Ali Yousif

Ali Yousif
Personal information
Full name	Ali Yousif Hashim Najatee
Date of birth	19 January 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Iraq
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Al-Zawraa
Youth career
	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Senior career*
Years	Team
2014–2019	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
2016	→ Naft Al-Wasat (loan)
2017	→ Baghdad FC (loan)
2019–2022	Al-Shorta
2022–2023	Al-Zawraa
2023–2024	Sanat Naft Abadan F.C.
2024–	Al-Zawraa
International career‡
2017	Iraq U23
2021-	Iraq
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 June 2022; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 January 2022

Ali Yousif Hashim Najatee (Arabic: علي يوسف هاشم; born 19 January 1996), known as Ali Yousif, is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a forward for Al-Zawraa and the Iraqi national team.

Coming up through the youth ranks at Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Yousif broke into the first team in 2014, aged 18, and spent his early career with the Iraqi giants, spending the 2016-17 season out on loan at Naft Al-Wasat and Baghdad FC before returning to his parent club and establishing himself as a key player for them, winning the AFC Cup twice with the falcons, in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, he signed for defending champions Al-Shorta, allowing Yousif to play in the AFC Champions League for the first time in his career. He won his first trophy with Al-Shorta soon after joining, winning the 2019 Super Cup.

Club career

Al-Shorta

In the summer of 2019, Ali signed for defending Iraqi Premier League champions Al-Shorta,^[2] coming in as the replacement for former star and fan favourite Mohanad Ali, who had left to join Qatari side Al-Duhail for a rumoured $1.2 million.^[3] In February during Al-Shorta’s Premier League match against Al-Kahrabaa, Yousif suffered a bad injury which would end his season and keep him out for no less than 6 months. ^[4]

International career

Iraq

Yousif received his first international call-up as part of Iraq’s 2021 FIFA Arab Cup squad. He made his debut for Iraq in their final group match against Qatar, coming off the bench.^[5]