Bader Ahmed al-Mutawa ( ar, بدر أحمد المطوع; born 10 January 1985) is a Kuwaiti 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 for Qadsia and the Kuwait national team, where he usually operates as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He wears the jersey number 17 for both club and country.

Club career

Al-Mutawa was born in Kuwait City. His performance for both club and national teams lead to him being nominated for best Asian player in 2006 and 2010, though Al-Mutawa did not win the prize. He was awarded the Kuwaiti league's top scorer for local players in the 2008–09 season with 10 goals. On 23 July 2012, he began training with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

as their new owners, the Al-Hasawi family, arranged a one-month trial for the striker. He impressed manager

Sean O'Driscoll Sean Michael O'Driscoll (born 1 July 1957) is a former professional footballer and manager. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Walsall. He was known by the nickname "N ...

enough that the club were looking to sign him on a permanent basis but he was denied a work permit and the club wasn't able to sign him. On 11 May 2021, he scored his 300th goal for Qadsia in all competitions, Including friendly matches, in a 3–1 win over

Kuwait SC Kuwait Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. The football team has won Kuwaiti Premier League 17 times. Kuwait SC also has over 50 trophies in Kuwaiti Club foot ...

International career

Al-Mutawa's first major competition on international level was the 2003 Arabian Gulf Cup, hosted by Kuwait. The home side finished sixth with only five points from six matches (only Yemen, the newcomer to the Gulf Cup finished the tournament with less points, sparing Kuwait the embarrassment of ending up at the bottom of the table of the gulf cup for the first time in their history). Al-Mutwa scored once in Kuwait's only victory of the tournament, a 4–0 win against

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. Al-Mutawa played in the 17th Arabian Gulf Cup in 2004, scoring a goal in the 87th minute against Saudi Arabia in Kuwait's opening match. Al-Mutawa excelled in this tournament, forming a strike partnership with captain and star striker

Bashar Abdullah Bashar Abdullah Abdul Aziz ( ar, بشار عبد الله سالم عبد العزيز; born 12 October 1977) is a Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in W ...

. They managed to score five goals between them. This partnership was short lived as Bashar retired from international football shortly after the tournament and Kuwait was eliminated in the semi-finals by

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 ...

after topping Group B with two victories and one draw with

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 ...

. At the 18th Arabian Gulf Cup in 2007, Al-Mutawa scored goals against Yemen and in the final group match against the

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 th ...

, but Kuwait exited the tournament for the first time in their history without winning a single game. On 3 September 2015, Al-Mutawa scored his second senior

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

, in a 9–0 defeat of

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier. FIFA recognizes him as the men's joint all-time record appearance holder with 196 caps, after having surpassed

Soh Chin Ann Datuk Wira Soh Chin Ann (or Soh Chin Aun due to misspelling by Malaysian media; ; born 28 July 1950) is a Malaysian former footballer. He was affectionately known as ''Tauke'' or '' Towkay'' ( en, Boss) by his teammates and fans. RSSSF and I ...

's record of 195 recognized by FIFA matches on 14 June 2022. His record was equalled by Portugal's

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

during the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, 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 ...

Personal life

Al-Mutawa holds the military rank of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and he is also director of the Security Affairs Department of the Kuwaiti National Assembly Guard, as sports professionalism is not fully applied in Kuwait.

Career statistics

International

;Notes

Honours

Qadsia *

Kuwaiti Premier League The Kuwait Premier League (), known as STC Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Al-Arabi, Qadsia and Kuwait both hold the best record in the competition, having won ...

: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16 *

Kuwait Emir Cup The Kuwait Amir/Emir Cup ( ar, كأس أمير الكويت) is a Kuwaiti football competition created in 1962. The Emir Cup, is the last football competition held in the Kuwaiti football season. It is considered the most valuable cup. Al Arabi ...

: 2003–04, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15 *

Kuwait Crown Prince Cup The Crown Prince Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) is a Kuwaiti domestic annual football competition created in 1994. Previous winners *1994 : Kuwait SC *1995 : Kazma SC *1996 : Al Arabi SC *1997 : Al Arabi SC *1998 : Qadsia SC *1999 : Al Ar ...

: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2017–18 *

Kuwait Super Cup The Kuwait Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر الكويتي) is an annual one-match association football competition in Kuwait organised by Kuwait Football Association (KFA). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the ...

: 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014,

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 United ...

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 ...

Kuwait Federation Cup The Kuwaiti Federation Cup ( ar, كأس الاتحاد الكويتي) is a competition organised by the Kuwait Football Association, the Kuwaiti version of a League cup and has been played in its current format every year since 2008. The first e ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2018–19 *

Al-Khurafi Cup The Al Kurafi Cup ( ar, كأس الخرافي) was a Kuwaiti football competition. The competition ran from 1999 to 2007. It was named after M. A. Kharafi & Sons. Previous winners *1998–99 : Al Arabi Kuwait *1999–2000 : Al Salmiya Club *200 ...

: 2002–03, 2005–06 *

GCC Champions League The GCC Champions League ( ar, دوري أبطال الخليج للأندية), formerly known as the Gulf Cup for Clubs ( ar, كأس الخليج للأندية), was an annually organized football league tournament for clubs of the Arabian penin ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

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 ...

; runner-up

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Kuwait * Arabian Gulf Cup:

2010 WAFF Championship The 2010 WAFF Championship was the 6th edition of the West Asian Football Federation Championship, an international tournament for selected West Asian countries and territories. It was hosted by Jordan, after Lebanon was deemed not capable of ho ...

Individual * Arabian Gulf Cup top goalscorer:

IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer The IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer is a football award given annually since 1991 to the world's top international goalscorer in the calendar year. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (I ...

: 2010 *

Asian Footballer of the Year The Asian Footballer of the Year is an annual prize awarded to the best Asian player in a calendar year, organized by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). History The origin of ...

nominee: 2006, 2010; longlist: 2007AFC Player of the Year nominees: 33 in contention for top award
– Asian Football Confederation

References

External links

* *
Rising Arab stars making their mark
at FIFA.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mutawa, Bader 1985 births Living people Kuwaiti footballers Kuwait international footballers Kuwaiti expatriate footballers Al Nassr FC players Qadsia SC players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players FIFA Century Club Association football forwards Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Sportspeople from Kuwait City Asian Games competitors for Kuwait AFC Cup winning players Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Qatar Kuwaiti expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Kuwaiti expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Qatar SC players Colonels (military rank)