Almoez Ali Zainalabedeen Mohamed Abdulla ( ar, المعز علي زين العابدين محمد عبد الله; born 19 August 1996) 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 ...

who plays as a striker for Qatar Stars League side Al-Duhail, whom he

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Born in Sudan, he plays for the Qatar national team. Ali is a member of the Qatar squad which won the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 F ...

, where he scored nine goals, which also serves as the record for most goals scored at an Asian Cup.

Club career

Ali was born in Sudan and moved to

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 ...

as a child. His mother is a native Sudanese. He started playing for Al-Mesaimeer when he was 7 years old, then moved to

Aspire Academy Aspire Academy ( ar, أكاديمية أسباير, Akādīmiyat 'Asbāyr) is a sports academy based in the Aspire Zone in Qatar, founded in 2004 with the goal to scout and help develop Qatari athletes, whilst also providing them with secondary ...

and played youth football at

Lekhwiya SC Al-Duhail Sports Club ( ar, نادي الدحيل الرياضي), formerly Lekhwiya SC, is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. The club is based in the Duhail district in the city ...

. He was also a part of the youth setup for Belgian club

Eupen Eupen (, ; ; formerly ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border ( Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the " High Fens" ...

in 2015. In July 2015, Ali joined the senior team of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n club

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional football club, from the Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Footbal ...

. His first and only league goal for the club's first team came on 27 November 2015 against

Floridsdorfer AC The Floridsdorfer Athletics Sports Club or simply Floridsdorfer AC is a professional football club based in Floridsdorf, the 21st district of Vienna. The club was founded in August 1904. Floridsdorfer AC won the Austrian football championship i ...

. In January 2016, he left the club and joined

Cultural Leonesa Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa (), better known as Cultural Leonesa or La Cultural, is a Spanish football team based in León, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Founded on 5 August 1923, it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

in Spain's third tier, the Segunda División B. On 3 April 2016, he scored his first goal for Cultural Leonesa in a 1–0 victory over Arandina, becoming the first Qatari footballer ever to score in a Spanish league. Ali rejoined his former youth club Lekhwiya SC for the 2016–17 season. He scored his first goal for the club on 27 September 2016 in a 5–4 win against

Muaither Muaither ( ar, معيذر) is a district of Al Rayyan City in Qatar, located in the municipality of Al Rayyan. Etymology Referencing the area's geography, 'muaither' is derived from the Arabic 'mathar', meaning "place where animals are kept". ...

. He went on to make 25 appearances and scoring 8 goals, as well as providing 8 assists and being awarded as the best U23 player of the season as his club won the Qatar Stars League. In the following season, Almoez Ali was part of the newly rebranded Al-Duhail, as his former club was merged with El Jaish, and was part of the unbeaten QSL title campaign.

International career

Almoez Ali unofficially made his inaugural appearance for the senior national team in a friendly against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

in December 2013. The match was not recognized by FIFA. In 2014, Almoez Ali was a part of the Qatar U19 team that won the

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 2 ...

. In 2015, he was part of the Qatar U20 squad for the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

. He played in the three group stage matches, but Qatar did not advance to the knockout stage. On 8 August 2016, Almoez Ali made his official senior debut for the national team as a substitute in 2–1 win against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. Furthermore, he was the top scorer in the

2018 AFC U-23 Championship The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2018 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the third edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) fo ...

with six goals and played an instrumental role in Qatar's third-place ranking.

2019 AFC Asian Cup

He was selected for Qatar's squad in the

. He found the net in his team's first group stage game against

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. In the next game against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, he scored a four goals in a span of 51 minutes, the second fastest time to four goals after Iranian

Ali Daei Ali Daei ( fa, ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian football manager and former player. A striker, he was the captain of the Iranian national team between 2000 and 2006 and played in the German Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich ...

