Younis Mahmoud

Profile Overview

Younis Mahmoud Khalaf (Arabic: يُونُس مَحْمُود خَلَف; born 3 February 1983) is an Iraqi former professional footballer who played as a forward for the Iraq national team and is currently the president of the Iraq Football Association. One of the country's greatest ever players, Mahmoud captained the team for ten consecutive years and became an icon of Asian football. He also played for a number of clubs in the Iraqi Premier League, the UAE Arabian Gulf League, the Qatar Stars League and the Saudi Pro League, and is the only foreign player to have won three top scorer awards in Qatar.
Mahmoud's first international goal was an equaliser in the 89th minute of the final of the 2002 WAFF Championship, which Iraq then went on to win in extra-time. Three years later, Mahmoud scored in the final of the 2005 West Asian Games to lead his team to another title, before becoming the national team captain a year later. In 2007, Mahmoud achieved the best honour of his career, leading his country to win the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, their first such success, scoring the winning goal in the final and also winning the Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player awards at the tournament. In the 2007 Ballon d'Or, Mahmoud finished in 29th place, becoming the only Iraqi player ever to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or.
Mahmoud played in all three of Iraq's 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup matches and scored in the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup in 2013, before retiring in 2016 as the most-capped player in Iraq's history and their third-highest goalscorer ever. He is also the only player in history to score in four different AFC Asian Cup tournaments, with one goal in 2004, four in 2007, one in 2011 and two in 2015.