Arif Aiman Hanapi

Arif Aiman bin Mohd Hanapi (born 4 May 2002) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim and the Malaysia national team.

Arif currently holds the record for winning the Malaysia Super League 'Most Valuable Player' award for fourth consecutive season.

Youth career Arif's talent was discovered during the Mykids programme in 2011/12, and he later joined the squad that won IberCup Costa Del Sol in 2015. He then decided to leave Mokhtar Dahari National Football Academy at the end of 2018 to join JDT Academy in order to increase his playing opportunities. After playing for JDT in the Youth and President's Cups, Arif Aiman caught the attention of Malaysia U19 squad coach, Bojan Hodak, in early 2019.

Arif is a product of the National Football Development Programme of Malaysia (NFDP) from 2015 to 2017 and then Johor Darul Ta'zim Academy. He played in all levels of the academy including JDT IV, JDT III, JDT II until he became a regular for the first team.

Arif began his senior club with Johor Darul Ta'zim after playing for the youth club few years back. In 2021, at age 19, he won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2021 National Football Awards ceremony and created the nation's history as the youngest player ever chosen as MVP, surpassing teammate Safawi Rasid, who was 21 when he was selected as MVP in 2018. He was also named Best Striker and Most Promising Player in that year's awards.

Club career Johor Darul Ta'zim FC Arif made his senior debut with Johor Darul Ta'zim II on 29 February 2020 in the 2020 Malaysia Premier League. He played 73 minutes in a 3–1 away win against Negeri Sembilan. Arif made his first appearance in the 2021 season against UiTM after his teammate Safawi Rasid was subbed off because of a knee injury. He also scored in that match. Arif was named in the 25 best ASEAN wonderkids in football. On 22 June 2021, he made his debut in 2021 AFC Champions League, which ended in a 0–1 loss against Japanese club Nagoya Grampus.

Sending JDT to their first ever knockout stage of the AFC Champions League On 30 April 2022, as Johor desperately needing a win to qualify for the round of 16 in the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage, he crossed the ball during the last kick of the match, which resulted Ulsan Hyundai player, Park Yong-woo to accidentally scored an own goal. Johor won the game with a score of 2–1 and qualified to the knockout stage as group leader. On 5 August 2022, Arif scored his first senior hat-trick for JDT during the 2022 Malaysia FA Cup semi-finals match against Penang. On 28 November 2022, he scored a goal in a friendly match against Borussia Dortmund in Johor's last match of in 2022.

On 2 February 2023, Arif started off his pre-season well in Dubai in the match against Russian club, Lokomotiv Moscow in which he ran past behind the goalkeeper and scored the only goal in the game. On 24 February 2023, he won the 2023 Malaysia Charity Shield for the third time in his career after a 2–0 over Terengganu. On 26 June 2023, he scored a first half hat-trick in the semi-finals of the 2023 Malaysia FA Cup against Selangor. It was also his back to back hat-trick for club and country. During the 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage match against Thailand club BG Pathum United on 3 October 2023, after the opponent, Victor Cardozo scored from the penalty spot, Arif scored 10 seconds after the game was restarted from kick-off after receiving a long ball pass from captain Jordi Amat. Arif then scored a brace in the 78th minute which secured a 4–2 win at the BG Stadium. On 7 November 2023, Arif assisted Akhyar Rashid who then scored the winner against Korean giants Ulsan Hyundai in a 2–1 home win. During the last AFC Champions League fixture against BG Pathum United at home, Arif recorded a goal and an assist in a 4–1 win over the Thailand club.

On 24 August 2024, Arif scored a goal during the 2024 Malaysia FA Cup final in a 6–1 thrashing win over Selangor. During the inaugural 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite against Chinese club Shanghai Port at the Pudong Football Stadium on 18 September 2024, Arif scored the opener after dribbling past three players before slotting the ball behind Yan Junling with his weak foot from outside the box, making him the first Malaysian ever scoring goal in AFC Champions League Elite. He then scored a brace in the 56th minute with his weak foot again to bring the score to 2–1 but unfortunately, both team settled the match at 2–2. In the next AFC Champions League Elite match at home against Chinese club Shanghai Shenghua on 1 October, Arif scored with his weak foot in the 10th minute to open up the account in the match, Johor Darul Ta'zim ended up victorius in a 3–0 win. On 8 December during a league match against Kuala Lumpur City, Arif scored a hat-trick with two of his goal scoring with a 30 yard screamer including a penalty in which JDT won 3–0. In April 2025, Arif made history for winning the Malaysia Super League 'Most Valuable Player' award for fourth consecutive season surpassing Norshahrul Idlan Talaha who has three awards.

International career

Arif made his first appearance for the Malaysia national team against Bahrain on 29 May 2021. His first competitive match with Malaysia was against Vietnam in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier as a substitution. He made his appearance in the 61st minute but the team eventually ended up losing 1–2. Arif was then included in the 2020 AFF Championship squad where he recorded two assists against Laos at the Bishan Stadium in a 4–0 win.

Arif converted a penalty kick against Solomon Islands in an international friendly match on 14 June 2023, which was his first international goal after 16 appearances with the national team. On 20 June 2023, he scored four goals in a 10–0 against Papua New Guinea, which made him the seventh Malaysian player to score more than three goals in one international match. On 16 November 2023 in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers match against Kyrgyzstan, as Malaysia was losing 3–1, Arif then recorded a hat-trick of assist which then see Malaysia gain the 3 points in a 4–3 comeback win.

During the 2023 AFC Asian Cup group stage fixture against South Korea on 25 January 2024, Arif scored from the penalty spot, giving Malaysia a 2–1 lead against the Asian giants.

Career statistics Club

International

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 14 June 2023 Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Terengganu, Malaysia 2–1 4–1 Friendly match 2. 20 June 2023 Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Terengganu, Malaysia 3–0 10–0 3. 4–0 4. 9–0 5. 10–0 6. 13 October 2023 Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2–1 4–2 2023 Merdeka Tournament 9 January 2024 Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–2 Friendly match1 7. 25 January 2024 Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar 2–1 3–3 2023 AFC Asian Cup 8. 9 October 2025 New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane, Laos 1–0 3–0 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification

1 Not FIFA 'A' International match.

Honours

Club Johor Darul Ta'zim Malaysia Super League: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024–25, 2025–26 Malaysia FA Cup: 2022, 2023, 2024 Malaysia Cup: 2022, 2023, 2024–25 Piala Sumbangsih: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

International Malaysia Pestabola Merdeka: 2024; runner-up: 2023 King's Cup runner-up: 2022

Individual FAM Football Awards – Most Valuable Player: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024–25 FAM Football Awards – Best Striker: 2021, 2022, 2023 FAM Football Awards – Best Midfielder: 2024–25 FAM Football Awards – Best Young Player: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Malaysia Super League Team of the Season: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024–25 Malaysia FA Cup Top Scorer: 2023