Ishfaq Ahmed

Ishfaq Ahmed (born 17 March 1983) is an Indian football coach and former footballer. He is currently serving as the head coach of the I-League club Real Kashmir and the India national under-17 football team.

He is also a member of the AIFF technical committee. He is considered as one of the most technical strikers in the Indian football. Ishfaq is one among the two professional footballers, along with Mehrajuddin Wadoo, to come from Jammu and Kashmir. He has represented the country and has played in the I-League and the Indian Super League for several clubs, including Dempo, Mohun Bagan, Salgaocar, East Bengal, Mohammedan, Kerala Blasters, Pune F.C, and Mumbai F.C. He has also won the league title while also winning domestic cups such as the Federation Cup and Durand Cup.

Club career Early career Born in the Barbar Shah locality in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ahmed started his sports career as a cricket player. Despite more opportunities to play cricket, Ahmed admitted that his first sporting love was football and he started to play the game at Biscoe School while also playing for the local side, YMCA. At the age of seventeen, Ahmed lead YMCA to the state league title, becoming the state top scorer in the process while playing as a striker.

Due to his performance during the Dutta Ray Trophy, Ahmed was awarded the best player of the tournament award. After the tournament, Ahmed signed with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). During his only season at HAL, Ahmed scored seven goals in the National Football League, including strikes against major sides such as East Bengal, Dempo, and Churchill Brothers.

Later career After four years with Mohun Bagan, Ahmed moved back to Goa to sign with I-League side Salgaocar. He made his debut for the side on 30 October 2014 against Pune City. He came on as a 25th-minute substitute for Ramandeep Singh as the Blasters won 2–1. Ahmed then went on to score the first goal for Kerala Blasters in leg 1 of the 2014 Indian Super League playoffs match-up against Chennaiyin. His 27th-minute strike was the first of a 3–0 rout of the Chennai side.

After the season ended, Ahmed joined Pune for the I-League campaign on loan before rejoining Kerala Blasters for 2015. After the Indian Super League season, on 26 February 2016, it was announced that Ahmed would join another I-League side on loan, Mumbai for the 2015–16 season.

Mohammedan on 26 May 2017, it was announced that Ahmed would join I-League 2nd Division side on loan, Mohammedan for next two season.

International career After good performances for Dempo, Ahmed was called up to the India U23 side by head coach, Stephen Constantine, for Olympic qualification. After Coppell's departure from Jamshedpur he also left the club. In 2019 Ishfaq returned to Kerala Blasters as their assistant coach under the newly appointed head coach Eelco Schattorie.

In 2020 he extended his contract with the Blasters for another 3 years. On 17 February 2021, Ishfaq took over as the interim head coach at the Blasters after the head coach Kibu Vicuna and the club decided to part away on mutual consent. He managed the club in the last two games of the season.

After the Blasters' 2022–23 season, the club announced that they have mutually parted ways with Ishfaq as their assistant coach.

In October 2023, he joined I-League club Real Kashmir as new head coach. On 28 October, in the 2023–24 season opener, his team earned a 2–0 victory over Rajasthan United.

AlFF committee member On 23 March 2017, Ishfaq was selected to the All India Football Federation's Technical Committee member.