, who scored four goals in 23 minutes against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in the

1996 AFC Asian Cup The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in the United Arab Emirates be ...

. The following match, against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, he increased his tally in the competition to seven goals after scoring both goals in the 2–0 win. In doing so, he became the joint-top scorer in the AFC Asian Cup Group Stage, sharing the record with Ali Daei of Iran,

Choi Soon-ho Choi Soon-ho (Hangul: 최순호; Hanja: 崔淳鎬; born 10 January 1962) is a former South Korean football manager and player. International career Choi was named in the South Korean squad for the 1980 AFC Asian Cup. He scored seven goals ...

of South Korea and

Naohiro Takahara is a Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan's national football team. Currently, he is the manager for Okinawa SV. Club career Takahara was born in Mishima on 4 June 1979. After graduating from high school, he joined Júbil ...

of Japan. He also broke

Mansour Muftah Mansour Muftah Faraj Bekhit Al-Abdullah, or simply Mansour Muftah ( ar, منصور مفتاح, born 1955) is a Qatari former footballer who played as a forward. He was the top scorer in the Qatar Stars League a record 7 times, as well as bein ...

's all-time record of five goals scored for the Qatar national team in the AFC Asian Cup. In the semi-final against

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

, Ali scored his eighth goal of the competition in a 4–0 win, equalling Ali Daei's mark established in 1996 as the most goals scored in a single AFC Asian Cup edition. He broke that record in the following game after scoring the opening goal with a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before d ...

at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Final match against Japan.

Eligibility dispute

On 30 January 2019, soon after the 4–0 defeat at the

semifinal, the UAE FA lodged a formal appeal to the AFC over the eligibility of Sudanese-born Almoez Ali and

i-born

Bassam Al-Rawi Bassam Hisham Ali Al-Rawi ( ar, بسام هشام الراوي; born 16 December 1997) is a Qatari professional footballer who plays as a defender for Al-Duhail and the Qatar national football team. Personal life Born in Iraq, Bassam was natu ...

, claiming that they did not qualify to play for Qatar on residency grounds based on Article 7 of the FIFA statute which states that a player's eligibility to play for a representative team if he has "lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association". It was alleged that Almoez had not lived continuously in Qatar for at least five years over the age of 18, although the player claimed that his mother was born in Qatar. On 1 February 2019, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee dismissed the protest lodged by the United Arab Emirates Football Association without further comments or explanation. In August 2020, the case was finally settled at CAS (Court of Arbirtration for Sport, based in Lausanne, Switzerland) with the UAE losing its appeal against the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) decision.

2019 Copa América

On 16 June 2019, Ali scored in Qatar's 2–2 draw with

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

in the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and ...

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Ali was included in Qatar's squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled t ...

. He scored four goals in the competition to clinch the top scorer award.

2022 FIFA World World Cup

In November 2022, he was included in Qatar's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

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

Honours

Al-Duhail * Qatar Stars League: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20 *

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup ( ar, كأس أمير قطر), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by 18 first and second division teams. The most successful is Al Sad ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Qatar Cup The Qatar Cup is a tournament in men's football. It is played by the top 4 teams of the Qatar Stars League after each season. In 2013, the tournament was renamed Qatar Cup. Previous winners Top-Performing Clubs References External links ...

Sheikh Jassim Cup The Sheikh Jassim Cup ( ar, كأس الشيخ جاسم) is an annual men's super cup competition in Qatari football held between the winner of the Qatar Stars League and the Emir of Qatar Cup. History The inaugural Sheikh Jassim Cup was held i ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Qatar U19 * AFC U-19 Championship:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Qatar * AFC Asian Cup:

WAFF Championship The West Asian Football Federation Championship (), or simply WAFF Championship, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the ...

Individual * AFC U-23 Championship top goalscorer:

* AFC Asian Cup top goalscorer:

* AFC Asian Cup Best Player:

* AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament:

* IFFHS AFC Men's Team of the Decade 2011–2020 *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

Golden Boot:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Best XI:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Almoez 1996 births Living people Sudanese emigrants to Qatar Naturalised citizens of Qatar People from Khartoum Qatari footballers Association football forwards Mesaimeer SC players Lekhwiya SC players K.A.S. Eupen players FC Juniors OÖ players LASK players Cultural Leonesa footballers Al-Duhail SC players 2. Liga (Austria) players Austrian Regionalliga players Austrian 2. Landesliga players Segunda División B players Qatar Stars League players Qatar youth international footballers Qatar under-20 international footballers Qatar international footballers 2019 AFC Asian Cup players 2019 Copa América players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Qatari expatriate footballers Qatari expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Qatari expatriate sportspeople in Austria Qatari expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in Spain 2022 FIFA World Cup players