Ahmad Hatifi
FullnameAhmad Arash Hatifi
Birth date13 March 1986 (age 40)
Birth placeOakland, California, United States[1]
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
CurrentclubAfghan Premier FC
Clubnumber10[2]
PositionMidfielder
Youthclubs 1East Bay United/Bay Oaks
Collegeyears 12005–2008
College 1UC Davis Aggies
Years 12012–2013
Clubs 1Bay Area Ambassadors
Years 22013–2014
Clubs 2Mumbai
Caps 215
Goals 21
Years 32015
Clubs 3Sacramento Republic
Years 42015
Clubs 4IFX Ballistic United
Years 52016–2018
Clubs 5CD Aguiluchos USA
Years 62019–?
Clubs 6Oakland Stompers
Years 72024–
Clubs 7Afghan Premier FC
Caps 710
Goals 72
Nationalyears 12011–2017
Nationalteam 1Afghanistan
Nationalcaps 134
Nationalgoals 14
Club-update29 March 2025
Nationalteam-update1 February 2016

Ahmad Arash Hatifi (born 13 March 1986) is a professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Afghan Premier FC in The League for Clubs.[3][2] Born in the United States, he played for the Afghanistan national team.

Club career

Youth

Born in Oakland, California, Hatifi grew up in Alameda, California, and attended Alameda High School, where he captained the varsity soccer team.[1] He then started to attend University of California, Davis in 2004 where played for the soccer team in 2005.[1] He captained the team in his junior and senior years.[4] After leaving college, Hatifi played for the Bay Area Ambassadors of the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of American soccer, from 2012 to 2013.[5]

Mumbai

On 1 November 2013 it was confirmed that Hatifi had signed with Mumbai FC of the I-League in India.[6] He made his debut for the side the next day against Bengaluru FC at the Balewadi Sports Complex, in which he started and played 87 minutes as Mumbai drew the match 2–2.[7]

International career

In 2007, Hatifi was selected to play for Afghanistan in the World Cup qualifiers against Syria and Sri Lanka.[5] He scored his first goal for his country on 20 August 2013 against Pakistan in which he found the net in the 32nd minute as Afghanistan went on to win the match 3–0.[8] He then won his first ever championship with Afghanistan on 11 September 2013 when his country won the 2013 SAFF Championship by beating India 2–0.[9] On 22 May Hatifi scored the second goal in Afghanistan's 3–1 victory over Turkmenistan at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. This was also Afghanistan's first every victory at the AFC Challenge Cup in eight attempts.[10]

After Afghanistan's 0–0 draw with Laos that confirmed their progression out of the group stage, an accident occurred while the Afghan players were being driven back to their hotel. Hatifi suffered injuries along with teammates Zohib Islam Amiri, Faisal Sakhizada, Balal Arezou, and Mustafa Azadzoy, the latter of which had to take three weeks off to recover, while Hatifi was set to miss two weeks. All five players were set to miss the semi-finals against Palestine. Former coach Mohammad Yousef Kargar and current coach Erich Rutemöller also suffered minor injuries.[11][12][13][14]

Career statistics

Club

[15]

ClubSeasonLeagueFederation CupDurand CupAFCTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Mumbai2013–14I-League15100————151
Career total151000000151

National team statistics

Afghanistan national team
YearAppsGoals
201130
201381
Total111

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
120 August 2013Ghazi Stadium, Kabul, AfghanistanPakistan2–03–0International friendly
222 May 2014Addu Football Stadium, Addu City, MaldivesTKM2–03–12014 AFC Challenge Cup
328 December 2015Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, IndiaMDV3–14–12015 SAFF Championship
431 December 2015Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, IndiaSri Lanka4–05–02015 SAFF Championship

Honours

Afghanistan

References

  1. ^ "AHMAD HATIFIE". UC Davis. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  2. ^ "APFC". Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Ahmad Hatifie - Roster". NISA Nation. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  4. ^ "Afghan Premier Profile". Afghan Premier FC. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Ahmad Hatifie". National-Football-Teams. Archived 3 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Mumbai FC rope in Afghanistan's Hashmatullah Barikzai and Ahmad Hatifie". Goal.com. Archived 4 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  7. ^ "MUMBAI VS. BENGALURU 2 – 2". Soccerway. Archived 23 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  8. ^ Allen, Karen (20 August 2013). "Afghanistan beat Pakistan 3–0 in Kabul friendly". BBC. Archived 11 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  9. ^ Bali, Rahul. "Afghanistan 2–0 India: The Lions of Khorasan win their first ever SAFF Championship title". Goal.com. Archived 17 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  10. ^ "AFC Challenge Cup: Afghanistan 3–1 Turkmenistan". AFC. 23 May 2014. Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Afghan contingent suffers minor injuries in team bus accident". AFC. 25 May 2014. Archived from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  12. ^ Shimaaz Ali (25 May 2014). "Five Afghan players to miss semi". Maldives Soccer. Archived from the original on 2014-05-26. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  13. ^ Mohamed Sajid (25 May 2014). "Afghanistan is all over worried". Maldives Soccer. Archived from the original on 2014-05-27. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  14. ^ Shimaaz Ali (24 May 2014). "Afghan five players injured due to the accident". Maldives Soccer. Archived from the original on 2014-05-26. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  15. ^