Rahmat Akbari (born 20 June 2000) is an

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

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

central 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 Queensland National Premier Leagues side Gold Coast Knights and the

Afghanistan national football team The Afghanistan national football team represents Afghanistan in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Afghanistan Football Federation. History Early history The Afghanistan Football Federation was est ...

Club career

Brisbane Roar

On 6 October 2017, Akbari made his professional debut in the opening round of the 2017–18 season, replacing Nicholas D'Agostino in the 83rd minute as

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

were beaten 2–0 by Melbourne City at

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...

Melbourne Victory

Akbari joined

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

on a one-year loan in October 2018. He made his Victory debut on 11 November 2018, replacing

James Troisi James Troisi ( ; born 3 July 1988) is a former Australian professional Association football, soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder or Winger (association football), winger. Early life Troisi was born in Rose Park, South Australia, ...

in the 89th minute as they demolished the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

4–1 at home.

Return to Brisbane Roar

On 4 June 2019, it was announced that Akbari had returned to Brisbane following the completion of his contract.

Torpedo Kutaisi

On 28 June 2023, Georgian top-flight club

Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi ( Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი ტორპედო ქუთაისი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. The team competes in the Erovnuli ...

announced it had signed Akbari on a 1.5-year contract.

Gold Coast Knights

National Premier Leagues Queensland The National Premier League Queensland (NPL Queensland or NPL QLD) is the top tier state-level soccer competition in the Australian state of Queensland. The conference, run by Football Queensland, is a sub division of the National Premier Leagues ...

side Gold Coast Knights announced Akbari's signing on February 14, 2025.

International career

Due to his Afghan heritage, Akbari is available to represent

. On 7 March 2022, he reportedly accepted a call-up for

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 ...

to play in two hybrid friendly matches. Akbari was called up to the Afghan side to play

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 ...

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 ...

in September 2023. He made his debut in their 1–1 draw against Bangladesh at the Bashundhara Kings Arena on 7 September.

Personal life

Born in Jaghori,

to an ethnic Hazara family, Akbari was raised in Pakistan for the first five years of his life, before his family migrated to south-east Queensland as refugees in 2005. Coming to Australia and playing football with his brothers at the local park. He ended up discovering football at the age of 8. This is where he first played for Beenleigh Lions. He eventually moved onto Logan Lightning and he played with them for several years before joining the Brisbane Strikers

Career statistics

*''Note - also played for the Brisbane Roar NPL side in 2017 and 2018 seasons however the statistics can no longer be found on the competition website.''

International goals

Honours

Australia U17 *

AFF U-16 Youth Championship The ASEAN U-16 Boys' Championship (formerly AFF U-16 Youth Championship) is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and occasionally invited nations from ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* Torpedo Kutaisi * Georgian Super Cup:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akbari, Rahmat 2000 births Living people People from Ghazni Province Afghan men's footballers Afghanistan men's international footballers Australian men's soccer players Afghan emigrants to Australia Hazara sportspeople Australian people of Hazara descent Australian people of Afghan descent Naturalised soccer players of Australia Afghan expatriates in Pakistan Men's association football midfielders Sportspeople of Afghan descent A-League Men players National Premier Leagues players Erovnuli Liga players Logan Lightning FC players Brisbane Strikers FC players Brisbane Roar FC players Melbourne Victory FC players FC Torpedo Kutaisi players Afghan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in Georgia (country) Afghan expatriate sportspeople in Australia Afghan expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country) 21st-century Australian sportsmen