Mubarak Mustafa

Mubarak Mustafa Fazli (; born 30 March 1973) is a Qatari former footballer who formerly worked as a sports analyst for Al Kass and now works for BeIN Sports as a sports analyst. He is known for his numerous achievements with Qatari club Al-Arabi, as well as being the former captain of the Qatar national team.

A former forward, he is one of the most prominent figures in the history of Qatari football and was an integral component of one of Qatar's best-ever national sides in the early 1990s alongside Khalid Salman, Mahmoud Soufi and Adel Khamis. According to RSSSF, he was previously the top scorer for Qatar with 41 goals.

Early life Mustafa was born in Umm Ghuwailina, a suburb of Doha located near Al Arabi's club headquarters.

Club career

Al-Arabi Mustafa was spotted by a talent scout while playing in a domestic school league at an early age. He accepted an offer to play in Al-Arabi's junior teams where he instantly stood out among his peers.

Capitalizing on this shortly after, Al-Arabi placed Mubarak Mustafa in the successful senior squad, although it was initially difficult to get a starting position in the squad. He eventually earned a permanent place in the squad after showcasing his goal-scoring ability, securing Al-Arabi's place as Qatar's best club side at the time. He reached the peak of his career in 1994, when he led the dream team into the finals of the 1994 AFC Champions League, eventually losing to Thai Farmers Bank with a score of 1–0. In the process of Al-Arabi's Champions League campaign, they became the second Qatari team to make it to the finals of the AFC Champions League, the other club being Al Sadd.

Mustafa is also the only player in history to win the Arab Golden Boot and Arab Player of the Year award in a single season. He was also the top scorer in the Qatar Stars League three times: the first being in the 1991–1992 season, the second in the 1992–1993 season, and the final time being in the 1996–1997 season.

His exploits earning him recognition internationally; he represented the Asian XI in a match in 1999 against the Thailand national team. Asian XI lost 4–1, with Mustafa netting the team's only goal from a spot kick in the 75th minute.

Al-Khor In a move which shocked many fans, Mustafa left Al-Arabi in 2003 to join Al Khor after a string of disappointing seasons for Al-Arabi, due to personal disputes with certain officials and players in the club. Mustafa led Al-Khor to their first major trophy in 46 years in just two seasons after Al-Khor beat Al Gharafa in 2005 to claim the Qatar Crown Prince Cup for the first time in the club's history.

Al-Gharafa In 2006, Mustafa moved to Al-Gharafa, one of the most successful teams in the Qatar Stars League. He helped them finish second in the league, as well as making it to the finals of the Qatar Crown Prince Cup. He retired from professional football in 2007, at the age of 34.

International career Mustafa started his senior international career at the age of 19. He helped establish the Qatar football team on the international stage, claiming many achievements in his time playing for the Qatar national team, most notably the 11th Arabian Gulf Cup in 1992, where he won the top scorer and man of the tournament award. He also led Qatar to the quarter-finals of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and won the 1998 Arab Nations Cup. He played for Qatar in the 1998 World Cup Qualifiers, scoring two goals in the group stage and securing the top position in their group before getting eliminated in the final round.

In a match at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Mustafa scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Egypt, registering the first competitive win in Qatar's history against an African nation.

Mustafa had a reputation of being a fair player, having been shown no red cards in his international career. He later received the World Fair Play Trophy in 2005. Mustafa officially retired from international football in 2004.

Post-retirement

After retiring from professional football, Mustafa was appointed the Director of football of Al-Arabi. He still occasionally manages the first team.

In 2009, Mubarak Mustafa became the first Qatari to receive the International Olympic Committee's annual ideal player award. Mustafa stated that the award represented an honor for Qatar sport and Qatar Olympic committee (QOC).

On 17 October 2011, Mustafa played a tribute game in honour of deceased Emirati player Theyab Awana. The game was between Al-Salmiya Stars and Arab Stars, with Mustafa playing for the former. Adel Khamis also took part in the match. The match took place in Thamir Stadium. Mustafa scored 2 early goals to give him a brace, however the visitors equalized in the second half and eventually narrowly won 7–6.

On 28 April 2012, after a very unsuccessful season for Al Arabi which saw them finish on par with their joint lowest standing in the league, he announced that he would be leaving the club as director of football at the end of the 2011/12 season. Shortly after, he joined Al Kass as a sports analyst.

Career statistics International

Scores and results list Qatar's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Qatar goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Mubarak Mustafa No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 3–0 4–0 1992 AFC Asian Cup qualification 2 4–0 3 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–1 1–1 Friendly 4 Hiroshima Stadium, Hiroshima, Japan 1–0 1–1 1992 AFC Asian Cup 5 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–0 11th Arabian Gulf Cup 6 2–0 7 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 4–0 4–0 11th Arabian Gulf Cup 8 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 4–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification 9 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–1 4–1 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification 10 4–1 11 Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–0 3–1 Friendly 12 3–1 13 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–3 2–5 Friendly 14 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 3–0 3–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 15 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 6–0 6–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 16 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–1 2–1 1998 Arab Cup 17 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–0 1998 Arab Cup 18 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–3 1–3 1998 Arab Cup 19 Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain 2–5 2–6 14th Arabian Gulf Cup 20 Suphan Buri Provincial Stadium, Suphan Buri, Thailand 2–0 2–1 1998 Asian Games 21 Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 1–1 2–1 1998 Asian Games 22 Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–0 Friendly 23 2–0 24 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar ?–0 3–0 Friendly 25 ?–0 26 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 1–0 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification 27 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–0 3–1 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification 28 Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–1 3–1 Friendly 29 Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 1–0 Friendly 30 Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 1–0 3–1 2001 King's Cup 31 Hong Kong Stadium, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong 3–1 5–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 32 Hong Kong Stadium, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong 2–1 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 33 Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 1–0 2–1 Friendly 34 2–0 35 Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat, Oman 2–0 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 36 Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–0 2–0 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification 37 Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait 1–0 3–0 17th Arabian Gulf Cup 38 Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait 2–1 2–1 17th Arabian Gulf Cup 39 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–0 Friendly 40 Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 5–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 41 2–0

Honours Al Arabi Qatar Stars League: 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 AFC Champions League Runner up: 1994 Sheikh Jassem Cup: 1995 Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 1997 Emir of Qatar Cup: 1993

Al Khor Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2005

Individual Qatar Stars League Top Scorer: 1992 Arabian Gulf Cup Top Scorer: 1992 Arabian Gulf Cup Best Player: 1992 Arab Golden Ball: 1992 Qatar Stars League Top Scorer: 1993 Arab Golden Boot: 1993 Arab Player of the Year: 1993 Qatar Stars League Most Assists: 1996 Qatar Stars League Top Scorer: 1997 Qatar Stars League Most Assists: 1998 Arab Cup Most Valuable Player: 1998 World Fair Play Trophy by the International Fair Play Committee: 2005 International Olympic Committee Ideal Player Award: 2009