10 Famous Football (Soccer) Players from Qatar

A7-BEB – Qatar Airways (FIFA World Cup 2022 Livery) – Boeing 777-3DZER – MSN 43215 – VGHS. photo by Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon – Wikimedia commons

10 Famous Football (Soccer) Players from Qatar

The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international men’s football championship contested by the senior national teams of FIFA member countries. It will be held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, 2022.

This will be the first World Cup held in the Arab world and the second World Cup conducted entirely in Asia, following the tournament in South Korea and Japan in 2002. The Qatar 2022 World Cup begins on Sunday, November 20 at the Al Bayt Stadium, when the hosts, Qatar face Ecuador in Group A.

The World Cup being staged in Qatar has introduced the country to the rest of the world and demonstrated to them how it is a hotbed of established and emerging talent.

With an established football federation, there is little doubt that the country is favourable to football career growth, resulting in the birth of some of the game’s most famous personalities. Here are 10 famous soccer players from Qatar.

1. Akram Afif

Akram Afif photo by Fars Media Corporation – Wikimedia commons

Afif, Akram Hassan Yahya Afif is a Qatari professional footballer. Akram Afif has Tanzanian roots from his father’s side making him eligible to play for the Tanzania soccer team. He plays on the left wing for Al Sadd and the Qatar national team. Early in his career, he was regarded as one of the most promising players to come out of Qatar.

Akram has been chosen as one of three nominees for the Asian Football Confederation’s men’s player of the year for his role in bringing the Asian Cup to Qatar in 2019. In 2019, he was named Asian Footballer of the Year.

2. Abdelkarim Hassan

Al Sadd’s Abdulkarim Hassan Al-Haj in action during the Sheikh Jassim Cup final at the ASPIRE Academy Indoor Pitch. Picture by Vinod Divakaran – Wikimedia commons

Abdelkarim Hassan is a Qatari footballer who plays for Al Sadd and the Qatar national team as a left-back. At 17 years old, he was the youngest player to feature in the 2011 AFC Champions League, coming off the bench against Esteghlal.

His club went on to win the Champions League the following year. In the 2012-13 Qatar Stars League, he was named Young Player of the Year. In June 2017, it was announced that Al Sadd had loaned him to Belgian First Division A club Eupen.

Abdelkarim scored in a 3-1 win over Hienghène Sport in the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup. He later scored in a 3-2 loss against C.F. Monterrey in the second round.  Al-Sadd finally ended fifth. Abdelkarim won the Asian Footballer of the Year award in 2018.

3. Ahmed Yasser

Ahmed Yasser Elmohamady Abdi Elrahman is a Qatari footballer who plays for Al-Rayyan as a central defender. Ahmed was born to an Egyptian family in Doha.  His father, Yasser Elmohamady, was an Egyptian footballer in the 1970s. He is the younger brother of Qatar national team players Hussein Yasser and Mohammed Yasser.

He joined Lekhwiya SC in 2011 and made his senior debut the following April in a 1-1 Qatar Stars League home tie against Al Kharaitiyat SC. Yasser began to appear more frequently in subsequent campaigns, primarily in the AFC Champions League.

Yasser was moved to Segunda División side Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa on July 14, 2017. Yasser scored his first goal overseas on September 17, 2017, scoring the game-winning goal in a 3-2 home victory over SD Huesca. 

Yasser made his Qatar debut on March 26, 2013, starting in a 2-1 away loss to South Korea. He also played for the under-23s at the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship, scoring his first senior goal against North Korea on 22 January.

4. Saad Al Sheeb

Saad Al Sheeb photo by Mehr News Agency – Wikimedia commons

Saad Abdullah al-Sheeb is a goalkeeper for Al Sadd SC and the Qatari national football team. He is a professional football player from Qatar. In 2009, he made his senior national team debut for Qatar.

He was a member of the 23-member Qatari team that won the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Al-Sheeb won the “Best Goalkeeper Award” since Qatar only allowed one goal in their seven games while he started each one.

Saad Al Sheeb got off to a strong start for Qatar in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, recording two shutouts and guiding his nation to the semifinals where they placed third without winning a bronze medal.

