Mohammad Abdul Halim is a Bangladeshi former

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 striker for the Bangladesh national team from 1976 to 1979. He scored three goals during the 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, and helped Bangladesh qualify for the main tournament for the first time ever. Halim was the joint–top goal scorer in the 1976 First Division League season while playing for PWD SC, however, he did not play for Bangladesh's big teams, spending majority of his club career in the top tier with Rahmatganj MFS.

Early life

In his school years, Halim immersed himself in athletics, taking part in a multitude of high jump and marathon inter-school competitions.

Club career

Halim's Dhaka career started with Holden XI in 1974. The following year, he played for the Fire Service in the Dhaka Second Division. In 1976, Halim got a chance to play top level of football in Dhaka, the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. He joined office team PWD SC and became the joint–top goal scorer in the league with 13 goals alongside

Hafizuddin Ahmed Hafizuddin Ahmed is a politician of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and a retired Bangladesh Army major, and a six-term Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Bhola-3 constituency. He fought in the Bangladesh War of Independence and was awar ...

of Mohammedan SC. That year, Halim outscored established strikers Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu, Abdul Gaffar and Enayetur Rahman. Halim went onto join fellow league minnows

Rahmatganj MFS Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society (Bengali language, Bengali : রহমতগঞ্জ মুসলিম ফ্রেন্ডস সোসাইটি) is a Bangladeshi professional association football, football club based in Old Dhaka. Found ...

International career

Being the league's joint–top scorer, Halim was called up to the Bangladesh national team and went on to participate in the

1976 King Cup The 1976 King Cup was the 18th season of the knockout competition since its establishment in 1956. Al-Nassr were the defending champions and successfully defended the title, winning their second one in a row. The final saw Al-Nassr beat Al-Ahli ...

. Halim, who played in the

1977 AFC Youth Championship The 1977 AFC Youth Championship was held between April 15 and April 28 in Iran. It was won by Iraq 4-3 over Iran in Aryamehr Stadium in Tehran in front of 100,000 spectators. Both teams qualified for 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship. Teams The ...

, was on standby for the

1978 AFC Youth Championship The 1978 AFC Youth Championship was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 5 October to 28 October 1978. It also served as qualification for the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. Teams * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Venue Group stage Gr ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

but didn't make the final list. Halim's start with the senior national team was promising. In 1979, Halim scored a brace against Afghanistan in the qualifying round of the Asian Cup in Dhaka, after Bangladesh fell two goals behind in the first half. He helped Bangladesh qualify for the

1980 AFC Asian Cup The 1980 AFC Asian Cup was the 7th 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 hosted by Kuwait between 15 and 30 S ...

as he scored during a 3–2 win against Afghanistan during their third qualifying match in Dhaka. However, Halim's international career came to an early end due to a knee injury.

Personal life

Born in

Ishwarganj Upazila Ishwarganj () is an administrative area in north-eastern Bangladesh. It is an upazila in Mymensingh District. History Bhulsoma Mosque was established in 1600, and the Naluapara Mosque in 1625. In 1936, Pitalganj was established as a thana. It was ...

of the

Mymensingh District Mymensingh District () is a district in Mymensingh Division Bangladesh, and is bordered in the north by Meghalaya, India and the Garo Hills, in the south by Gazipur District, in the east by the districts of Netrokona and Kishoreganj and in ...

, Halim has two sons, who were also former football players and played in the

Dhaka Third Division Football League Dhaka Third Division Football League (), officially known as Bashundhara Group Third Division (U-17) Football League due to sponsorship reasons and change of format, is the fifth-tier association football, football league in Bangladesh, as well a ...

. After retiring from playing professional football, Halim joined the coaching profession, but did not stick with it for too long. In February 2022, Halim informed media that he has been suffering from a heart disease for a long time and his physical condition is gradually deteriorating. Along with that, Halim's previous knee injury from his playing days had still not gone away. He also informed that he is unable to get better treatment due to lack of money. Halim's elder brother, Abdur Razzak, a footballer who played in the

in the 70s, died on 23 October 2023.

International goals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halim, Mohammad Abdul Year of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) People from Mymensingh District Bangladeshi men's footballers Bangladesh men's youth international footballers Bangladesh men's international footballers Rahmatganj MFS players Brothers Union players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Mymensingh Division Living people 20th-century Bangladeshi sportsmen