Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan (; born 18 February 1988) is a retired

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

i international

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 played as a winger. He was named the Asian Player of the Year in 2006, becoming the first Qatari to win the title. He played for Al Arabi at youth level before moving to

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

in 2004 on a professional contract. His father, Ibrahim Khalfan, is a former footballer who played for Al Arabi and the Qatar national team. He is sometimes dubbed as the " Maradona of Qatar" and is also nicknamed "Khalfaninho" by his supporters in reference to

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 ...

Club career

Al Sadd

Early career

Khalfan started out with Al-Arabi (his father's club) and was signed by Al-Sadd in 2004. He assimilated into Al Sadd's first team at the age of 17 in March 2005, under head coach Doru Isac scoring against Al-Shamal.

2005–06

2005–06 was a significantly improved season for him when he scored goals in the Qatar League,

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup () was the oldest Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. History The cup was the oldest and first domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia; the first edition was held in 1956–57; five editions were played betwe ...

and

Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious cl ...

2006–07

His performance in 2006–07 played a part in achieving the Asian Player of The Year title. He scored 5 goals in Al Sadd's start to the league campaign and then was a crucial member of the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

gold medal-winning Qatar team. However, in an Olympic qualifying match against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

in February 2007, he got himself injured and was laid-off for more than one year, missing most of Al Sadd's season.

2007–08

He wasn't able to play in the 2007–08 league season due to injury as

Al-Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Ar Rayyan, Al Rayyan municipality. The club is best known for its association football, football team, although it also has teams for other sports. The ...

overtook Al-Sadd for the title.

2008–09

He returned from injury in the revamped 2008–09 season. He scored 8 goals in Al-Sadd's first 6 games.

2010–11

Khalfan won the

2011 AFC Champions League The 2011 AFC Champions League was the 30th edition of the top-level Asian club association football, football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 9th under the current AFC Champions League title. The winners, ...

with Al Sadd. Khalfan delivered an inspired performance against

Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...

in the semi-final second leg to keep the club's hopes alive. He featured in the final against

Jeonbuk North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of South Chungcheong to the north, North Gyeong ...

which was won 4–2 on penalties. He assisted Keita by providing an accurate cross which Keita volleyed into the net, as well as forcing a Jeonbuk defender to head the ball into his own net on the earlier goal. The Koreans scored a late equalizer to make it 2–2, causing the game to go to extra-time and eventually penalties. His performance in the AFC Champions League earned him offers from other clubs, including a contract from Saudi club

Al Nassr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

, however it was announced by the Al Sadd management that they would only take offers from the club in the summer transfer window, as they needed Khalfan to play in the

2011 FIFA Club World Cup The 2011 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2011 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2011. It was the eighth edition of the FIFA Club Worl ...

. Al Sadd's Asian triumph took them to Japan for the Club World Cup where Khalfan featured and scored against the African champions Esperance in their first match.

Abdul Kader Keita Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; , ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, meaning "the"). It ...

's shot from a tight angle was only parried to the far post by Moez Ben Cherifia. Khalfan then reacted the fastest to nod home on the goal-line. The match, which proved to be an ill-tempered affair, was won 2–1. It was capped off with Esperance fans throwing projectiles onto the field and attempting to get past the security barricade. During this time, Khalfan accumulated 2 red cards in a row within 2 games in the Qatar Stars League, both in the 89th minute for physical altercations with other players. Al Sadd lost both of the matches in which he was red carded. However, he did not receive any red cards in international competitions.

2011–12

Khalfan finished the

2011–12 Qatar Stars League The 2011–12 Qatar Stars League was the 39th edition of top-level football championship in Qatar. The season started on 1 September 2011 and finished on 13 April 2012. Lekhwiya were the defending champions. Teams Al-Sailiya were relegated to ...

season as the top league scorer for Al Sadd, with 7 goals. He scored a goal in the 2012 Qatar Crown Prince Cup in a 4–2 win over Lekhwiya before getting involved in an altercation with Lekhwiya midfielder

Nam Tae-Hee Nam Tae-hee (; ; born 3 July 1991 in Busan) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays for K League 1 club Jeju SK FC and the South Korea national team. He has also played in England, France, and Qatar. He is a versatile midfielder ...

after the match for unsportsmanlike behavior. He went on to score Al Sadd's only goal against

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

in the final, being named Man of the Match.

2012–13

Khalfan Ibrahim had a solid start to the season, playing a critical role of an attacking trio (with

Mamadou Niang Mamadou Hamidou Niang (born 13 October 1979) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He has represented Senegal at international level, participating in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 African Cup of Nations. He is th ...

and

Raúl González Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...

). They led Al Sadd from a win to another in their first league games, trying to get the club back as Al Sadd had only won 2 domestic competitions and the ACL in the last 5 years after the 2006–07 season in which they won all domestic competitions. After the first 4 games of QSL, Khalfan (with Niang and Raúl) shared the second place on the top scorer table with 3 goals each. Khalfan scored his first hat-trick this season on

Al Sailiya Al Sailiya () is a district of Al Rayyan City in Qatar, located in the municipality of Al Rayyan. Etymology The word "sailiya" is derived from the Arabic term "sayl", which translates as "to flow". It gained this name from the fact that part of ...

game on 22 October, where his team won 4–1 and he was assisted twice by Niang and once by Raúl, recording the second hat-trick scored in the league this season. Khalfan Ibrahim and Mohamed Omar 2011

On 26 April 2013, in a

match against

, he scored an impressive solo goal as he dribbled 60 meters past the entire opposition defense to score a long-range goal. Some news agencies considered it a 'carbon copy' of

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

's goal against England in the 1986 World Cup, and also reminiscent of

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

's 'Maradona goal' in 2007. It was touted as a contender for the best goal of 2013 and has been described as arguably the best goal by all Qatari players in history. His teammate, Raúl, stated he was the best player of the season, comparing him to

. On 19 May, he was named as the QFA Player of the Year, beating off competition from teammate Raúl Gonzalez.

