Hassan Naweed Bashir (; born 7 January 1987) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for Brøndby Strand IK. Bashir has played much of his career as a forward, but has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an offensive midfielder,

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

and

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. Born in Denmark, he played internationally for the Pakistan national team. Nicknamed as ''Hitman'', he had been praised for his positioning, teamwork and link-up play, and had shown consistency in scoring and creating goals. A former

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and key player of the national team in the 2010s, he is seen as one of the best strikers to play for Pakistan. Bashir debuted in senior football with B.93 Copenhagen in the Danish 2nd Division during the 2006–07 season, transitioning from the youth academy. After a season, he moved to

Køge BK Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a Danish seaport on the coast of Køge Bugt (''Bay of Køge'') 39 km southwest of Copenhagen. It is the principal town and seat of Køge Municipality, Region Sjælland (Zealand), Denmark. In 2025, the ...

in 2007 and subsequently played for various Danish clubs, including Brønshøj,

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,616 (1 January 2025), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Fyn Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Fyn (p59-FYN, Slk, Syn, MGC45350, Gene ID 2534) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''FYN'' gene. Fyn is a 59-kDa member of the Src family of kinases typically associated with T-cell and neurona ...

Hellerup IK Hellerup IK or HIK is a Danish sport club from Hellerup. Their football team currently plays in the Danish 2nd Division, the third tier of the Danish football league system. HIK consists also of a handball and a tennis Tennis is a List of ...

and Svebølle. In 2012, Bashir briefly joined Thailand's BBCU before returning to Denmark with Hellerup, Nordvest and

Fremad Amager Boldklubben Fremad Amager (meaning in English: The Ball Club Forward Amager; abbreviated Fremad A) is a Danish professional football club based in the district of Amager Vest, Copenhagen. As of the 2024–25 season, the club's senior men's team ...

. His international journey continued with Dordoi Bishkek in the

Kyrgyz Premier League The Kyrgyz Premier League () or OLIMPBET Premier League for Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes is the top division of professional football in Kyrgyzstan. It was created in 1992 after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union. The league is comp ...

in 2015. In 2016, he returned to Denmark joining BSV. After a hiatus, he joined

Greve Fodbold Greve Fodbold is a Danish football club currently playing in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of Danish football. The club have played the entirety of their existence in the lower divisions and spent one season in the second tier in 1980. They ...

in 2018 prior joining AB Tårnby. He later moved to Ishøj IF in March 2021 and then to Tårnby FF in 2023. Despite a brief return to Ishøj IF in the second half of 2023, he left the club by year-end. Bashir made his international debut with

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in November 2012 against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, scoring his first goal in February 2013 against

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. His performance in 2013 earned him recognition as Pakistan's best performer. Appointed captain in 2015, Bashir led Pakistan to victory against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, contributing two assists and scored in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers. Despite Pakistan's subsequent three-year suspension from international football, Bashir returned in 2018, scoring Pakistan's first international goal after the suspension against Nepal in the

2018 SAFF Championship The 2018 SAFF Championship, also known as the 2018 SAFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 12th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's association football, football championship of South Asia organized by So ...

, where he finished as the joint top scorer. After another suspension on Pakistan in 2021, Bashir had already scored 9 goals in only 21 appearances in his whole international career due to persistent bans and unrest in Pakistani football. He returned in 2022, leading Pakistan in friendlies and tournaments.

Club career

B.93

Bashir made his senior football debut for B.93 Copenhaguen in the

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division () is a professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Football Association (Danish FA; DBU) as part of the nation-wide Da ...

in the 2006–07 season, having previously played for the team's youth academy.

Køge

He spent one season in B.93, before moving to

in the 2007 summer transfer window. Bashir was the top scorer and top assist maker the first half of the season, until eventually running into a groin injury for almost one year.

Brønshøj & Svendborg

After a brief stint at

Brønshøj Boldklub Brønshøj BK, full name Brønshøj Boldklub, is a Danish football club located in the outskirts of Copenhagen. The club was founded on 15 May 1919. History Early years Brønshøj BK's first decades were spent in local leagues in the Copenha ...

, Bashir joined

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,616 (1 January 2025), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city. Bashir along with partner striker Rasmussen accounted for 14 of FC Svendborg's 24 goals in the autumn's 2nd division.

Fyn

In 2010 winter window, Bashir moved to FC Fyn in Danish 1st Division, after starting his studies in nearby city

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

far away from his hometown Copenhagen. In June 2010, Bashir decided to terminate the contract voluntarily with the club briefly after.

HIK

After getting his studies transferred to Copenhagen again, Bashir signed for

in Danish 2nd Division. He was the topscorer for the club in 2010–11 season, where he netted 12 goals in 25 games throughout his stay.

