Yousuf Ijaz Butt (; born 18 October 1989) is a 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Denmark Series The Denmark Series () is the fifth tier in the Danish football league system. Teams are divided into four groups of ten. The top team in each following promotion group is promoted to the Danish 3rd Division. The bottom three teams in each group ...

club

Karlslunde IF Karlslunde IF is a Danish association football club from Karlslunde, Greve Municipality. The football team is part of a sports club with approximately 900 members, and departments for badminton, table tennis, gymnastics, and shooting sports, a ...

. Born in Denmark, he plays for the Pakistan national team. Butt has played over 400 games in the

Danish football league system The Danish football league system, also known as the football league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league structure for association football in Denmark, in which all divisions are bound together by the principle of promotio ...

, and is considered one of the best South Asian goalkeepers of the 2010s.

Club career

Hellerup

Butt started his career at

Hellerup IK Hellerup IK or HIK is a Danish sport club from Hellerup. Their football team currently plays in the Danish 2nd Division, the third tier of the Danish football league system. HIK consists also of a handball and a tennis Tennis is a List of ...

joining the club at the age of 14. He made his senior debut in

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 ...

in the

Danish 1st division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...

at the age of 18.

BK Skjold

Afterwards, Butt joined the 2nd division club

BK Skjold Boldklubben Skjold af 1915 is a Danish football club based in Østerbro, Copenhagen. Founded in 1915, the club has over 1,400 members making it one of Denmark's biggest football clubs in terms of membership. BK Skjold's teams use either Fælledpa ...

in 2010, helping the club avoid the relegation, playing 17 games in the season. He played for

Skjold Birkerød Skjold may refer to: Places *Skjold, Bergen, a neighborhood in Bergen municipality in Vestland county, Norway *Skjold, Rogaland, a village in Vindafjord municipality in Rogaland county, Norway *Skjold (municipality), a former municipality in Rogal ...

the following season.

Glostrup Albertslund

Butt was then brought into 2nd division side BK Glostrup Albertslund where he eventually became the club captain.

Brønshøj

In August 2014, Butt signed with 1st division club

Brønshøj Boldklub Brønshøj BK, full name Brønshøj Boldklub, is a Danish football club located in the outskirts of Copenhagen. The club was founded on 15 May 1919. History Early years Brønshøj BK's first decades were spent in local leagues in the Copenha ...

on a 6-month contract. He played one match for the club in the DBU Cup, winning 9–1 away against Blovstrød.

Svebølle

Butt later moved to 2nd division club

Svebølle B&I Svebølle is a railway town, with a population of 2,288 (1 January 2025),Brønshøj Brønshøj, part of the municipality of Copenhagen, forms, together with Husum, the administrative city district (''bydel'') of Brønshøj-Husum, in Denmark. History The first mention of the village Brønshøj (Brunshoga), is in a letter dated ...

the next season.

Fredensborg & Herlev

In 2017 after a short stint at Fredensborg BI, Butt signed for

Herlev IF Herlev Idrætsforening – Fodbold, also known as Herlev IF or HI-Fodbold, is a Danish football club located in the northwestern Copenhagen suburb, Herlev. The club is a member of the local association DBU Zealand under the Danish Football Associ ...

Greve Fodbold

In 2018, Butt moved to

Greve Fodbold Greve Fodbold is a Danish football club currently playing in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of Danish football. The club have played the entirety of their existence in the lower divisions and spent one season in the second tier in 1980. They ...

, where he was joined by national team fellow

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

AB Tårnby

In 2018, Butt moved to

AB Tårnby Amager Boldklub Tårnby (; commonly known as AB Tårnby) is an association football club based in the town of Tårnby, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark, that competes in the Denmark Series, the fifth tier of the Danish football league system. ...

with fellow national team striker

Hassan Bashir Hassan Naweed Bashir (; born 7 January 1987) is a professional footballer who plays for Brøndby Strand IK. Bashir has played much of his career as a forward, but has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an offensive midfielde ...

