 14 March 2000[2]
Place of birth Valencia, Spain[3]
Height 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)[2]
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Montpellier
Number 8
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019 Tennessee Volunteers 17 (2)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Reims 69 (–)
2018–2019 Valencia B 25 (13)
2020–2023 Reims 63 (7)
2023– Montpellier 44 (4)
International career‡
2017 France U17 2 (0)
2018–2019 France U19 12 (5)
2020 France U20 2 (0)
2021–2025 France U23 17 (2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19:55, 13 September 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:55, 13 September 2025 (UTC)

Sonia Ouchene Salón (born 14 March 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Première Ligue club Montpellier. Born in Spain, she has represented France at the youth national level. Ouchene has previously played for Reims and Spanish club Valencia B.

Early life

Ouchene was born in Valencia, Spain,[3] to a Spanish mother and a French father.[4] She grew up in the nearby town of Paterna alongside her parents and two siblings.[3][1] Ouchene began playing football at the age of 7 before moving to Paris at 15 to enroll in the INSEP academy.[4] While plying her trade at INSEP, Ouchene also spent a three-year stint with Division 2 Féminine side Reims.[5] In 2018, she returned to Spain to play one campaign for Valencia CF's reserve team.[3][6] Ouchene scored 13 goals in 25 matches to help Valencia claim a regional title in the Spanish second division.[7]

College career

In 2019, Ouchene moved overseas and played one season of American college soccer with the Tennessee Volunteers.[4] She made her collegiate debut on 22 August 2019, playing 52 minutes in a match against Fordham.[1] She recorded her first goal for the Volunteers in a 3–1 victory over Cincinnati on September 8.[8] The following match, Ouchene scored directly from a free kick to open the scoring in a draw with Massachusetts.[9] She went on to accumulate a total of 17 appearances for the Volunteers, starting in all but 2.[1] Despite having previously planned on staying in Tennessee for four years, Ouchene chose to head back home to Europe after only five months in the United States.[10] She cited a lack of enjoyment with the direct and physical style of play in college as the main reason for her early exit.[3][7]

Club career

Reims

Ouchene re-joined her former club Reims in January 2020.[7] Since Ouchene's departure from the club two years prior, Reims had managed to earn promotion to the French top-flight and had already completed half of its first season in the Division 1 Féminine.[11] Ouchene made 4 appearances for the team before operations halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] She spent the remainder of quarantine in Valencia with her family members.[12]

In her first full season with Reims, Ouchene registered 22 appearances and a career-high 19 starts. She also scored four goals,[13] three of which came in an October 2020 hat-trick over Issy.[14] On 25 February 2021, she inked a new deal with the club to keep her with the club an additional two years.[14] Once Ouchene's contract expired in June 2023, she departed from the club. Counting both of her three-year stints with Reims, she had spent six seasons with the club and participated in 132 total games.[15]

Montpellier

On 6 July 2023, Ouchene joined Montpellier.[16][17] She recorded her first goal for Montpellier on 18 November 2023, scoring against her former club Reims;[18] fellow ex-Reims player Kethna Louis also scored as the two Montpellier newcomers combined to achieve a 2–1 victory for their new club.[19][18] Ouchene soon rose to prominence in the Montpellier squad, narrowly winning the team's January 2025 Player of the Month award over Océane Deslandes.[20] In July 2025, Ouchene was temporarily named club captain after longtime skipper Marion Torrent went on maternity leave.[21]

