Syed Abdullah Shah (born 6 February 2001) is a Pakistani professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Afghanistan Champions League club

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and the Pakistan national team.

Club career

Early career

Shah started his youth career with

Mehran FC Mehran Football Club is a Pakistani football club based in Islamabad. It last competed in the PFF League. History The club was founded in 1980. In 2003, the club participated in the Islamabad Football Association league. In 2004, the club ...

in 2013, and was selected by the Islamabad under-14 team for youth national championships after trials. In May 2017, Shah was shortlisted in the

Islamabad Football Association The Islamabad Football Association (IFA) is the regional governing body of :association football and futsal in Islamabad, Pakistan. Its headquarters are located in Jinnah Sports Stadium. IFA is responsible for the organization and governance ...

squad for their tour in Gothia Cup held in

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

while playing for Mehran. In August 2017, he captained the Islamabad team in the Gothia Cup, where he scored a goal in a 12–0 win against ''Rising Sun Soccer Academy'' from India. The team were crowned champions after defeating ''FC Zhaoqing Lixun'' from China by 7–6 in the penalties. Shah was also named player of the tournament.

POPO FC

Abdullah then moved to

POPO FC Popo Football Club is a Pakistani professional football club based in Islamabad, Pakistan. It has under-21 and under-16 teams. History PFF era Popo made its PFF debut in the 2020 PFF National Challenge Cup. They shockingly defeated STM in t ...

, playing often as a right-back, and becoming a regular call up for the senior squad at the age of 16. He was subsequently called by Pakistan Premier League department Khan Research Laboratories in November 2017, but the move seemingly failed to materialise.

Mehran

In 2018, Shah returned to his youth club

Sui Southern Gas

Shah joined the departmental side Sui Southern Gas in 2021. He made 4 appearances in the

2021–22 Pakistan Premier League 2021 Pakistan Premier League (2021 PPL) is the 62nd season of Pakistani domestic football and the 13th season of Pakistan Premier League. Suspension On 27 March 2021, the PFF's office was attacked by its former president, Syed Ashfaq Hussain S ...

until the league was cancelled shortly after starting. Following the cancellation of the league, Shah returned to Mehran.

Dhivehi Sifainge

In July 2022, he joined Dhivehi Sifainge in the Maldivian Second Division, becoming the second youngest Pakistani footballer to feature in a Maldivian League at the age of 21, after Saadullah Khan who had previously joined Dhivehi Premier League club BG Sports in April 2015 at the age of 20.

Abu Muslim

On 2 February 2024, Shah signed for Afghanistan Champions League club

, joining national team fellow Shayak Dost.

International career

In 2015, Shah represented Pakistan at youth level in the AFC Under-14 Football Festival in Dushanbe. In August 2022, Shah was called up for a trials with the senior national team. In November the same year, he was included in Pakistan's squad for a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against Nepal, Pakistan's first fixture in nearly three-and-a-half years because of the Pakistan Football Federation's suspension by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

. He went on to make his debut in the eventual 0–1 defeat. In October 2023 he represented Pakistan U23 in AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

Futsal career

Alongside his football career, Shah also played futsal at club level. In July 2017, Shah participated in the Neymar Jr’s 5 tournament with

Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...

futsal club Highlanders FC in Brazil. Shah started playing for ''Team Eighteen'' in Islamabad since the establishment of the club in 2018. He also played for the futsal section of Abdul FC during his stay at the club from 2020 to 2021.

Career statistics

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Abdullah Living people 2001 births Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Pakistani men's futsal players Men's association football defenders Pakistan men's youth international footballers Footballers from Islamabad Mehran FC players POPO FC players SSGC FC players Pakistani expatriate men's footballers Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in the Maldives Expatriate men's footballers in the Maldives Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in Afghanistan