Younès Belhanda (Arabic: يونس بلهندة; born 25 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Qatar Stars League club Al-Shamal.

[4] He spent one year at the club before joining MJC Avignon, a local cultural center based in his birthplace.

[5][6] The player admitted that Gleyze played a huge part in determining his future, stating: "he is more than a coach.

[5] He spent five years in the club's academy developing alongside fellow youth teammates Benjamin Stambouli, Abdelhamid El Kaoutari, and Rémy Cabella.

[3] Towards the end of the 2007–08 season, Belhanda was promoted to the club's reserve team, which was playing in the Championnat de France amateur (CFA), the fourth level of French football.

[10] He was, subsequently, promoted to the senior team by new incoming manager René Girard and assigned the number 29 shirt.

Despite being brought up under a defensive mentality, Girard preferred to utilize Belhanda as an attacker by placing him on the left side of the team's 4–2–3–1 formation.

Girard gave his reasons for converting Belhanda stating "his desire to get on the ball combined with excellent technique means he can play through the middle or on the wings".

[11] Belhanda made his professional debut in the team's opening league match of the 2009–10 season against Paris Saint-Germain.

[15] After starting in the team's 1–0 win over Lens on 20 January,[16] Belhanda opened the 2010–11 campaign by making his European debut on 29 July 2010 in the first leg of Montpellier's UEFA Europa League third qualifying round with Hungarian club Győri ETO.

[17] In the second leg, Montpellier were defeated losing on penalties after the match finished 1–0 in favor of Győri in regular and extra time.

[33] The move was ultimately a success as Belhanda opened the campaign scoring two goals in his first three matches in wins over Auxerre and Rennes.

[36][37] He returned to the team following the September international break and, after two matches, scored his third goal of the season in a 2–2 draw with Bordeaux.

[46] A week later, against first place Paris Saint-Germain, Belhanda scored the equalizing goal just before half-time to draw the match at 1–1.

[50] Media reports had previously linked him with a move to Premier League sides Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa.

[56] On 1 July 2021, Belhanda signed a three-year contract with recently-promoted to Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor.

[57] In December 2023, after having scored 19 goals in 74 appearances for the Adana-based side, Belhanda's contract was terminated by mutual agreement.