5. Khalfan Ibrahim

Al Sadd’s Khalfan Ibrahim during a Qatar Stars League match. Picture by AK Bijuraj – Wikimedia commons

Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan is a former Qatari international football winger. In 2006, he was crowned Asian Player of the Year, becoming the first Qatari to do so. He was a junior player for Al Arabi before signing a professional contract with Al Sadd in 2004.

Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan, his father, is a former footballer who played for Al Arabi and the Qatar national team. He is sometimes referred to as the “Maradona of Qatar,” and his admirers refer to him as “Khalfaninho” in allusion to Ronaldinho.

Khalfan and Al Sadd won the AFC Champions League in 2011. On April 26, 2013, he scored a stunning solo goal against Al Rayyan in a Crown Prince Cup match, dribbling 60 meters past the entire opposition defence to score a long-range goal.

Some news outlets compared it to Diego Maradona’s goal against England in the 1986 World Cup, as well as Lionel Messi’s ‘Maradona goal’ in 2007. It was hailed as a candidate for the finest goal of 2013 and has been considered as probably the best goal ever scored by a Qatari player. Ral, a teammate, said he was the finest player on the club that season, comparing him to Diego Maradona.

6. Abdulaziz Hatem

Al Arabi’s Abdulaziz Hatem in action during the Qatar Stars League. Picture by Mohan – Wikimedia commons

A midfielder with Al Rayyan and the Qatari national team, Abdulaziz Hatem is a professional footballer from Qatar who has Sudanese descent. He made his debut for the Qatar national football team during the 9th International Friendship Tournament held in December 2009.

Hatem participated for the Qatar Olympic team in the 2012 Summer Olympic qualifiers.

7. Hassan Al-Haydos

Al Sadd’s Hassan Al Haidous is in action during a Qatar Stars League match. Picture by Mohan – Wikimedia commons

A forward for Qatari club Al Sadd and the national team, Hassan Khalid Hassan Al-Haydo is a professional football player from Qatar.

At the age of eight, Al-Haydos began participating in football for Al Sadd, moving up the divisions until he was seventeen and made the first squad. Jafal Rashed Al-Kuwari offered him assistance and direction at the beginning.

In the 2011 AFC Champions League penalty shootout versus Jeonbuk, he was one of the players that took a penalty shot and scored after the ball bounced off the top post.

The victory ensured Al Sadd would earn a place in the FIFA Club World Cup as the representative for Asia. In a poll run by Doha Stadium in 2014, 58 out of 104 votes cast by a group of analysts, coaches, and administrators gave him the title of “Best Qatari Player.”

8. Pedro Miguel Carvalho Deus Correia

Ró-Ró photo by Fars Media Corporation – Wikimedia commons

Ró-Ró, also known as Pedro Miguel Carvalho Deus Correia, is a professional footballer who plays right-back or centre defence for Al Sadd SC and the Qatar national team.

He played lower-tier football in Portugal before moving to Qatar in January 2011, where he played for Al Ahli and Al Sadd in the Qatar Stars League. He won several honours with the latter, including two league titles.

9. Karim Boudiaf

Lekhwiya’s Karim Boudiaf dribbles the ball during their Qatar Stars League match photo by AK Bijuraj – Wikimedia commons

A professional football player named Karim Boudiaf plays for Al-Duhail in the Qatar Stars League. He is capable of playing both central defence and defensive midfield.

On November 13, 2013, Boudiaf obtained Qatari citizenship and was subsequently called up to the Qatari national football team. In an unofficial exhibition-friendly match against the Saudi club Al Hilal, he received a cap.

On December 25, 2014, in a 1-0 victory against Palestine during the WAFF Championship, he made his official squad debut. Boudiaf scored his first goal after fifteen appearances. He prevented Stuart Dallas from scoring as Qatar and Northern Ireland drew in England.

10. Meshal Mubarak

Qatar international Meshaal Mubarak in action. photo by Doha Stadium Plus – Wikimedia commons

Meshal Mubarak Budawood was a left-back defender who played football for Qatar. He played football for the Qatari national team. He was one of Qatar’s top football prospects and was loaned out by Qatar SC to Feyenoord Rotterdam in 2003.

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