Ali Ahmed (born October 10, 2000) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a midfielder or left-back for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the Canada national team.

Early life

Ahmed was born in Toronto to Ethiopian parents. In 2018, he went on trial with the Toronto FC Academy, who were ready to sign him to join the academy, but he opted to head to Portugal to trial with the U19 side of

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Rest ...

, but was unable to sign as he was under 18. He then went to Spain, before returning to Toronto, before returning to Europe to trial in Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. In November 2019, he trialed with the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy and then trialed again the following year, and in August 2020, he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy. In 2021, he played with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23. He attended pre-season camp with the first team in 2021 and 2022.

Club career

In March 2022, he signed a professional contract with Whitecaps FC 2 in MLS Next Pro. He made his professional debut on March 26 against

Houston Dynamo 2 Houston Dynamo 2 is an American professional soccer team that is located in Houston, Texas. It is the reserve team of Houston Dynamo FC and participates in MLS Next Pro. History On December 6, 2021, Houston Dynamo FC were named as one of 21 c ...

. He led the team in assists with five in 2022. He was named the 2022 WFC2 Player of the Year. On April 22, 2022, he joined the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

on a short-term four-day loan ahead of their MLS league match against Austin FC. In the match the next day, he made his official first-team debut. On August 4, he signed another short-term loan with Vancouver. In November 2022, he signed a permanent contract with the first team for the 2023 season, becoming the first Whitecaps FC 2 player to sign a first-team contract. On May 24, he suffered what appeared to be a serious injury in a match, where he lost consciousness and was treated on-field for seventeen minutes, but fortunately was released from hospital the next day with only a concussion. On June 7, 2023, he won the

2023 Canadian Championship The 2023 Canadian Championship () was the sixteenth edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Soccer in Canada, Canadian soccer, and the 22nd competition staged to determine the winner of the Voyageurs ...

with the Whitecaps, defeating CF Montreal and won the tournament's Best Young Canadian Player Award.

International career

In May 2023, Ahmed was listed on the Canada preliminary roster for the

2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. In June 2023, he was named to the final 23-man squad for the

2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be the 17th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's football championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament will take place from Ju ...

. Ahmed made his debut for Canada on June 27 in their tournament opener against

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Vancouver Whitecaps *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual * Canadian Championship - Best Young Canadian Player Award: 2023

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Ali 2000 births Living people Canadian people of Ethiopian descent Sportspeople of Ethiopian descent Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers MLS Next Pro players Major League Soccer players Whitecaps FC 2 players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canada men's international soccer players