Jackson Habib Khoury ( ar, جاكسون حبيب خوري; born 13 October 2002) 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 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 USL League One club

Tormenta FC South Georgia Tormenta FC is an American soccer organization based in Statesboro, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2015, the club fields a professional team in USL League One, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, as well as a pre-prof ...

and the Lebanon national team. Born in Australia, Khoury made his international debut for Lebanon in 2024.

Early life

Khoury was born in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, a western suburb of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia, the eldest of three siblings to an Australian mother and Lebanese father.

Club career

Early career

Khoury began his senior career with Sydney United in the National Premier Leagues NSW, being named as a breakout star in July 2021. He scored in the Grand Final against

Rockdale Ilinden Rockdale Ilinden Football Club (formerly known as the Rockdale City Suns Football Club from 1992 to 2020) is an Australian Macedonian soccer club based in Sydney suburb of Rockdale. Founded in 1969, the club competes in the highest men's compe ...

in October 2020 and contributed to United's 4–3 victory in the penalty shootout following a 3–3 draw in regular time. Khoury later joined

Central Coast Mariners Academy The Central Coast Mariners Academy (CCMA) is the youth system of Central Coast Mariners FC based in , Australia. The academy teams play the Y-League and the National Premier Leagues, the highest level of youth football in Australia. Senior p ...

, who played in

NSW League One The NSW League One Men is an Australian semi-professional association football league comprising teams from New South Wales. The league sits at Level 2 on the New South Wales league system, behind the National Premier Leagues NSW The Nationa ...

, in 2022. He played in the 2–1 Grand Final defeat to

St George City St George City is an Australian association football club based in St George, New South Wales. They currently compete in the National Premier Leagues in New South Wales. St George City is the representative side of the St George Football Associ ...

at the

Sydney United Sports Centre Sydney United Sports Centre, formerly known as Sydney Croatia Sports Centre and King Tomislav Park is a multi-use stadium in Edensor Park, Sydney, Australia. It is mainly used for football and is the home ground for the Sydney United 58 ...

on 3 September 2022. Despite the loss, the Mariners were promoted to the National Premier Leagues.

Tormenta FC

In February 2023, Khoury signed a two-year contract, with an option to extend for a year, for American club

in the USL League One. After accumulating seven goals and six assists in 31 appearances in his first season, Khoury was named the USL League One Young Player of the Year in November 2023, and, subsequently, Tormenta's Newcomer of the Year Award in December 2023. His 13 goal contributions was the joint third-highest for a player in their debut season in the league's history.

International career

Eligible to represent Lebanon through his father's side, Khoury was called up into the

Lebanese national team The Lebanon national football team,french: Équipe du Liban de football controlled by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), have represented Lebanon in association football since their inception in 1933. The squad is governed by the As ...

for a local training camp in Beirut from 19 December to 28 December 2023. This was in preparation ahead of the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 201 ...

, commencing on 14 January 2024. However, Khoury was not listed in the final squad. In March 2024, Khoury was recalled to the Lebanese squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against his native nation

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Khoury made his international debut on 26 March, after missing the initial fixture in Western Sydney Stadium, as a late substitute in a 5–0 defeat to the ''Socceroos'' at Canberra Stadium.

Career statistics

International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khoury, Jackson 2002 births Living people Soccer players from Sydney Lebanese people of Australian descent Australian people of Lebanese descent Sportspeople of Lebanese descent Australian men's soccer players Lebanese men's footballers Men's association football forwards Sydney United 58 FC players Central Coast Mariners Academy players Tormenta FC players National Premier Leagues players USL League One players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Lebanese expatriate men's footballers Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Lebanon men's international footballers