International career

Ouchene has represented France at multiple youth international levels, starting with a call-up to the under-16 team in 2015.[22] Prior to joining the Tennessee Volunteers,[4] she played for the French under-19 team across two years and scored 5 times across 12 matches.[2] From 2020 to 2025, she has made 19 total appearances for the under-20 and under-23s.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Sonia Ouchene Salón - Soccer". Tennessee Volunteers. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Sonia Ouchene at the French Football Federation (in French)
  3. ^ a b c d e "Sonia Ouchene, tout en finesse" [Sonia Ouchene, all finesse]. Montpellier HSC (in French). 5 December 2023. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Potkey, Rhiannon (17 September 2019). "Freshman from France moves right into Tennessee Lady Vols soccer starting lineup". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  5. ^ "Mercato : Sonia Ouchene retrouve le Stade de Reims" [Transfer window: Sonia Ouchene returns to Stade de Reims]. Coeurs de foot (in French). 7 January 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  6. ^ a b Ferris, David (15 January 2021). "Sonia Ouchene (Stade de Reims): 'En Francia cada vez se habla más del fútbol femenino español'" [Sonia Ouchene (Stade de Reims): ‘In France you can wear more of Spanish women’s football’]. EsportBase (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Lampin, Julien (8 January 2020). "Sonia Ouchène de retour à Reims : welcome home" [Sonia Ouchène returns to Reims: welcome home]. Sport Club (in French). Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  8. ^ "#20 Vols Extend Home Winning Streak To Nine, Top Bearcats 3-1". Tennessee Volunteers. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  9. ^ Beaton, Ryan. "UMass women's soccer holds No. 21 Tennessee to 3-3 draw". Massachusetts Daily Collegian. Archived from the original on 17 May 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Sonia Ouchene, la globe-trotteuse du Stade de Reims" [Sonia Ouchene, the globetrotter from Stade de Reims]. L'Union (in French). 22 February 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Reims Women Stats, Records and History". FBref. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  12. ^ "Coronavirus. Sonia Ouchene (Stade de Reims) : « En Espagne, faire son footing est interdit »" [Coronavirus. Sonia Ouchene (Stade de Reims): "In Spain, jogging is prohibited"]. L'Union (in French). 28 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  13. ^ Sonia Ouchene at FBref.com
  14. ^ a b Lampin, Julien (25 February 2021). "Sonia Ouchene à Reims jusqu'en 2023" [Sonia Ouchene in Reims until 2023]. Sport Club (in French). Archived from the original on 3 August 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  15. ^ Bécart, Loïc (2 June 2023). "Sonia Ouchene quitte le Stade de Reims" [Sonia Ouchene leaves Stade de Reims]. L'Ardennais (in French). Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  16. ^ Decroix, Jean-Baptiste (6 July 2023). "Sonia Ouchene signe au MHSC" [Sonia Ouchene signs with MHSC]. La Gazette (in French). Archived from the original on 12 February 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  17. ^ "Sonia Ouchene passe du Stade de Reims à Montpellier" [Sonia Ouchene moves from Stade de Reims to Montpellier]. L'Union (in French). 6 July 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  18. ^ a b Lampin, Julien (18 November 2023). "Le Stade de Reims féminin crucifié par ses anciennes face à Montpellier" [Stade de Reims women crucified by their former players against Montpellier]. Sport Club (in French). Archived from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  19. ^ "Football féminin : Venez vibrer avec l'équipe montpelliéraine" [Women's Football: Come and experience the excitement of the Montpellier team]. Encommun Montpellier (in French). 14 September 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  20. ^ "Sonia Ouchene remporte le Trophée MHSC by Nations Racing Legends & Parfums Mercura de janvier" [Sonia Ouchene wins the January MHSC by Nations Racing Legends & Parfums Mercura Trophy]. Coeurs de foot (in French). Archived from the original on 10 July 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  21. ^ Hardouin, Nathalie (3 July 2025). "En l'absence de Marion Torrent, capitaine du MHSC, le brassard est une autre responsabilité à porter" [In the absence of Marion Torrent, captain of the MHSC, the armband is another responsibility to bear]. Midilibre (in French). Archived from the original on 7 March 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  22. ^ Duret, Sebastien. "U16 - 55 joueuses pour un stage mi-janvier à Clairefontaine" [U16 - 55 players for a mid-January training camp in Clairefontaine]. Footofeminin (in French). Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
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