Karrar Jaafar
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Karrar Jaafar Gatea (; born 29 July 2006) is an Iraqi 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 as a
left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
for
Iraq Stars League The Iraq Stars League (), is the highest level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Iraqi Premier Division League. It is governed by the Iraqi Pro League Associa ...
side
Al-Minaa Al-Mina'a Sports Club () is an Iraqi multi-sport club based in Al-Maqal, Basra that participates in the Iraq Stars League, the top tier of Iraqi football. It is one of the most popular clubs in Iraq, particularly in the south, and became the ...
.


Club career


Early career

Jaafar started playing football at the Al-Minaa Academy, and won with Al-Minaa U19 team, the Iraqi Youth Premier League in 2022.


2022–2023: Debut season and Division 1 League win

In September 2022, he was promoted to play with the club's first team, and they won the
Iraqi Premier Division League The Iraqi Premier Division League () is the second-highest division of the Iraqi football league system after the Iraq Stars League. The league is contested by 20 clubs and is operated by the Iraq Football Association (IFA). Each season, the two ...
and gained promotion to the
Iraq Stars League The Iraq Stars League (), is the highest level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Iraqi Premier Division League. It is governed by the Iraqi Pro League Associa ...
. He scored five goals, scoring against Al-Jolan, Al-Hussein,
Afak Afak () is a town in Al-Qadisiyah Governorate, Iraq. It is located 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Al Diwaniyah and 170 km (105 mi) south of Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, larg ...
, Al-Samawa and
Al-Shirqat Al-Shirqat is a town west of the Tigris in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, located 294 kilometres (183 mi) northwest of Baghdad. It is the main town of the Al-Shirqat District, and is near the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Assur. History ...
.


2023–present: Joint-top scorer

In August 2023, his contract with Al-Minaa was renewed and he played in the starting lineup regularly in the Iraqi Stars League, He was Al-Minaa's top scorer that season, scoring 8 goals, scoring against Al-Najaf,
Al-Hudood Al-Hedod Sports Club () is an Iraqi professional sports club based in Falastin Street, East Districts of the Tigris River, Baghdad. It has teams in various sports including football, basketball, Jujutsu, kickboxing and wrestling. The best known ...
,
Al-Zawraa Al-Zawra'a Sports Club () is an Iraqi professional sports club based in Utayfia, Karkh District (near Tigris River), Baghdad. Their football team competes in the Iraq Stars League, the top-flight of Iraqi football. Al-Zawra'a have won the most ...
,
Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...
,
Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo (, , , , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region, at the centre of the Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing. Zakho is known for its celebrations of Newr ...
,
Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...
, Naft Maysan, and
Dohuk Duhok (; ; , ) is a city in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is the Capital (political), capital city of Duhok Governorate. Name The city of Duhok received its name from the Kurdish languages, Kurdish words ’du’ (two) and ’hok’ (lump) as a ...
. His rocket goal against Al-Najaf goalkeeper Sarhang Muhsin was considered a strange phenomenon in the league, as it was the goal of the youngest player in the league (16 years old) against the oldest goalkeeper in the league (37 years old). In August 2024, his contract with Al-Minaa was renewed for an additional season. He did not play much in the 2024–25 season, as the club allowed him to participate in the
AFC U-20 Asian Cup The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...
in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
after initially refusing to allow him. However, after the championship ended, he returned to participate in several matches, and on March 7, 2025, he scored the winning goal against
Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...
in the away match.


International career

Jaafar was first picked to represent Iraq in 2022, when the under-17 coach
Ahmed Kadhim Ahmed Kadhim Assad (; born on 1 July 1976) is an Iraqi professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Iraq's under-17 side. International career He was used in a three-man defensive line-up by coach Najih Humoud ...
selected him to be a part of his 23-man squad to play in
2022 Arab Cup U-17 The 2022 Arab Cup U-17 is the fourth edition of the Arab Cup U-17, an association football tournament between Arab countries. It will be played from 23 August to 8 September 2022 in Algeria in Oran which represent the administrative organization ...
. In his first match, he scored the best goal in the tournament against
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. He was also part of the squad for the
2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualification The 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualification was an international men's under-17 association football, football competition which was held to decide the participating teams of the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup. It was held as under-17 tournament for the fir ...
. He was also selected by the coach
Emad Mohammed Emad Mohammed Ridha (, born 24 July 1982) is a coach and former Iraqi football (soccer), football striker, currently managing Iraq national under-20 football team, Iraq U20. Club career On 25 June 2007, Emad renewed his contract with Sepahan S. ...
to be part of the 26-man Iraq U20 squad to play in the
2024 WAFF U-19 Championship The 2024 WAFF U-19 Championship, also known as 2024 Al-Dyar Al-Arbiya WAFF U-19 Championship () for sponsorship reasons, was the third edition of the WAFF U-18 Championship, WAFF U-19 Championship, the international youth association football, fo ...
. He was also named in the
2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification The 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification was an international men's under-20 football competition which was held to decide the participating teams of the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup. Draw 45 out of 47 AFC member associations entered the competitio ...
in
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
and played the first match against
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
and scored two goals, provided two assists and caused a penalty in this match. He also scored the winner against
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
in the final round match, helping his team qualify for the
2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup The 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup was the 42nd edition of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Footb ...
in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.


Honours

Al-Minaa *
Iraqi Premier Division League The Iraqi Premier Division League () is the second-highest division of the Iraqi football league system after the Iraq Stars League. The league is contested by 20 clubs and is operated by the Iraq Football Association (IFA). Each season, the two ...
:
2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...


References


External links


Karrar Jaafar
at Footballcritic * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaafar, Karrar 2006 births Living people Footballers from Basra Iraqi men's footballers 21st-century Iraqi sportsmen Men's association football wingers Iraq men's youth international footballers Iraq Stars League players Al-Minaa SC players