Sport

Mahmoud Soufi (Maxmuud Suufi)

Mahmoud Yassen Soufi (died 2 June 2019) was a Mogadishu-born footballer who played for Qatar. He played for Qatar's national team from 1988 to 1999, scoring 31 goals in 83 matches, and helped win Qatar's first Gulf Cup in 1992. He holds the record for most World Cup qualifying goals by a Qatar player, 12. A pitch at Aspire Zone is named after him.

Last checked 2026-11-12 1 source Reading time: 1 min

Mahmoud SoufiMaxmuud Suufi · Mahmoud Yassen Souf

Lived
? to 2019
Known as one of
Sport
Era
The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
Sources
1 sources

Who was he?

Mahmoud Soufi was a naturalised Qatari footballer who played for Al-Gharafa in the 1980s and for Qatar's national team in the 1980s and 1990s (Wikipedia, Mahmoud Soufi). See sport in Somalia.

Early life

He was born in Mogadishu and moved to Qatar as a young adult (Wikipedia). He first played basketball for Al-Ittihad, and was advised to switch to football by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Faisal Al Thani (same source).

Club career

He joined Al-Gharafa in 1984–85 (Wikipedia). He was joint top scorer of the Qatari league in 1990–91 with 8 goals and in 1993–94 with 9 (same source). With Al-Gharafa he won the Qatar Stars League in 1991–92 and 1997–98 and the Emir of Qatar Cup four years running, 1995 to 1998 (same source). He moved to Al-Arabi in 1998 and also played for Al-Sadd and Muaither (same source).

Qatar national team

He played for Qatar from 1988 to 1999, scoring 31 goals in 83 matches (Wikipedia). He helped Qatar win its first Arabian Gulf Cup in 1992, scoring against Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (same source). He scored 12 goals in 20 World Cup qualifiers, a Qatari record (same source).

Wikipedia says that after he retired his Qatari citizenship was withdrawn and he had to return to Somalia (same source).

Death and memory

He died on 2 June 2019 (Wikipedia). For the FIFA U-17 World Cup, Pitch 8 at Doha's Aspire Zone was named after him (same source).

In short

A Mogadishu-born striker who scored 31 goals for Qatar and won the 1992 Gulf Cup.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Mahmoud Soufi · en.wikipedia.org

Mahmoud SoufiMaxmuud Suufi · Mahmoud Yassen Souf

Lived
? to 2019
Known as one of
Sport
Era
The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
Sources
1 sources

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