Svebølle

In 2011, Bashir joined

Svebølle B&I Svebølle is a railway town, with a population of 2,288 (1 January 2025),Thai Premier League The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

club BBCU for the 2012 season, becoming the second Pakistani footballer to join a Thai football club after

Zesh Rehman Zeshan Rehman (; born 14 October 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently first team development coach at Portsmouth. Born in England, he represented the Pakistan national team. He was the first Brit ...

.He had previously been approached by the club in 2011 before rejecting the offer due to family commitments.

HIK & Nordvest

Bashir returned to

Hellerup Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The most urban part of the district is centred on Strandvejen and is bordered by Østerbro to the south and the Øresund to the east. It compr ...

in 2012, and had a brief stint at Nordvest in 2013.

Fremad Amager

In August 2013, Bashir joined

. In November 2013, Bashir secured a hat-trick for Fremad Amager, leading them to a 7–2 away victory against

Skjold Birkerød Skjold may refer to: Places *Skjold, Bergen, a neighborhood in Bergen municipality in Vestland county, Norway *Skjold, Rogaland, a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway *Skjold (municipality), a former municipality in Rogal ...

in the Danish 2nd division East. Despite being 2–1 down in the 58th minute, Fremad staged a comeback, scoring all goals in the second half. Bashir, coming on as a substitute with 24 minutes left, made a significant impact, scoring in the 64th and 83rd minutes, and completing his hat-trick in injury time. The win elevated Fremad to second place in the division table. In 2015, Bashir stated his willing to rescind his contract with the club to represent the national team, after the difficulty to attend the mandatory 10-day camps, stating “ I would break my contract to play for the country.”

Svebølle return

In 2015, Bashir returned to

Svebølle B&I Svebølle is a railway town, with a population of 2,288 (1 January 2025),Yousuf Butt and

Nabil Aslam Mohammad Nabil Aslam (; born 3 August 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in Denmark, he played for the Pakistan national team. A versatile defender, Aslam primarily played as centre back, although he also ...

Dordoi Bishkek

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, he moved to Dordoi Bishkek in the

, following the departure from the club of fellow national team player Kaleemullah and joining Muhammad Adil.

BSV

In 2016, he had a brief stint at BSV. In February 2016, Bashir scored a hat-trick on his debut with the club in a 7–0 victory against fellow Danish 2nd division side Glostrup.

Later career

After a two-year hiatus, he joined

in 2018. In July 2018, Hassan Bashir joined AB Tårnby. In August 2018, he made his debut against Karlslunde where he scored a goal. Later on he was joined by Pakistan national team fellow Yousuf Butt. In June 2020, when AB Tårnby defeated Karlslunde in the second promotion match, AB Tårnby promoted to

. Bashir moved to the

Denmark Series The Denmark Series () is the fifth tier in the Danish football league system. Teams are divided into four groups of ten. The top team in each following promotion group is promoted to the Danish 3rd Division. The bottom three teams in each group ...

club Ishøj IF on 18 March 2021. He moved to Tårnby FF in 2023. He played in the second half of 2023 for his former club, Ishøj IF, but left the club again at the end of the year. In January 2024, Bashir moved to VB 1968 along with club and national team compatriot Yousuf Butt. On 24 July 2024, the

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

handle of Brøndby Strand IK, another lower-division Danish club announced the signing of Bashir. Bashir cited his son, who also played in the club, as one of the reasons he joined the team.

International career

2011–2013: Rise to prominence

In early 2011, Bashir declared his intention to play for

. In August 2011, he was called to the training camp with Pakistan for a two-match friendly series against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

played in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he impressed the national team manager Tariq Lutfi. However, the tournament, to be held in Britain, was cancelled just a day before the team's departure for London. He was again called a year later in 2012 by then Pakistan coach Zaviša Milosavljević. On 19 November 2012, Bashir made his international debut for

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

in the eventual 0–4 defeat. On 6 February 2013, he scored his first goal in his second match for Pakistan, in the 90th minute in a 1–0 victory over

, and later provided the assist for Muhammad Mujahid's winning goal in the second friendly game against Nepal. At the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification after missing the second game being sidelined with injury against hosts

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

, he scored his first penalty goal against

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

at the 44th minute, as

won the match by 2–0. He scored again against Nepal in the

2013 SAFF Championship The 2013 South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly referred to as 2013 SAFF Championship, was the 10th SAFF Championship for List of men's national association football teams#AFC (Asia), men's national football teams organized by the ...

in the eventual 1–1 draw. At the end of the year despite facing criticism from local coaches against overseas national team players, Bashir was arguably declared Pakistan's best performer in the 2013 calendar year.

