Who is Zaki Khellaf? The Algerian footballing star taking TikTok by storm with crazy celebrations

With 554,000 TikTok followers and fans who hold him in the same light as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Zaki Khellaf has suddenly become one of football's most famous names.

Despite being a social media phenomenon, relatively little is known about the football-loving man who is also known as Shosha. NationalWorld takes a scroll through the social media star's TikTok account to look at the rise of Zaki Khellaf.

Who is Zaki Khellaf?

Part of the fascination with Zaki Khellaf and his TikTok channel is that nobody seems to know exactly what is going on. The star's TikTok account is filled with videos in which he lingers by the goal on small five-a-side and seven-a-side football cages in Algeria and waits to score a goal.

For the most part, it seems that opposition goalkeepers who come up against Khellaf allow him to put the ball in the back of the net rather than trying to save it.

Hundreds of followers have asked why this is the case, normally without any clarification. However, one day a fan who seemed to be in the know replied: "He has special needs so everyone makes it feel like a star. Crowds cheer on Shosha the match is not important to them."

Others have suggested that Khellaf has a terminal illness which is why he's allowed free reign on the pitch.

What are the Zaki Khellaf celebrations?

What TikTok users seem to love the most about Zaki Khellaf are his goal celebrations. Whenever Khellaf finds the back of the net, it comes with an exuberant celebration that sends the crowd wild.

These come in all shapes and forms but almost always include the striker shushing the crowd. Khellaf also enjoys sprinting across the pitch and rolling, rather ungracefully, across the pitch.

A number of fans have called for EA to add the trademark celebrations to the next edition of FIFA.

What happened to Zaku Kheallaf’s followers?

At one point Zaki Khellaf boasted over 1.3 million TikTok followers on his viral account but now his following is less than half of that figure. His new accout only has videos posted from May 13, 2023, where the previous user had clips stretching much further back than that.

It’s not clear what exactly happened to the account but it could have been a deicison to start a fresh or a result of sanctions put down by TikTok.

Exactly how famous is Zaki Khellaf - and what do his fans say?

Zaki Khellaf and his fame seem to exist exclusively on TikTok where he draws a global audience. Commenters have come from Ethiopia, Poland, Northern Ireland and many more countries.

The star's 1.3 million followers is an eye-watering number with videos averaging around four million views each and reaching up to 100 million. Khellaf also has over 40 million likes on the app across platformd. He has become a huge celebrity in Algeria too with fans gathering in mass to watch him play in the football cages - some even climb on top of buildings to get a glimpse of the player.

One TikTok user said: "The passion of football is for everyone. Never stop your dreams as this man is doing."

Others joke that ‘offsides are non-existent" when Khellaf plays given his penchant for goal hanging and some football fans have jokingly likened his playing style to that of Manchester United's Antony.