Almoez Ali
Full nameAlmoez Ali Zainalabedeen Mohamed Abdullah[1]
Birth date19 August 1996 (age 30)
Birth placeKhartoum, Sudan
Height1.80 m[2]
PositionStriker, winger[3]
CurrentclubAl-Duhail
Clubnumber11
Youthyears 12003–2006
Youthclubs 1Al-Mesaimeer
Youthyears 22006–2013
Youthclubs 2Aspire Academy
Youthyears 32013–2014
Youthclubs 3Lekhwiya
Youthyears 42014–2015
Youthclubs 4Eupen
Years 12015
Clubs 1LASK II
Caps 14
Goals 15
Years 22015–2016
Clubs 2LASK
Caps 27
Goals 21
Years 32016
Clubs 3Cultural Leonesa
Caps 310
Goals 31
Years 42016–2017
Clubs 4Al-Duhail B
Caps 44
Goals 41
Years 52016–
Clubs 5Al-Duhail
Caps 5170
Goals 558
Nationalyears 12014–2015
Nationalteam 1Qatar U20
Nationalcaps 19
Nationalgoals 13
Nationalyears 22016–2018
Nationalteam 2Qatar U23
Nationalcaps 27
Nationalgoals 26
Nationalyears 32016–
Nationalteam 3Qatar
Nationalcaps 3126
Nationalgoals 360
Pcupdate17 January 2026
Ntupdate28 May 2026

Almoez Ali Zainalabedeen Mohamed Abdulla (Arabic: الْمُعِزّ عَلِيّ زَيْن الْعَابِدِين مُحَمَّد عَبْدُ اللّٰه; born 19 August 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail, which he currently captains. Born in Sudan, he plays for the Qatar national team.

Ali is currently the nation's all-time top goalscorer. He was a member of the Qatar national team which won back-to-back Asian Cup titles in 2019 and 2023, at the 2019 Asian Cup, he scored a record nine goals, and was named the tournament's best player.[4] He is also the only footballer to score in three different intercontinental championships, those being the AFC Asian Cup, the Copa América and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.[5]

Club career

Early career

Ali was born in Sudan and moved to Qatar at an early age.[6][7] He started playing for Al-Mesaimeer when he was seven years old, then moved to Aspire Academy and also played youth football at Lekhwiya SC.[8][9] He was also a part of the youth setup for Belgian club Eupen in 2015.[10]

LASK

In July 2015, Ali joined the senior team of Austrian club LASK.[11] His first and only Austrian Bundesliga league goal for the club's first team came on 27 November 2015 against Floridsdorfer AC, becoming the second Qatari to score a league goal in Austria's top league, after Adel Jadoua Ali.[12]

Cultural Leonesa

In January 2016, Ali left the club and joined Cultural Leonesa, which participayed in the Segunda División B.[13] On 3 April 2016, he scored his first goal for the Cultural Leonesa in a 1–0 victory over Arandina,[14] becoming the first Qatari footballer ever to score in a Spanish league.[15]

Al-Duhail

Ali rejoined his former youth club Lekhwiya SC for the 2016–17 league season. He scored his first goal for the club on 27 September 2016 in a 5–4 win against Muaither.[16] He went on to score 8 goals in 25 appearances, 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.[17]

In the following season, Ali was part of the newly rebranded Al-Duhail, as his former club was merged with El Jaish, and was part of the unbeaten 2017–18 Qatar Stars League title campaign.[18]

International career

Ali unofficially made his inaugural appearance for the senior national team in a friendly against Bahrain in December 2013. The match was not recognized by FIFA.[19]

In 2014, Ali was a part of the Qatar U19 team that won the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship, Ali scored 3 goals in the tournament.

In 2015, he was part of the Qatar U20 squad for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He played in the three group stage matches, but Qatar did not advance to the knockout stage.[20][21][22]

On 8 August 2016, Ali made his official senior debut for the Qatar national team coming on as a substitute in 2–1 win against Iraq.[23] Furthermore, he was the top scorer in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship with six goals and played an instrumental role in Qatar's third-place ranking.[24]

2019 AFC Asian Cup

In 2019, Ali was selected for Qatar's squad for the upcoming 2019 AFC Asian Cup. He found the net in his team's first group stage game against Lebanon. In the next game against North Korea, he scored a four goals in a span of 51 minutes,[25] the second fastest time to four goals after Iranian Ali Daei, who scored four goals in 23 minutes against South Korea in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup.[26]

