Firas Mohamad Al Khatib ( ar, فراس محمد الخطيب; born 9 June 1983) is a Syrian former

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 mainly played 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 ...

. He is the Syria national team all-time top goalscorer, with 36 goals.

Club career

Early life

Al-Khatib began playing football at Al-Karamah SC, he was included in the club's categories U-14, with whom he played for two seasons. One of the most important achievements of Al Khatib with youth Al Karamah was the victory of the Republic Cup and the title of the league's top scorer twice 1994–95, 1995–96. He then went on to play for Al Karamah U-17 in 1997, where he was crowned with the league title in the same year. He also won the top scorer title. All this helped the young boy reach the youth team. During two seasons with U-19 team, he managed to win the league title and the second scorer.

Al Karamah

Al Khatib started his professional career in the

Syrian Premier League The Syrian Premier League ( ar, الدوري السوري الممتاز) is a professional association football league in Syria and the top division in of the Syrian football league system. The league comprises 12 teams and operates on a system ...

with Al-Karamah in the Season 1999–2000. On 6 October 2000, he scored his first goal in the Syrian Premier League against Al-Futowa which 1–1 finished. During 2001, he spent two trials in Belgium; first with

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch language, Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghen ...

and the second with Anderlecht.

Al Naser

In August 2002, he transferred to Kuwaiti Club Al-Naser, and played in

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 ...

for the first time. He then moved to Al-Arabi, which also competed in the Kuwaiti Premier League.

Al Arabi

With Al-Arabi he won the

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 ...

three times, the

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 ...

twice and the

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 ...

once. He also scored 134 goals for the club and became a legend in the club. In June 2005, he was loaned out to Al-Ahli in

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 ...

for one match, and played alongside Pep Guardiola.

Qadsia

On 24 August 2009, Al Khatib signed a two-year contract with Al-Qadsia in the Kuwaiti Premier League and played alongside his old teammate

Jehad Al-Hussain Jehad Al Hussain ( ar, جهاد الحسين, born July 30, 1982 in Homs, Syria) is a former Syrian footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Al-Karamah SC Al-Hussain was part of the youth academy of Al-Karamah SC which won the Syrian ...

. In July 2012, he participated in three games 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 ...

, scoring once in a trial of month. 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 was unable to sign him.

Zakho

On 10 September 2012, he tweeted that he signed with

Iraqi Premier League The Iraqi Premier League ( ar, الدوري العراقي الممتاز) is the top level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it is operated by the Iraq Football Association (IFA) and operates on a system of promotion ...

club

Zakho FC Zakho Sport Club, also spelled as Zaxo Sport Club ( ku-2, یانا زاخو یا وه‌رزشی / ''Yana Zaxo ya Werzişî'') is a sports club based in Zakho, Iraqi Kurdistan. Zakho SC's biggest rivals are also their neighbours Duhok SC, with wh ...

officially.

Shanghai Shenhua

He left Iraq to join

Sergio Batista Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista (; born 9 November 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former international player. As a footballer he played as a midfield for Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Nueva Chicago, Tosu Futures and All Boys. H ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

side

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

at February 2013. He scored his first goal in his

debut.

Return to Al Arabi

He became a free agent at the end of the 2013–14 football season and returned to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. He declined an offer from

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 ...

and joined Al-Arabi SC on a 2-year deal. During the first derby against

Al-Salmiya SC Al-Salmiya Sporting Club ( ar, نادي السالمية الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional football and sports club in Salmiya. They have won the Kuwaiti Premier League four times, most recently in 2000. They were founded in 1964 and ...

, Al-Khatib scored his 100th league goal, but Al-Arabi SC lost the match 3–2. Al-Khatib ended the season with 20 goals and shared the VIVA Premier League 2014–15 top league scorer with Patrick Fabiano. His total goal tally in all competitions was 24 goals. In 2015–16, he was selected in the VIVS Premier League 1st Team alongside teammate

Ali Maqseed Ali Maqseed ( ar, علي مقصيد) is a Kuwaiti football midfielder. He plays left back or left wing with many other positions for Al Arabi SC in VIVA Premier League and the Kuwait national football team. Ali first joined the first-team when ...

. Al-Khatib also won the VPL Golden Boot and top scorer of Al-Arabi with 27 goals; his highest tally in any season with any team.

Al Salmiya

In September 2017, he joined to Al-Salmiya, and scored 11 goals in his Kuwaiti Premier League. He became the best goalscorer in Kuwait Premier League history after he scored 147 goals, exceeding many Kuwaiti legends.

Retirement

On 29 September 2019, Al-Khatib announced his retirement from football after spending the whole summer without a club. He finished his career scoring 349 goals to achieve the 19th place in the list of world's best goal scorer of 21st century, as well as being the all-time top scorer of all Kuwaiti domestic competitions with 210 goals.

