Alaa Abdul-Zahra

Early life

Abdul-Zahra was born in Baghdad, Iraq. Affectionately nicknamed 'the Kaká of Iraq' road towards fame looked relatively straightforward. At the age of 16, he got his playing career off to a dream start when he was discovered and signed by Iraqi powerhouses Al-Zawraa.

Al-Zawraa

In 2004 at the age of 16, Abdul-Zahra made a move to Al-Zawraa. He was part of Al-Zawraa's squad for the AFC Champions League in 2005 with the number 29 shirt. A year later he won with them the Iraq Super League in 2006.

Mes Kerman

After the AFC Youth Championship 2006, Abdul-Zahra signed a one-year contract with the newly promoted Iranian Premier League club Mes Kerman. He played 11 times for them and scoring 4 goals, as the team finished in 7th place, before moving to play in Jordan.

Shabab Al-Ordon

Abdul-Zahra signed with Duhok FC Before the start of Iraq Super League (2007-2008) but he did not go to Iraq, Instead he signed another contract with the Jordanian club Shabab Al-Ordon, and claimed that signing with Duhok FC was incomplete. On 29 December 2007, in his first appearance with Shabab Al-Ordon, Abdul-Zahra scored his first goal with his new team against Hussein Irbid in Jordan Cup, helped his team to win 3–2 and qualify to the quarterfinals. On 3 January 2008, Abdul-Zahra played his second and last match with Shabab Al-Ordon this season against Al-Arabi Irbid in Jordan League, which they won 2–3.

Al-Merrikh

Abdul-Zahra and his Olympic…

He first made his mark on the international scene with Iraq's youth team at the 2004 AFC Youth Championship in Malaysia. Two years later, he would repeat this feat prominently at the 2006 AFC Youth Championship, where the striker finished as the tournament's second-top scorer with four goals despite his team's early exit at the quarter-final stage. From there, he went on to showcase his talents in Asia's qualifying final round for the Olympic Football Tournament Beijing 2008 by topping the scoring charts with a six-goal haul. At senior level, he featured in two of Iraq's eight qualifying matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup at South Africa, coming off bench to play in a goalless draw against Pakistan before featuring in the 2–0 loss to Qatar. Alaa played for the Iraq national team from June 2007 to January 2018, scoring 15 goals. In October 2019, he was called up by Iraq team for games against Hong Kong and Cambodia.

Abdul-Zahra, a playmaker and offensive play, and is often involved in passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativity, and passing ability. and More recently play striker.

Club

As of 14 July 2024

International

As of 29 May 2021 Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Abdul-Zahra goal.