Ali Husni

Ali Husni
علي حصني

Personal information
Full name	Ali Husni Faisal
Date of birth	(1994-05-23)23 May 1994
Place of birth	Basra,Iraq
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Winger/Second Striker
Youth career
0000–2012	Al-Minaa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2018	Al-Minaa	100	(19)
2016	→Caykur Rizespor(loan)	0	(0)
2016–2017	→Al-Arabi(loan)	15	(4)
2018–2021	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
2021–2024	Al-Shorta	82	(8)
International career‡
2015–2016	Iraq U23	11	(3)
2014–	Iraq	26	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 July 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 July 2021

Ali Husni Faisal(Arabic:علي حصني فيصل;born 23 May 1994), is an Iraqifootballerand Olympian who plays as awingerforIraq Stars LeagueclubAl-Karmaand theIraqi national team.

He played at the2016 Rio Olympicsfor Iraq. In 2016 he signed for Turkish clubCaykur Rizesporbefore personal issues caused the contract to be terminated and he returned to his boyhood clubAl-Minaa.

Club career

Al Minaa

Ali Husni Faisal was born in 1994 and progressed through the youth ranks ofAl-Minaa.Ali started his career at his hometown clubAl-Minaa,the biggest club in the city ofBasraunder the supervision of Mohammed Abdul-Hussein. In 2012, he was named the player of the tournament at the Iraq School Championship and lifted the cup for the Basra Tarbiya XI, with a 5-1 victory over Baghdad Al-Karkh XI. He was part of the club's academy and broke into the first team in 2012.

He quickly established himself atAl-Minaabecoming a fan favourite and an important part of the club. He was the club's star player and scored and assisted in most matches. He played most of his games on the right midfield where he scored 18 goals in 85 league appearances over a span of 5 years. He has also played on the left wing and down the middle as an attacking midfielder.

At the start of the 2012-2013 season, the attacking midfield star had spent most of the early season on the sidelines with severe stomach pains and suffering fromanaemia,a decrease of red blood cells in his blood, which threatened his future in the game. Many at the club believed his football career was over.

While gaining a call-up to the youth team, the star ofGhazi Fahad’s youthful side has already caught the eye of the national coachVladimir Petrovićin 2013, according to the player, however he did not feel the time was right for him to make that step-up to the seniors.

″ “The national team masseur Abu Abdullah once told me that Petrović admired me, and it was very likely that I would be one of his selections, but in the future, I don’t currently feel that I’m ready to play for the national side. The reason is that I have not played for the nasheen (Under 17s), or the Shabab (Under 20s) and it is difficult to go directly and play for the national team.″”

Failed transfer to Çaykur Rizespor

Ali was announced by Turkish top flight clubCaykur Rizesporahead of the 2016/17Super LigSeason.A few weeks after signing the contract, however, his deal was terminated for personal reasons and disagreements over promises which were broken by the club. After his contract was terminated, he returned toAl-Minaa.

Al Arabi

Ali signed for Kuwaiti side Al Arabi on a 6-month deal on January 26, 2017.This made him the first Iraqi to play in Kuwait since 1991. He made his debut on February 2, 2017 in anEmir cupmatch VsAl-Salmiyaas a first-half substitute, coming on the field in the 41st minute. He assisted the only goal scored by his team as the match ended 1-1.He made 15 league appearances, scoring 4 goals as the team finished in 4th place.

Return to Al Minaa

Ali returned on August 20, 2017, having received his clearance to play hours before the match.Ali came on as a second half substitute in the second half of theIraq FA Cupsemifinals againstNaft Al-Wasat,and he scored on the 68th minute.

International career

Iraq National Team

The lively winger had long been touted as the future star of Iraq’s midfield but was continuingly ignored by former national coachHakim Shaker,in what seemed to have been a personal grudge against him for his public outburst after he was dropped from the2013 FIFA U-20 World Cupsquad. He would eventually make his senior international debut in the last minutes of a friendly game againstNorth Korea national teamon 21 February 2014 but was overlooked by the same coach for theAsian Gamesin Busan and theGulf Cupin Saudi Arabia. Radhi Shenaishil,the Iraqi manager at the time, called Ali up as part of the squad for the2015 AFC Asian Cup.Iraq eventually finished fourth in the tournament. Ali scored his first ever international goal against Chinese Taipei in the2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.Ali scored in back to back games, both off the bench, in theArabian Gulf Cup.

Iraq U-23

Ali was instrumental in Iraq winning the Bronze medal in the2016 AFC U-23 Championshipand their subsequent qualification to the2016 Rio Olympics.Ali scored 2 goals in the U-23 Championship, including the equalizer against theUAEin the quarterfinal which took Iraq to extra time and gave them a 3-1 win. He also got an assist, and positive attacking play made him one of the stars of the tournament.

Iraq national team goals

Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	3 September 2015	PAS Stadium,Tehran,Iran	Chinese Taipei	2–0	5–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	26 December 2017	Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium,Kuwait City,Kuwait	Qatar	2–1	2–1	23rd Arabian Gulf Cup
3.	29 December 2017	Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait	Yemen	1–0	3–0	23rd Arabian Gulf Cup

Honours

Club

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya

• AFC Cup:2018

Al-Shorta

• Iraq Stars League:2021–22,2022–23,2023–24
• Iraq FA Cup:2023–24
• Iraqi Super Cup:2022

International

• 4th Place in the2015 AFC Asian Cup
• 3rd Place in the2016 AFC U-23 Championship

External links

• Ali Husniat National-Football-Teams
• Ali HusniatOlympics at Sports-Reference(archived)