Bassam Al-Rawi

Bassam Hisham Ali Al-Rawi (; born 16 December 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Al-Duhail and the Qatar national football team. Born in Iraq, he represents the Qatar national team.

Personal life Born in Iraq, Bassam was naturalized to represent the Qatar national team. Bassam's father, Hisham Ali Al-Rawi, played for the Iraq national football team in the 1990s. His brother Ahmed is also a footballer. Bassam attended school in Qatar before being admitted to the Aspire Academy.

International career

2019 AFC Asian Cup Bassam made his appearance for Qatar in a 0-1 loss to Czech Republic in Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium. He was included in Félix Sánchez Bas' Qatari squad for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates. He made his first international goal on 9 January 2019 against Lebanon. On 22 January, he scored his second international and the winning goal for Qatar against his country of origin, Iraq, which helped his team reach the quarter-finals of the competition. His team would eventually conquer the Asian title for the first time.

Eligibility dispute On 30 January 2019, soon after the 2019 Asian Cup semi-final tie between the UAE and Qatar, which Qatar won 4–0, the UAE Football Association lodged a formal appeal on the fact that Bassam did not qualify to play for Qatar on residency grounds of the Article 7 of the FIFA statutes, which states a player's eligibility to play for a representative team if he has "lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association". It was claimed that Bassam had not lived continuously in Qatar for at least five years over the age of 18. On 1 February 2019, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee dismissed the protest lodged by the United Arab Emirates Football Association.

Career statistics International

International goals Scores and results list Qatar's goal tally first.

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 9 January 2019 Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates 1–0 2–0 2019 AFC Asian Cup 2. 22 January 2019 Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 1–0 1–0 2019 AFC Asian Cup

Honours Al-Duhail Qatar Stars League: 2017–18, 2019–20 Emir of Qatar Cup: 2018, 2019 Qatar Cup: 2018

Qatar AFC Asian Cup: 2019, 2023

Individual AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 2019 Qatar Stars League Team of the Year: 2023–24