Ziyad Baha Abelhadj (; born 10 August 2009) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Real Betis. Born in Spain, he is a youth international for Morocco.
Baha was born in Málaga, Spain, to former Moroccan international footballer Nabil Baha, who was playing for Málaga at the time, and former Spanish-Moroccan model Farah Farabian. His sister, Mayssa Baha, is also a footballer, and currently plays in the academy of Barcelona FemenÃÂ.
Baha began his footballing career in Morocco with FUS Rabat, where he won the national youth championship in 2022, before a move to his father's former club, Málaga, in 2023. Following a good season with Málaga's youth sides, scoring 21 goals, he signed for Real Betis in June 2024 on a three-year deal.
Baha was called up to the Morocco under-17 side for the 2024 UNAF U-17 Tournament in Morocco, where his three goals helped his nation to qualify for the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations. At the Africa Cup of Nations tournament, again hosted in Morocco, he kept up his goalscoring form, netting twice against Uganda in the opening match.
In the quarter-finals, Baha scored twice against South Africa to earn the Man-of-the-Match award in Morocco's 3âÂÂ1 win, becoming the first Moroccan to score more than once in a knockout game at the competition. Following Morocco's 0âÂÂ0 draw in their semi-final match against the Ivory Coast, Baha scored his penalty in the resulting 4âÂÂ3 shoot-out win, with his father Nabil admitting he was unable to watch his son take the shot. Another successful Baha penalty in Morocco's 4âÂÂ2 shoot-out win against Mali saw his nation lift the trophy.
When his father, Nabil Baha, was asked what it was like to coach his son at the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, he described Baha as a "number 10 or number 9", and highlighted that he was playing "phenomenally" against players older than him at the tournament. Baha himself states that he watched clips of his father, who also played as a centre-forward, in order to improve.
He was described by Spanish football website ' as a "complete forward" noted for his dribbling and ability to create chances with little space to work in. This was shown in Baha's goal in a 5âÂÂ1 win against Egypt at the 2024 UNAF U-17 Tournament; receiving the ball on the goal-line, he shrugged off defender Hamza El Degawy, before beating Nour Ashraf and then El Degawy again, then rifling the ball beyond goalkeeper Amr Taha. His prolific form at under-17 level for Morocco lead to him being described as a "goal machine".
Morocco U17