The following match against Saudi Arabia, he increased his tally in the competition to seven goals after scoring a Brace in the 2–0 win.[27] 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 of South Korea and Naohiro Takahara of Japan. He also broke Mansour Muftah's all-time record of five goals scored for the Qatar national team in the Asian Cup.[28]

In the semi-final against United Arab Emirates, 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.[29] He broke the record in the following game after scoring the opening goal with a bicycle kick at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Final match against Japan.[30][31]

Eligibility dispute

On 30 January 2019, soon after the 4–0 defeat at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup semifinal, the UAE FA lodged a formal appeal to the AFC over the eligibility of Sudanese-born Almoez Ali and Iraqi-born Bassam Al-Rawi, claiming that they did not qualify to play for Qatar on residency grounds based on Article 7 of the FIFA statute[32] 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.[33] 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.[34][35][36] 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.

2019–2022: Invitation tournaments and 2022 FIFA World Cup

On 16 June 2019, Ali scored in Qatar's 2–2 draw with Paraguay in the 2019 Copa América.[37] Ali was included in Qatar's squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He scored four goals in the competition and clinched the top goal-scorer award.[38]

In November 2022, he played in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Featuring in all three group matches as Qatar made its first appearance at the FIFA World Cup tournament.[39]

2023 AFC Asian Cup

In January 2024, Ali was included in Qatar's squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[40] In the opening match of the tournament, he scored Qatar's second goal in a 3–0 win over Lebanon in Lusail.[41] In the semi-final match against Iran, he scored the winning goal in a 3–2 victory, which qualified his country to their second final in a row.[42] On 10 February 2024, Ali won the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, being a instrumental part in the team's success.

On 16 November 2023, Ali scored his a poker goal for Qatar during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Afghanistan in a thrashing 8–1 victory, surpassing Mansour Muftah as the all-time top goalscorer.[43]

Career statistics

Club

[44]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup[a]ContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
LASK II2015Austrian Regionalliga45———45
LASK2015–16Austrian Second League7120——91
Cultural Leonesa2016Segunda División B101———101
Al-Duhail B2016–17 Qatari Second Division|2016–17QSD41———41
Al-Duhail2016–17QSL258207[b]12[c]0369
2017–181673210[b]23[d]13212
2018–19183305[b]11[e]0274
2019–20197226[b]32[f]12913
2020–21206306[b]04[g]1337
2021–22177325[b]2002511
2022–23144103[b]04[h]0224
2023–24197306[b]110298
2024–25137000000137
Total16156206481017324475
Career total18664206481017327684
  1. ^ Includes Austrian Cup, Emir of Qatar Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in AFC Champions League
  3. ^ One appearance in Sheikh Jassim Cup, one appearance in Qatar Cup
  4. ^ One appearance and one goal in Sheikh Jassim Cup, two appearances in Qatar Cup
  5. ^ Appearance in Sheikh Jassim Cup
  6. ^ Appearances in Qatar Cup
  7. ^ Two appearances in Qatar Cup, two appearances and one goal in FIFA Club World Cup
  8. ^ One appearance in Qatari Stars Cup, three appearances in Qatar Cup

International

Main article: List of international goals scored by Almoez Ali

[19][45]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Qatar201310
201630
2017175
2018115
20192015
202044
20212410
2022133
2023108
20241810
202540
202610
Total12660

