Carcela represented Belgium at all youth levels and played twice for its senior team before changing his allegiance to his ancestral Morocco in 2010.

[3] He later made his European debut in the last game of the group stage of the UEFA Cup against Stuttgart on 18 December 2008, coming on as a substitute for Wilfried Dalmat in the 65th minute of a 3–0 away defeat.

[7] On 24 November he was sent off in the Champions League group match at Arsenal after he head-butted Cesc Fàbregas in the waning moments of the 2–0 defeat at Emirates Stadium.

[16] On 17 May 2011, he was on the receiving end of a kick in the face from Chris Mavinga while both players were tussling for the ball in a league match against Genk, which left him with several facial fractures and broken teeth.

[18] Meanwhile, that season, Carcela would help the club progress in the Belgian Cup by scoring in the second leg of the semi-final, as Standard Liège beat Gent 4–1 to reach the final.

[23] However, Spartak Moscow's sporting director, Dmitri Popov, denied the claim, suggesting he joined Anzhi because of his religion.

Makhachkala, capital of the Republic of Dagestan, has a large Muslim population and Carcela joined with his compatriot teammate Mbark Boussoufa.

[29] In the UEFA Europa League play-off round, Carcela-González scored again, as Anzhi thrashed AZ 5–0, beating them 6–0 on aggregate.

[32] Following this, he expressed a desire to leave the club, and was rumored to be moving back to Standard, or to Roma,[33] Marseille, Toulouse or Nice.

[41] He debuted for the team on 23 August in a 1–0 away loss at Arouca in the Primeira Liga,[42] and scored his first goal for Benfica on 16 October in a 2–1 away win at Vianense in the Taça de Portugal.

[46][47] He made his La Liga debut on 11 September as a 65th-minute substitute for Omer Atzili in a 2–1 home loss to Eibar, and five days later he scored his first goal, opening a 2–2 draw at fellow Andalusians Real Betis.

[49] He was officially set for release from the club on 4 December 2017 as his performances and work rate did not live up to the expectations of the Olympiacos management,[50] but was reinstated to first-team training sessions on 18 January 2018 under the reign of Oscar Garcia.

[53] On 17 March 2018, he played as Standard Liège beat Genk 1–0 in extra time to win the 2018 Belgian Cup Final and qualify for the UEFA Europa League.

[58] After making his debut, he spoke out on his decision to play for Morocco, saying that he is proud to represent the national team and that it felt "like a childhood dream".