Mohammad Nurikhwan bin Othman (born 15 January 1993) is a Bruneian 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 defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for DPMM and the Brunei national team.

Club career

Nurikhwan attended Brunei's

Sports School A sports school () is a type of educational institution for children that originated in the Soviet Union. Sports schools were the basis of the powerful system of physical culture (fitness) and sports education in the USSR and the Eastern Bloc, pa ...

as a youngster and progressed enough to be a regular in the national youth team side that played in the

Brunei Premier League The Brunei Premier League () is the second tier of the football pyramid of Brunei. It was Brunei's top-tier football league until 2012, when the Brunei Super League was created. The Premier League falls under the management of the National Footba ...

II in

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 ...

and

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 ...

. After the creation of the Brunei National Football League (precursor to the

Brunei Super League The Brunei Super League ( abbr: BSL; – LSB) is a professional league for men's association football in the sultanate of Brunei Darussalam. It is at the top tier of the Bruneian football league system, and it is managed by the Football As ...

) by the newly formed NFABD, the young prodigy chose

Indera SC Indera Sports Club (; abbrev: ISC), formerly Kilat FC and Indera Football Association, is a multi-sports club based in Brunei, mostly known for its association football team. History Early years Kilat FC was founded in 1970 by nobleman Pen ...

as his club, becoming league champions in 2012-13 and

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 ...

. Nurikhwan signed for professional side DPMM of the S.League in 2016 and made his debut in a 3–2 loss to

Albirex Niigata (S) , simply known as Albirex Niigata (S), is a football (soccer), football club based in Jurong East, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League. The club is a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of J2 League, Japan. Mostly the team is mad ...

on 13 February. Nurikhwan was converted into a defender by new head coach Adrian Pennock in the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, mirroring his teammate Yura Indera Putera in doing so. On 6 July of that season, in the away game against

Warriors FC Warriors Football Club was a Singaporean professional football club based in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore, that played in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. Before changing their name on 20 January 2013, they ...

, he was shown a straight red for felling

Sahil Suhaimi Mohamad Sahil bin Suhaimi (born 8 July 1992) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a forward or midfielder for Singapore Premier League club Tanjong Pagar United and the Singapore national team. He was best known for outstandi ...

in the penalty box and was adjudged by the referee to have denied the Singaporean a goal-scoring opportunity. This turned the tide to the home side's advantage and the game finished in a 3–3 draw. Nurikhwan became a

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as the SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), wh ...

champion in September 2019 in his first season operating as a centre-back, his club also registering the joint-best defense in the league. Nurikhwan scored his first DPMM goal in the first fixture of the 2021 Brunei Super League against BAKES on 28 June 2021. With his team playing domestically for the third year in a row in 2022, he performed solidly against local opposition at the 2022 Brunei FA Cup, being awarded the Player of the Tournament after the final where his team won 2–1 against Kasuka on 4 December. Nurikhwan missed the entirety of

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

due to injury but returned the next season partnering Yura in central defence after a long-term injury to Patrick Flottmann just two games into the season hampered the team and ultimately cost Rui Capela his job. His replacement

Jamie McAllister James Reynolds McAllister (born 26 April 1978 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former player who played as a defender (association football), defender and currently working as a professional Association football, football coach with Duli Pengiran Muda ...

adapted a 3-5-2 formation in the second half of the season and Nurikhwan performed well alongside Yura and Damir Muminovic as a result. On 3 March 2025, Nurikhwan scored a header against

in a 3–1 win in the

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost prestigious cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

. The following month, he netted his first

goal in a 3–1 victory over

Geylang International Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, that competes in Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 and played their first season ...

on 27 April.

International career

Nurikhwan played with the Brunei Under-21s in the

2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy The 2012 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy was the fourth edition of the invitational tournament hosted by Brunei. The tournament took place in Brunei between 25 February and 5 March 2012. The competition is for players under the age of 22 and is being he ...

when the home side emerged as victors. He played every game and scored in the semi-final against

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. He was made captain for the 2014 edition although his side failed to defend the title. Nurikhwan's full international career began when he played the first half in a friendly against

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, ...

on 26 September 2012. He played for the Wasps in the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

AFF Suzuki Cup The ASEAN Championship (formerly known as the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the ASEAN Hyundai Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the biennial football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) for men's nation ...

qualifying rounds. He was also poised to join the national team for the 2022 World Cup first-round qualifying but declared himself unavailable. Nurikhwan returned to the national team in September 2022 for the friendly matches against the

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 ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. He started the match against the island nation on 21 September which ended in a 0–3 loss. Later that November, he played at centre-back for both legs of the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup qualifying against

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

held in Brunei. The Wasps qualified for the Cup by winning 6–3 on aggregate. The following month, he made three starts 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 ...

the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...

and

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 ...

and managed to score against Cambodia in a 5–1 defeat. After missing the whole of 2023 with injury, Nurikhwan was selected for the national team playing in the 2024 FIFA Series in March 2024. He played two games from the start against

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

in a 2–0 loss and against

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

in a 2–3 victory, scoring the second goal for Brunei in the match. He also made two appearances in central midfield against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

the following June where both games resulted in 1–0 victories to the Wasps. In September 2024, Nurikhwan was selected for the 2027 Asian Cup qualification play-off matches 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 ...

over two legs. He partnered Yura Yunos in central defence for both matches and contributed to a 4–0 aggregate win for the Wasps, enabling their participation to the third round of qualification to the 2027 Asian Cup. The same pairing kept their places at the 2024 ASEAN Championship qualification against

over two legs the following month, but a solitary goal by Gali Freitas that was conceded at home was enough to eliminate them from the competition. There was to be one final sting in 2024 for Nurikhwan as he and the Wasps conceded eleven goals against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in a friendly at

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

on 15 November.

International goals

Honours

Team

;Indera SC *

(2):

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 ...

;DPMM FC *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Brunei FA Cup The Brunei FA Cup is Brunei's premier knockout tournament in men's football. The current format is administered by the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (FABD) since 2012. The championship winner will receive B$10,000 and first runner up ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

International

;Brunei national under-21 football team * Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy:

Individual

* Meritorious Service Medal (PJK; 2012) * 2022 Brunei FA Cup Player of the Tournament

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nur Ikhwan Othman 1993 births Living people Bruneian Muslims Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Bruneian men's footballers Brunei men's international footballers DPMM FC players Indera SC players Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games SEA Games competitors for Brunei Brunei Super League players Singapore Premier League players