2013–14

Khalfan scored his first goal of the 2013–14 season against Al-Ahli on 20 September. Süper Lig club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

were rumored to be interested in signing Khalfan in the off season to replace

Hugo Almeida Hugo Miguel Pereira de Almeida (born 23 May 1984) is a Portuguese former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-forward. After failing to establish himself at FC Porto, Porto, being loaned several times during his ...

2014–15

On 22 September 2014, he scored his 63rd goal for Al Sadd against Al Shahania in a 3–2 win, surpassing

Carlos Tenorio Carlos Vicente Tenorio Medina (born 14 May 1979) is an Ecuadorian former footballer who last played for Ecuadorian club Atlético Saquisilí. From 2001 to 2009, he played for the Ecuador national team. Club career Tenorio began his club caree ...

's 5-year-old record of 62 goals to become Al Sadd's all-time scorer.

International career

Youth teams

Khalfan first played for Qatar's youth teams, scoring 6 goals in the under-17 Gulf Cup held in 2003, helping Qatar finish runners-up in the process. Qatar finished runner-up and Khalfan finished second in the scorers list with 6 goals. He was part of the Qatar squad which played at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Peru, scoring one goal in the match against the mighty

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He and his young teammates battled their more illustrious opponents to a 2–2 stalemate at halftime but eventually lost out 3–5. It was a performance which caught the eye and contributed greatly to his Asian Player of the Year title. In the same year he played in the

West Asian Games The West Asian Games (abbreviated as the WAG) is a multi-sport event held among the athletes from West Asia. The West Asian Games was first organised in Tehran, Iran and was considered as the first of its kind. The success of the Games led to th ...

. Qatar's campaign was unsuccessful despite Khalfan scoring two goals. In all the above tournaments he played with a number of his teammates who along with him were to become the backbone of Al-Sadd and the senior national team.

Senior team

After his stellar performances at the youth level, he and his teammates broke into the ''Annabis senior team. Their first major triumph was the

title won in front of home fans, with Khalfan scoring 2 goals. He scored two superb goals against Bangladesh in their

Asian Cup 2007 The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For th ...

qualifying match. He then took part in his first

Arabian Gulf Cup The Arabian Gulf Cup (, ''Kaʾs al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī''), also referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial association football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of ...

, where Qatar couldn't defend their title despite Khalfan scoring one goal against Bahrain. In 2008, he played a prominent part in Qatar's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

qualifying campaign scoring against Asia's No 1 side-

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Khalfan took part in Qatar's 2014 World Cup Qualifications which were held from 2011. In a match versus

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, which would be Indonesia's last hopes of qualifying for the World Cup, Khalfan scored an amazing goal from a long way out after dribbling past the defenders. Qatar proved to be too much for Indonesia, eventually winning the game 3–2 in a tightly clinched match. Khalfan also got a brace in the home match against Indonesia in a 4–0 win, thus officially eliminating them from qualifying, and in the process, making him the top scorer for Qatar in the 2014 WCQ. Brazilian legend Zico commented on Khalfan's performance against

, stating "''I saw that (2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match) between Indonesia and Qatar on television, and I saw this wonderful player. He has speed and great dribbling skills. He has the features of a Brazilian player. I am confident that Qatar can produce talented players like Khalfan Ibrahim''".

Career statistics

Club

QSL 2013-14 Stats
/ref>

¹Includes

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup (), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by all first and second division teams in Qatar. The tournament is played in a knockout system, ...

and

Qatar Crown Prince Cup The Qatar Cup (formerly known as Qatar Crown Prince Cup) is a tournament in men's football. It is played by the top 4 teams of the Qatar Stars League after each season. In 2013, the tournament was renamed Qatar Cup. Previous winners All-time ...

²Includes

Qatari Stars Cup The Qatari Stars Cup is a Qatari football competition known as Ooredoo Cup due to sponsorship reasons. The knockout competition, which involves a round-robin structure, was first started in 2009 when the Qatar Stars League structure was amen ...

³Includes

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

⁴Includes

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

and

Sheikh Jassem Cup The Sheikh Jassim Cup () is an annual men's super cup competition in Qatari football held between the winner of the Qatar Stars League and the Emir of Qatar Cup. History The inaugural Sheikh Jassim Cup was held in 1977. Prior to the 2014 Sheik ...

International goals

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

Notable matches

vs.

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

(Asian Cup 2007 Qualifiers) – First International match, scored twice. * Al-Sadd vs

Al-Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

– Scored two breath taking goals in a league match in 2007. *

vs.

(World Cup 2014 Qualifiers) – 3–2 win, scored once and assisted twice.

Honours

Al Sadd *

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Bronze Medalist:

Individual * Asian Player of the Year: 2006 *

Young Player of the Year: 2006 * Best Arab Player: 2007 * Qatar Player of the Year: 2013

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Khalfan 1988 births Living people Footballers from Doha Qatari men's footballers 21st-century Qatari sportsmen Qatar men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Al Sadd SC players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Al-Rayyan SC players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Footballer of the Year winners Qatar Stars League players Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Qatar Asian Games footballers for Qatar Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games AFC Champions League Elite–winning players Asian Games gold medalists in football