Foysal Ahmed Fahim

Mohammed Foysal Ahmed Fahim (; born 24 February 2002), known as Fahim, is a Bangladeshi professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Bangladesh Premier League club Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and the Bangladesh national team. A versatile player, Fahim can also operate as a right winger, striker or attacking midfielder.

Fahim began his professional career with Saif Sporting Club in 2018, having played in the Pioneer Football League with MSPCC City Club the previous year. He was named the Best Player of the 2017 Pioneer Football League and also won the Top Scorer Award of the 2017 SAFF U-15 Championship.

Early career

Fahim's football journey started with the traditional Masumpur Krira Chakra in Sirajganj District, under coach and former professional footballer Rezaul Karim Khokon. He then went on to join BFF Sylhet Academy in 2015, which was shut down within a few months of him joining. In 2017, he joined MSPCC City Club in Dhaka and won the Best Player Award of the Pioneer Football League. Initially, due to the money required to pursue football in the country, Fahim's family were reluctant to approve of his desire to take the sport as a profession. Fahim was later admitted to Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) in Sylhet. In 2017, Fahim was included in the SAFF U-15 Championship squad after alongside eleven of his BKSP teammates after impressing coach Mustafa Anwar Parvez. After being awarded the tournament's golden boot, Fahim signed a professional contract with professional league club Saif Sporting Club the following year.

Club career

Saif Sporting Club

On 1 July 2018, Fahim was contracted by Saif Sporting Club. Before making his senior team debut, Fahim participated in the 2017–18 BFF U-18 Football Tournament with the U18 team. On 11 April 2019, Fahim made his Bangladesh Premier League debut for Saif during a 3–2 defeat against Bashundhara Kings. On 23 July 2019, Fahim scored his first goal for the club against NoFeL SC in the league. He ended his first professional league season with 2 goals from 7 league games. On 10 December 2021, Fahim scored in the semi-final as Saif defeated Swadhinata KS 2–0 to reach the semi-finals of the 2021 Independence Cup. On 23 June 2022, he netted a brace in a 4–3 victory over Chittagong Abahani. His contributions lead to Saif to their highest league finish in the club's history. However, Fahim found himself a Free agent, as Saif shut down all football activities after the season ended.

Abahani Limited Dhaka

On 24 February 2023, Fahim celebrated his twenty-first birthday by netting a hat-trick against AFC Uttara in a league fixture.

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club

On 28 August 2023, Fahim completed a move to Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club for the 2023–24 season.

International career

Youth

Fahim won the golden boot in the 2017 SAFF U-15 Championship as he finished top scorer with 6 goals out of 4 matches. His goals included a hat-trick against Sri Lanka U15 and he also managed to score in both games against Bhutan U15 one of which came during a 8-0 trashing. He was in the scoresheet again in the semi-finals against Nepal U15 as Bangladesh lost 4–2 and were knocked out of the competition. On 24 September 2017, Fahim scored a long-range winner against the Qatar U16 team and sealed a stunning 2–0 win for Bangladesh during the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers. In the end, even though Bangladesh failed to qualify for the main tournament, the victory was seen as a huge achievement and attracted the attention of local media.

Fahim was the joint top scorer in the 2019 SAFF U-18 Championship alongside his teammate Tanvir Hossain and Gurkirat Singh from India U18. His goals came against Sri Lanka U18 in the group stages and Bhutan U18 during the semi-finals of the tournament. He was also in the squad during a disappointing 2020 AFC U-19 Championship qualification campaign. In 2019, he also participated in the U19 Three Nations Tournament, hosted by Qatar FA.

Fahim was named on the Bangladesh U23 team by coach Maruful Haque for the AFC U-23 Championship 2022 qualifiers. He managed to play in all of the 3 games, the qualifiers ended with Bangladesh failing to score a single time. Although the poor performances shown by the team, Fahim was impressive during the games, with his quick feet and dribbling, which earned him a Bangladesh national team call up.

Senior

In 2020, Fahim was called up to the national team for the first time during the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. Although he was named on the final squad list, he did not participate in any of the games. He was called up once again, this time for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June 2021, bu failed to join the team in the end due to passport complications. He was also named in Jamie Day's 35-man preliminary squad for the 2021 SAFF Championship, however, his name was cut off when interim coach Óscar Bruzón named his final squad.

On 13 November 2021, Fahim finally made his debut for the Bangladesh national team coming on as a substitute for Mohammad Ibrahim during the start of the second half against Maldives in the 2021 Four Nations Football Tournament. Bangladesh won the game 2–1 which was their first victory against Maldives in 18 years.

He was included in the final squad for the 2023 SAFF Championship. On 22 June 2023, Fahim squandered a one on one goal scoring opportunity against the Lebanese goalkeeper, to give Bangladesh the lead in the tournament opener against Lebanon. He came under heavy criticism from local media, after his team went down 0–2.

On 17 October 2023, Fahim assisted the opening goal and scored the winner against Maldives in the second leg of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round, securing Bangladesh a 3–2 aggregate victory and a place in the second round.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Youth

:''Scores and results list Bangladesh's goal tally first.''

Senior

Honours

Individual
*2017 − ''Pioneer Football League Best Player''
*2017 − ''SAFF U-15 Championship Top Scorer''
*2019 − ''SAFF U-18 Championship Top Scorer'' (jointly)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahim, Foysal Ahmed
Living people
2002 births
Bangladeshi men's footballers
21st-century Bangladeshi sportsmen
Bangladesh men's international footballers
Bangladesh men's youth international footballers
Men's association football wingers
Saif Sporting Club players
Abahani Limited Dhaka players
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club players
People from Sirajganj District
Bangladesh Premier League footballers
Footballers from Rajshahi Division
Footballers at the 2022 Asian Games
Asian Games footballers for Bangladesh
Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan alumni