Ishøj

Butt moved to the

club

Ishøj IF Ishøj IF is a football club from Ishøj, Denmark. The club was founded in 2017. Its first squad plays in the Danish 3rd Division. The club has more than 1,000 members. Ishøj IF started its existence in the Zealand Series in 2017. The club was ...

in 2021. He played for Ishøj as key player and promoted with the club to

Danish 3rd Division The 3rd Division () is the fourth tier of the Danish football league system since the 2021–22 season. It is the semi-professional association football league for men. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Football A ...

in the same season. In January 2024, Ishøj announced the departure of eight players including Butt.

Tårnby FF

Following his departure, Butt moved to

club Tårnby FF in the summer of 2024.

Karlslunde IF

In the winter window of 2025, Butt moved to Denmark Series club

Karlslunde Karlslunde is a suburb 25 km (16 mi) south-west of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The suburb is a part of Greve municipality. Karlslunde is generally divided into Karlslunde Landsby and Karlslunde Strand split by Karlslunde Landevej (Taastr ...

International career

Youth

Butt was first called up to represent the Pakistan national under-23 team in January 2011 for the 2012 Summer Olympics qualifiers under

Tariq Lutfi Umar Farooq Tariq Lutfi (born 20 September 1951) is a Pakistani football coach and former midfielder. Lutfi has the distinction of being the first-ever FIFA Coaching Instructor from South Asia, and has been described as one of the most experience ...

. He had previously been called up for the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

, but was stopped by the

Pakistan Football Federation The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the national governing body of association football in Football in Pakistan, Pakistan. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of Association football, football, and affiliated to the A ...

due to alleged late document submission to the

Pakistan Olympic Association Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), also known as the National Olympic Committee of Pakistan (NOC; , acronym: POA), is the national Olympic organization in Pakistan. It was established in 1948 to oversee the active participation of the newly ind ...

. He had bought a non-refundable air ticket and received no compensation from the PFF. He made his debut in the Olympic qualifiers as a starter against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, losing the match 0–2, conceding both goals in the first half, and eventually being replaced by Muhammad Omar in the second half.

Senior

Butt made his senior debut for the national team in November 2012 against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, as a replacement in the second half for the captain Jaffar Khan, who conceded two of the goals in the eventual 0–4 defeat. He played as the main goalkeeper for Pakistan including the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers of 2014, the

2013 SAFF Championship The 2013 South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly referred to as 2013 SAFF Championship, was the 10th SAFF Championship for List of men's national association football teams#AFC (Asia), men's national football teams organized by the ...

, as well as the 2013 Philippine Peace Cup. After being left out for both the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

and 2018 FIFA World Cup's Asian qualifiers 1st round of March 2015, Butt returned after almost 5 years away to be the starting goalkeeper in the

2018 SAFF Championship The 2018 SAFF Championship, also known as the 2018 SAFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 12th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's association football, football championship of South Asia organized by So ...

, where he made the most amount of saves till reaching the semifinals, earning the title of "Safe Hands". He was also called for the Panjab football team in the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup, where he made 2 appearances. After years of inactivity due to the ban on Pakistan Football Federation by FIFA, Butt earned his first cap as captain of the national team in the opening match against

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

at the

2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup The 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup was a exhibition match, friendly international association football tournament organized and controlled by Mauritius Football Association (MFA) and was played from 11 to 18 June 2023 at Saint Pierre, Mauritius ...

. On 17 October 2023, Butt captained Pakistan in his home debut with the national team in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

after 11 years, in a 1–0 win against

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 ...

in the second leg of the first round of the

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

, to be Pakistan's first ever victory in a World Cup qualifying match, which sent them through to the second round by winning 1–0 on aggregate.

Personal life

Butt was born in Denmark to a Kashmiri family of Punjab from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. He also holds Canadian citizenship due to his father, who moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at a young age before shifting to Denmark. Yousuf is the younger brother of Yaqoob Butt, who has also represented Pakistan at the international level. Butt also went to school with

in Denmark, who eventually played alongside him in the national team.

Career statistics

International

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butt, Yousuf 1989 births Living people Footballers from Copenhagen Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Pakistani expatriate men's footballers Danish men's footballers Canadian people of Pakistani descent Danish people of Pakistani descent Men's association football goalkeepers Hellerup IK players Boldklubben Skjold players Brønshøj Boldklub players Fredensborg BI players Greve Fodbold players IF Skjold Birkerød players AB Tårnby players Ishøj IF players Tårnby FF players Herlev IF players 21st-century Danish sportsmen 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen