Belal Halbouni signs with VWFC
- Dean Petriw
- Feb 6, 2024
- 2 min read
Yesterday the Vancouver Whitecaps announced the signing of Belal Halbouni. This may be an unfamiliar name to some Whitecaps fans, so here is a quick debrief on Belal’s history in football.
Halbouni is a 24-year-old center back from London, Ontario. He started his club career at his local club FC London in 2017. He was just 17 when he joined. During the 2018 season the club finished first in the League1Ontario table but lost in the playoff group stage. The next year they made the playoff final and lost 4-1. He also played at Western University for the 2018 OUA season where he won playoff bronze, before leaving to look for professional opportunities.
He earned a move to German side Werder Bremen II. This was the second side of then Bundesliga club Werder Bremen. The reserve side play in the Regionalliga Nord, a 4th tier league in Germany. The 21/22 season saw remarkable success for Halbouni as he played all but five games for the club that year. He captained the side during their playoff run too. They lost their playoff group to eventual promoted side VfB Oldenburg. Prior to the playoff campaign the Vancouver Whitecaps were interested in Belal as reported by Manuel Veth.
Talks between Werder Bremen and the Whitecaps eventually broke down, and by the time Belal’s contract was up he had a few options. One option was to sign a new contract with Bremen and end up going out on loan, presumably to the Whitecaps or another German side. Instead, he joined 2. Bundesliga side Magdeburg. While joining the club gave him a greater opportunity of high-level football, he could not break into the first team. He eventually found himself playing a few games for their second team in the German 6th tier.
Belal’s international career has always been an interesting situation. While Canada is home to many dual internationals, Belal has a threefold of eligible nations; Canada, Syria, and Lebanon. He did earn a call-up to a Canadian national camp in 2021, but in 2022 he represented Syria in a friendly against current AFC Asian Cup underdogs Jordan. It was a bittersweet moment for Belal, as he finally got to play on an international stage. He sadly tore his ACL during the match and went on to miss the rest of the 22/23 season. Belal came back to professional play with the Magdeburg second team in the summer of 2023 but quickly got sidelined again due to further complications with his knee.
In January he was left out of Magdeburg’s plans and joined the Whitecaps on trial during preseason. He made appearances in three of their four matches in Marbella, all coming off the bench. With another new addition in Bjorn Inge Utvik, it is likely we may only see him used as an addition to the depth in Vancouver, getting more minutes in the Canadian Championship. Like last year’s situation with Karifa Yao. But his injury problems are a huge factor, and there should be uncertainty of his fitness considering he has not played a match in Germany's top three tiers. The closest he got to it was being on the bench during his early days with Magdeburg. Hopefully, the move changes things for the better.