2015–2019: Captaincy and suspensions

In 2015, Bashir was appointed captain of the national team for the one-off friendly against

. On February 6, 2015, Bashir provided two assists against Afghanistan as Pakistan won the match 2–1. On March 12, 2015, Bashir scored his first goal in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers against

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

in the first leg from the penalty spot in the 66th minute as Pakistan lost the match by 1–3. Bashir missed international exposure for the next 3 years, as Pakistan was suspended from all football activities by FIFA on 10 October 2017. For three years since March 2015, Pakistan remained suspended from any international competition because of the crisis created inside the Pakistan Football Federation. Bashir along with other national team players meanwhile participated with Pakistan during local

Leisure Leagues Leisure Leagues is an franchise of five-a-side football, five and six-a-side football leagues primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. As of April 2017, the Leisure Leagues network had more than 3,000 leagues in the UK alone, ...

exhibitions matches involving Brazilian star

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or left winger. Widely reg ...

and

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; born 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach, former player and co-owner of Salford City. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best wingers in the history of footba ...

in 2017. On September 4, 2018, Bashir scored Pakistan's first international goal from the penalty spot when his national side returned to international circuit after 3 years against Nepal in a 2–1 win in the

. He also had scored country's last goal 3 years back against Yemen which was also from the penalty spot. On September 8, 2018, Bashir scored the opener against Bhutan in a 3–0 win which was Pakistan's last game of the group stage and Pakistan sealed its place in the semi-finals. He terminated the campaign finishing as joint top scorer of the tournament along with Manvir Singh with 3 goals. On November 16, 2018, Bashir scored another goal for Pakistan at the 16th minute in a friendly against Palestine in a 1–2 loss. The goal would make him end the year with 4 goals in 5 matches. In June 2019, he scored the opener against

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, in the eventual loss by 1–2.

2022–2023: Decline and last years

Pakistan were once again suspended from all football activities by FIFA on 7 April 2021. During that time, Bashir had already scored 9 goals for Pakistan in only 21 appearances in his whole international career due to persistent bans and unrest in Pakistani football. The suspension was lifted on 29 June 2022. In November the same year at the age of 35, he was included in Pakistan's squad as captain for a friendly against

, Pakistan's first fixture in nearly three-and-a-half years because of the

Pakistan Football Federation The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the national governing body of association football in Football in Pakistan, Pakistan. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of Association football, football, and affiliated to the A ...

's suspension by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. He made an appearance in the match as starter in the eventual 0–1 loss. He played a second friendly match against

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

in March 2023 again losing 0–1. He subsequently took part in the

2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup The 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup was a exhibition match, friendly international association football tournament organized and controlled by Mauritius Football Association (MFA) and was played from 11 to 18 June 2023 at Saint Pierre, Mauritius ...

featuring

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

and the

2023 SAFF Championship The 2023 SAFF Championship (known as the 2023 Bangabandhu SAFF Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organised by South Asian Foo ...

alongside

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

in the group stages, losing all six matches and finishing last in the group in each competition. He was dropped from the preliminary squad for the

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

Personal life

Born into a Pakistani family in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Bashir has seven brothers and one sister. His family originates from the city of Gujrat in Pakistan. His father immigrated to Denmark at the age of 25, due to rising tensions in Pakistan during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Bashir also went to school with Yousuf Butt and Yaqoob Butt in Denmark, who eventually played alongside him in the national team. Bashir has cited

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

as his favourite club, and has described

Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit for ...

and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as his inspiration. He is a practising

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and can fluently speak Danish, English, Punjabi,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and some

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. After receiving an injury during his football stint in Thailand in 2012 with BBCU, and subsequently having to drop down to the lower divisions of Denmark, Bashir started working as

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

er while training three of four times a week.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Pakistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bashir goal.''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bashir, Hassan 1987 births Living people Footballers from Copenhagen Pakistani men's footballers Pakistani expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Pakistan men's international footballers Fremad Amager players Danish people of Pakistani descent Expatriate men's footballers in Kyrgyzstan FC Dordoi Bishkek players Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in Kyrgyzstan FC Nordsjælland players Køge Boldklub players Brønshøj Boldklub players FC Fyn players Hellerup IK players Hassan Bashir FC Rudersdal players Hassan Bashir Danish 2nd Division players Danish 1st Division players Holbæk B&I players AB Tårnby players Denmark Series players Ishøj IF players Tårnby FF players VB 1968 players Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Danish expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Danish expatriate sportspeople in Kyrgyzstan Danish men's footballers Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in Thailand 21st-century Danish sportsmen 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen