Ibrahim Afellay (Arabic: إبراهيم أفيلاي; born 2 April 1986) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger.

After debuting in 2004, he represented PSV for eight seasons, helping them to four Eredivisie titles before moving to Barcelona for €3 million in January 2011.

Making his Netherlands national team debut in 2007, Afellay appeared at the 2010 World Cup, contributing to the Dutch side finishing in second place in the tournament.

Afellay is of Moroccan Riffian descent; his parents left their hometown Al Hoceima in the 1960s to work in the Netherlands.

[4] Afellay started to play football at local side VSK, but joined USV Elinkwijk after one season.

[6] Afellay's official debut for PSV was on 4 February 2004 during a KNVB Cup match against NAC Breda at the age of 17.

[14] In his first four matches (Johan Cruijff Shield and league), Afellay received four yellow cards, resulting in an immediate suspension.

[26] In March, Afellay received a three-match ban after video evidence showed foul play against Eyong Enoh in the match against Ajax.

[31][33][34] He made his Blaugrana debut on 5 January 2011 in the Copa del Rey match against Athletic Bilbao, replacing David Villa in injury time.

He then played a vital role in the first match of the semi-finals against archrivals Real Madrid by coming on as a late substitute, dribbling past Marcelo into the box and assisting Lionel Messi for Barcelona's crucial opening goal in their 2–0 away victory.

[35][36] Afellay had a minor hamstring injury in the 2011–12 pre-season, therefore missing out on the Supercopa de España matches against Real Madrid.

[38] He returned in time for one Champions League and one La Liga match before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury during training in September.

On 29 April, he returned to the field as a substitute in the 71st minute replacing teammate Sergio Busquets against Rayo Vallecano on a 7–0 away trashing win for the Catalan side.

[39] Although he appeared in two more La Liga fixtures, manager Pep Guardiola did not call-up Afellay for the major matches against Chelsea and Real Madrid.

[3][39] In the build-up for the 2012–13 season, Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova notified Afellay of his decreased playing time in the upcoming year.

Afellay played his last Schalke match on 10 November; he picked up a muscle injury in a Dutch national team friendly against Germany a few days later.

[44] The injury prevented Afellay from playing until January, when he suffered a similar muscle strain in a friendly against Al Sadd SC.

[45] With the recovery this time taking the remainder of the season, Afellay returned to The Netherlands after expressing his discontent with the medical treatment at Schalke 04.

[46] Although both parties kept in contact, Afellay did not return to Gelsenkirchen anymore after the injury; a move that led to criticism from Schalke's general manager Horst Heldt.

[55][56] He made his debut on 9 August, in a 1–0 defeat against Liverpool at the Britannia Stadium, playing 78 minutes before making way for Peter Odemwingie.

[62] In total Afellay played 36 times for Stoke in 2015–16 scoring three goals as the side finished in ninth position.

Afellay then had a training ground bust up with new manager Paul Lambert in March 2018 and was told to stay away from the club.

[69][70] Afellay returned to the club for pre-season ahead of the 2018–19 season and scored in a friendly against Walsall but suffered another long-term knee injury.

[76] Just seconds after replacing Dirk Kuyt in the group match against Italy he nearly scored a goal but his shot hit the top of the crossbar.

On 2 June 2012, Afellay scored two goals in a 6–0 friendly win over Northern Ireland, which was the Netherlands' final match ahead of the tournament.