Honours

Al-Duhail

Qatar U19

Qatar

Individual

See also

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ "Almoez Ali - AFC Asian Cup 2019"
  3. ^ "المنتخب القطري يتوج بطلا لكأس آسيا لكرة القدم 2019 لأول مرة في تاريخه" (in Arabic). جريدة لوسيل. 1 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Al Moez Ali is your #AsianCup2019 top scorer and he did it in style!". No. 1091365169995886592. 1 February 2019.
  5. ^ "AFC Asian Cup 2023: Almoez Ali Seeks to Engrave His Name in History Records Again as Tournament's Top Scorer". Qatar News Agency. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Asian Cup: Qatar beats Saudi Arabia in first meeting on pitch since blockade". Middle East Eye
  7. ^ "A Copa da Ásia define seus mata-matas, com o Catar surpreendendo como melhor da fase de grupos | Trivela" (in Portuguese). 17 January 2019. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  8. ^ "المعز علي: لم أتوقع فوزي كأفضل لاعب صاعد". 20 May 2017.
  9. ^ "AlMoez 'AlMoez' Ali Abdulla (32) Forward". LASK Linz. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  10. ^ "Katar mit 6 KAS-Spielern" (in German). KAS Eupen. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Almoez Ali". Norsk Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  12. ^ "LASK Linz-Floridsdorfer AC". Republica Sport. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  13. ^ Marcel Yildiz (4 January 2016). "Duo verlässt den LASK" (in German). Fussball Imnetz.
  14. ^ "Continúa la mala racha ribereña". Diario de Burgos. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Entrevista. Ali Almoez: "Quiero subir a Segunda el próximo año"" (in Spanish). VAVEL. 10 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Lekhwiya set early pace". www.thepeninsulaqatar.com. 27 September 2016.
  17. ^ "Almoez Ali wins best U23 player award". Qatar Stars League. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Undefeated Al Duhail secure sixth Qatar Stars League title". www.the-afc.com
  19. ^ "Abdulla, Almoez Ali". national-football-teams.com
  20. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 - Matches - Qatar-Colombia". Archived from the original on 2 June 2015.
  21. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 - Matches - Qatar-Portugal". Archived from the original on 21 June 2015.
  22. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 - Matches - Senegal-Qatar". Archived from the original on 8 June 2015.
  23. ^ "Qatar vs. Iraq - Football Match Summary - August 8, 2016 - ESPN"
  24. ^ Adwaidh Rajan (14 January 2019). "AFC Asian Cup 2019: Almoez Ali and Akram Afif – Qatar's hopes for 2022 World Cup". Fox Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  25. ^ "AFC Asian Cup 2019: Almoez Ali sets new AFC Asian Cup record in Qatar's 6–0 demolition of DPR Korea". Fox Sports Asia. 13 January 2019. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  26. ^ "Moments and Milestones: Ali Daei's 23 minute masterclass". Tehran Times. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  27. ^ "Shiotani fires Japan past Uzbeks, Qatar's Ali downs Saudis". AFP. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  28. ^ Abdelaziz Abuhamar (18 January 2019). "Stats: Almoez strikes against Saudi set new marks in Asian Cup history". Inside World Football. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  29. ^ "Qatar's Almoez Ali equals tournament record goal tally". www.the-afc.com
  30. ^ "AFC Asian Cup 2019: Japan 0-1 Qatar - Almoez Ali (12')". FOX Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  31. ^ "Qatar stun Japan with 3-1 win to be crowned Asian Cup champions". Guardian. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  32. ^ "FIFA STATUTES April 2015 edition"
  33. ^ "UAE lodge formal protest with AFC over eligibility of two Qatar players at Asian Cup". The National. 31 January 2019.
  34. ^ "UAE FA protest dismissed". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  35. ^ "AFC gives its verdict on UAE's complaint over eligibility of 2 Qatar players in AFC Asian Cup 2019". foxsportsasia.com. Fox Sports. 1 February 2019. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  36. ^ "UAE protest at eligibility of Qataris dismissed on day of final". Reuters. 1 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  37. ^ "Qatar shake up Copa with thrilling comeback against Paraguay". Euronews. 16 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  38. ^ "Qatar's Almoez Ali scoops 2021 Gold Cup Top Scorer Award". AFC. 2 August 2021.
  39. ^ "Player Profile — Almoez Ali". USA Today. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  40. ^ "Our final list for Asia". Twitter. Qatar Football Association. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  41. ^ "Group A: Qatar 3-0 Lebanon". Asian Football Confederation. 13 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  42. ^ "Hosts Qatar beat Iran in thriller to set up Asian Cup final against Jordan". The Guardian. 7 February 2024.
  43. ^ Newspaper, The Peninsula (2023-11-16). "Almoez fires super hat-trick as Qatar trounce Afghanistan 8-1". thepeninsulaqatar.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
  44. ^ "Almoez Ali". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  45. ^ "Almoez Ali Abdulla - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  46. ^ "AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Technical Report and Statistics". AFC. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  47. ^ "AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Technical Report". AFC. 2024-08-12. p. 69. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  48. ^ "IFFHS MAN TEAM - AFC - OF THE DECADE 2011-2020". IFFHS. 30 January 2021.
  49. ^ "Qatar's Ali earns 2021 Gold Cup Top Scorer Award". CONCACAF. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  50. ^ "Turner, Funes Mori named to Best XI". CONCACAF. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.