Walid Bahij Ismail (; born 10 November 1984) is a Lebanese former 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 played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Ismail began his career in Lebanon at Islah Borj Shmali, before playing for

Racing Beirut Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the ...

and then

Nejmeh Nejmeh Sporting Club () is a football club based in Manara, a neighbourhood in Ras Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . The club was established in Beirut in 1945, and received its license in 1947. Nejmeh have won nine Lebanese Pre ...

, with whom he won the 2013–14 league title. In 2014 he moved to Zob Ahan in Iran, winning two consecutive

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (, ) formerly known as Pahlavi Cup () is an Iranian knockout football competition held annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Football League, Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, h ...

titles—in 2014–15 and 2015–16. Ismail returned to Lebanon in 2016, playing for Safa,

Salam Zgharta Salam Zgharta Football Club (), known as Salam Zgharta or simply Salam, is a football club based in Zgharta, Lebanon, that competes in the . Founded in 1933 as Salam Achrafieh, the club was renamed Salam Zgharta in 1971; their supporters are ...

, Bourj and

Sagesse ''Sagesse'' () is a volume of French poetry by Paul Verlaine. First published in 1881 (see 1880), it was important in the symbolist and modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emph ...

. He is one of his country's most

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

players, having represented

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

internationally 68 times between 2010 and 2019. Ismail participated at the

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 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, and 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifications, and the

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 ...

and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifications. He also played at the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup (or commonly called the Asian Cup 2019) was the 17th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international association football, football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ...

, in Lebanon's first participation through qualification.

Club career

Starting his career at Islah Borj Shmali in the

Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division () is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate in the league play each other twice, once at home and once awa ...

, Ismail played for

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...

side

, before moving to

in 2013 where he won one league title, one

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

, one Elite Cup and helped them reach the round of 16 of the

2013 AFC Cup The 2013 AFC Cup was the tenth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia. In an all-Kuwait final, defending champions Al-Kuwait defeated Al- ...

. In 2014, he moved to Iranian club Zob Ahan with whom he won two Hazfi Cups and played in the

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 ...

. In 2016 he returned to Lebanon at Safa, where he spent two seasons, before joining

in 2018. On 3 June 2019, Ismail joined newly promoted side Bourj. Ismail moved to newly-promoted side

on 12 June 2021, on a one-year deal. He left the club on 13 July 2022.

International career

Ismail represented

at the

. On 21 January 2019, Ismail announced his retirement from international football.

Playing style

While not a fast

, Ismail is known for his calmness and experience on the field.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ismail goal''.

Honours

Nejmeh *

: 2013–14 Zob Ahan *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Individual *

Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season The Al-Manar Football Festival () was an event organised by the Al-Manar television station between the 1996–97 and 2018–19 seasons in order to award players, managers, referees and teams who were considered to have performed the best over ...

: 2012–13, 2013–14

References

External links

*
Walid Ismail
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ismail, Walid 1984 births Living people Footballers from Beirut Lebanese men's footballers 21st-century Lebanese sportsmen Men's association football fullbacks Islah Borj Al Shmali Club players Racing Club Beirut players Nejmeh SC players Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C. players Safa SC players Salam Zgharta FC players Bourj FC players Sagesse SC (football) players Lebanese Second Division players Lebanese Premier League players Persian Gulf Pro League players Lebanon men's international footballers 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Lebanese expatriate men's footballers Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate men's footballers in Iran