Ali Gholizadeh Nojedeh ( fa, علی قلی‌زاده, translit='Ali Qolizâde; born 10 March 1996) is an Iranian 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 le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Ekstraklasa club

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

, and the

Iran national team Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Gholizadeh is a product of the Saipa youth system and broke into the club's first team at 18. He went on to play for five seasons at Saipa before transferring to Belgian side Charleroi in 2018. He has represented Iran at every level, debuting for the senior national team in March 2018 under then-head coach Carlos Queiroz.

Club career

Saipa

He started his career with Saipa youth levels. He was promoted to the first team by

Engin Firat Engin is a given name and a surname. In Turkish Engin means profound, broad, extensive, depth. Notable persons with that name include: Persons with the given name * Engin Akyürek (born 1981), Turkish actor * Engin Alan (born 1945), Turkish gener ...

and made his debut for Saipa in last fixture of 2013–14 Iran Pro League against

Saba Qom Saba Qom Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال صبای قم, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Sâbay-e Qâm'') was an Iranian football team based in Qom, Iran. The club was dissolved in 2018. The team is a former part of Saba Battery Club, owned by ...

as a substitute. After scoring six times in 28 games, Gholizadeh was named the Persian Gulf Pro League Young Player of the Season for 2017–18.

Charleroi

On 30 May 2018, Gholizadeh joined

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

club

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, joining compatriot Omid Noorafkan. Gholizadeh scored his first goal for the club on 25 November 2018 in a league match against

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

. In January 2020, Gholizadeh extended his contract with Charleroi until June 2024.

Loan to Kasımpaşa

On 2 February 2023, Gholizadeh was loaned to Kasımpaşa in Turkey, with an option to buy.

Lech Poznań

On 10 July 2023, Polish Ekstraklasa side

announced the signing of Gholizadeh on a three-year contract, for a reported club record fee of approximately €1.8 million. Initially expected to make a debut in August that year, his prolonged recovery from a knee injury suffered in March kept Gholizadeh out of play until 31 October, when he entered the pitch in the 65th minute of a 0–4 away win over Zawisza Bydgoszcz in the round of 32 of the Polish Cup.

International career

Youth

Gholizadeh was part of Iran U17 in

2012 AFC U-16 Championship The 2012 AFC U-16 Championship was the 15th edition of the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation. The AFC approved Iran as hosts of the championship on 23 November 2011.

and

2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fifteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates between 17 October and 8 November. Nigeria won the tournament after defeating Mexico 3–0 in the final, cla ...

. He invited to Iran U20 by

Ali Dousti Mehr Ali Doustimehr ( fa, علی دوستی‌مهر, born 23 July 1965) is an Iranian football coach. He has been the head coach of Iran national under-19 football team participating in 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria and is the coach for the 20 ...

to preparation for

2014 AFC U-19 Championship The 2014 AFC U-19 Championship was the 38th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for players aged 19 and below. Myanmar were approved as hosts of the competition on 25 ...

Senior

He debuted for

Team Melli ) ''(the national team)' other nicknames'' , Badge = Flag_of_Iran.svg , Badge_size = 190px , Association = Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran , FIFA Trigramme = IRN , FIFA Rank ...

on 17 March 2018 against Sierra Leone and scored two goals. In May 2018, he was named in Iran's preliminary

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In November 2022, he was named by Carlos Queiroz in Iran's final squad which would compete for the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.''

Personal life

Gholizadeh married fellow Iranian footballer Yasaman Farmani in February 2019. Farmani also plays for Charleroi, representing the club in the

Belgian Women's Super League The Belgian Women's Super League (Dutch: Super League ''Vrouwenvoetbal/Belgisch Vrouwenvoetbal Kampioenschap''; French: ''Superligue/Championnat de Belgique féminin de football''; German: ''Superliga/Belgische Frauenfußballmeisterschaft'') is th ...

and has represented the Iranian national team.

Honours

Individual * Iranian Young Player of the Year: 2017–18