Ahmad Ibrahim Khalaf

Ahmed Ibrahim Khalaf Al-Qafaje was born in Al-Qayyarah in Nineveh Province, some 75 km south of the city of Mosul. Ahmed starred for his local team Al-Qayyarah SC playing in defence and sometimes in midfield and was paid a handsome fee to turn out for the side. With no top division club in his home province, Ahmed moved to Al-Sharqat where he started his top flight career before he was signed by Salahddin and then Erbil, a move which opened the door for his international debut in 2010. Only two years after playing local football in Al-Qayyarah, Ahmed was lining up as a starter for the Iraqi national team against India in Sharjah and went onto be named in the 2011 Asian Cup squad.

Youth career

Ibrahim started his career at Al-Shirqat before moving to Salahddin in 2008.

Erbil SC

In 2009, at the age of 17, Ahmed, along with teammate Karrie Tariq, went to Erbil SC on a one-year contract which was worth 60m Iraqi Dinars. Other than his short stint at Al Wasl, Ahmad remained at Erbil for five years until 2014.

Loan to Al Wasl

In January 2013, he signed a six-month loan deal with Emarati side Al-Wasl, who he remained with until the end of the 2012–13 season. He made 12 appearances for the club and returned to Arbil in the summer of 2013.

Ajman

In the summer of 2014, Ahmed left Arbil to sign for Emariti club Ajman. He spent the season at Ajman making 29 league appearances and proving himself to be one of their key players.

Al Dhafra…

Senior

Ahmed is an established international for Iraq having already played nearly 65 matches for the national team before his 25th birthday. He is on track to become one of Iraq's most capped players and is a very important figure for the national team, being the first choice centre back. On November 11, 2010, Ahmed made his debut against India. Iraq won that match 2–0. He was brought into the squad at the last minute by coach Wolfgang Sidka replacing the injured Hussein Abdul Wahid and remained with the side ever since. On March 28, 2015, on his 50th cap, Ahmed scored his first goal for his country heading in from a corner by Yaser Kasim in a friendly match against DR Congo in the UAE. On March 28, 2017, in a World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia, Ahmed produced a world class goal line clearance which kept Iraq in the game. The clearance gained a lot of attention online.

U23

Ahmed Ibrahim was part of the squad that went to Brazil in the summer of 2016 for the Rio Olympics and was one of Iraq's standout players as his defending helped hold a Brazil team featuring Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Marquinhos and Gabriel Barbosa to a 0-0 draw. Iraq only conceded one goal in the Olympics and despite being knocked out after the group stages, went out undefeated.

Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.