International career

Between 2001 and 2002, Al-Khatib played for the Syrian U-17 team. He played for Syria in the AFC U-17 Championship 2002 in 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 t ...

and was part of the Syrian U-23 team that participated in the AFC Olympic qualification campaign for the 2004 Summer Olympics. Al-Khatib was a regular for the Syria national football team from 2001 to 2012. His international debut was at the FIFA World Cup qualification 2002, when he came on as a substitute for Khaled Al Zaher in the match against

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on 4 May 2001 in the Al-Hamadaniah Stadium in Aleppo. On 11 May 2001 he scored one goal in the FIFA World Cup qualification 2002 match against Laos the match was finished 9–0 for Syria. From 2012 to 2017, Al-Khatib boycotted the Syrian national football team to protest president Bashar al-Assad and his government's airstrikes against Al-Khatib's hometown of Homs. On 23 March 2017, al-Khatib re-joined Syrian national football team and expressed support for Assad. He was not included in the final squad of

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 ...

after getting injured about a month before the tournament, although, he claimed that he was capable of participating if the manager called him because his injury was minor and he could be part of the second match at least. It was really disappointing to him as he mentioned many times on Bein Sports as he was one of the pundits there during the tournament. He was one of the first people who asked to sack Stange after the lost against

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. In an interview diffused 20 March 2019, he denied any rows between players about the captaincy before and during Asian cup 2019, and denied also what

Omar Al Somah Omar Al Somah ( ar, عمر السومة; born 28 March 1989) is a Syrian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar Stars League club Al-Arabi, on loan from Saudi club Al Ahli, and the Syria national team. Nicknamed in Syria as ...

said earlier about falling out for the captaincy armband. On 5 September 2019, Al Khatib played against

in the

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tourn ...

; hence he became the first Asian and seventh footballer in total to participate in six different World Cup qualifiers, other footballers are:

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional footballer who captains and plays as a goalkeeper for the club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded pl ...

Essam El Hadary Essam Kamal Tawfiq El Hadary ( ar, عصام كمال توفيق الحضري; born 15 January 1973) is an Egyptian goalkeeping coach and former professional footballer. Nicknamed the "High Dam", El Hadary spent the largest portion of his club ca ...

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Víctor René Mendieta Ocampo Víctor is a Spanish masculine given name, equivalent to Victor in English and Vítor in Portuguese. Notable people with the given name include: *Víctor Cabrera (Argentine footballer) *Víctor Cabrera (Chilean footballer) * Víctor Hugo Cabrera ...

and

Dwight Yorke Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian former professional footballer and current manager of Australian A-League club Macarthur FC. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester Uni ...

Managerial career

In 2019–20, Al Khatib became an assistant coach at Al-Salmiya. In June 2021, he was appointed as the head coach of his hometown club Al Karamah. A few days later, Al-Khatib refrained for Al Karama coaching due to "family circumstances". In April 2022, Firas became the coach of the Iraqi club

Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo ( ku, زاخۆ, Zaxo, syr, ܙܵܟ݂ܘܿ, Zākhō, , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, at the centre of the eponymous Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Iraq–Turkey b ...

. Three months later, in July 2022, Firas returns to Kuwait as coach of Al-Fahaheel.

Career statistics

International

International goals

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

Honours

Club

Al-Arabi *

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08 *

: 2006–07, 2014–15 *

: 2007–08 Al-Qadsia *

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12 *

: 2009–10, 2011–12 *

: 2009

: 2016–17 *

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 ...

: 2016–17

International

;Syria * West Asian Games 2005: Runner-up *

Nehru Cup The Nehru Cup was an international association football tournament organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), named after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was launched in 1982, but was not held from 1998 to ...

Runner-up (2): 2007, 2009

Individual

* Syria's all-time record goalscorer: (36 goals) * Top Goalscorer

: 2004–05 (13 goals), 2010–11 (14 goals), 2014–15 (20 goals), 2015–16 (23 goals) * Top Goalscorer

: 2004–05 (3 goals) * Top Goalscorer

: 2003–04 (3 goals) * Top Goalscorer

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 ...

: 2008–09 (8 goals) * Top Goalscorer of the

's squad: 2013–14 (11 goals) * 2011 AFC Annual Awards Nominated * VIVA Premier League 1st phase Team: 2015–16 * 2015–16 VPL Golden Boot: (23 goals) * VIVA Premier League Player of the Month: September 2017

Personal life

He is married and has 6 children.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khatib, Firas 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Homs Syrian footballers Association football forwards Syria international footballers Al-Karamah players Al-Nasr SC (Kuwait) players Al-Arabi SC (Kuwait) players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Qadsia SC players Umm Salal SC players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Syrian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Kuwait Syrian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Syrian expatriate sportspeople in Iraq Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in China Syrian expatriate sportspeople in China 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Syrian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Chinese Super League players Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Qatar Stars League players Asian Games competitors for Syria Syrian Premier League players Kuwait SC players Kuwait Premier League players Kuwait Premier League managers Al-Fahaheel FC managers Zakho FC managers Iraqi Premier League managers Expatriate football managers in Kuwait Expatriate football managers in Iraq Syrian expatriate football managers