Irfan Bachdim

Early career

Irfan Bachdim started his football career at SV Argon in 1997 and moved in 1998 to the famed Ajax Youth Academy in Amsterdam, where he trained along with Mitchell Donald, Jeffrey Sarpong, Christian Supusepa and Ryan Babel. After three years there, he returned to SV Argon, where he became the youth league's top scorer despite his midfield position.

FC Utrecht

Scouts of FC Utrecht, a club that has never been absent from the top flight of Dutch football, recruited him in 2003. He started for FC Utrecht's junior team, all the while appearing on occasions for the senior reserve team. He made his debut for FC Utrecht in the Dutch top-tier league, the Eredivisie, on 17 February 2008, playing 90 minutes against VVV-Venlo. Bachdim joined the Indonesia national under-23 football team during a training camp that took place in the Netherlands. However, his debut in Indonesia's red and white colours had to be delayed because he was injured one week prior to the 2006 Asian Games.

HFC Haarlem

After FC Utrecht chose not to extend his contract, Bachdim signed for HFC Haarlem in July 2009 in a free transfer deal. In March 2010, he underwent trials in Indonesia for Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta. However, neither club signed him.

Persema Malang

Bachdim's desire to play in Indonesia was finally realised on 9 August 2010, upon his recruitment by the then-coach of Persema Malang, Timo Scheunemann, after the latter observed the former and…

Irfan Bachdim on 1 December 2010 debuted for the Indonesian national team at the 2010 AFF Championship and helped the squad reach the final match. His two goals in the competition propelled him into football stardom in Indonesia. From this point, he became a regular choice for the national team until late 2019 under different coaches. He was called up for the February 2020 national team training under new coach Shin Tae-yong.

Bachdim's father, Noval, is an Indonesian national of Arab descent born in Malang, East Java. He lived in the resort area of Lawang outside Malang before moving to the Netherlands in the 1980s, where he resettled and married Hester van Dijk, a Dutch national. Irfan was born in Amsterdam as the couple's second son and lived there until adulthood. As he has maintained his Indonesian nationality throughout his life, he is not considered naturalised. Irfan was born to a family of footballers. Noval formerly played for PS Fajar Lawang (an association member of Persekam Malang) in the 1980s. Additionally, Irfan's grandfather, Ali, played for Persema Malang in his hometown and PSAD Jakarta, a military team, as he also served in the Indonesian Navy.

Bachdim is a celebrity in Indonesia. He is well known for starring in many product advertisements including Pocari Sweat, Suzuki, Nike, and many more. He is one of the very select few Indonesian footballers who have appeared in other scopes outside of football. He is massively popular domestically among female fans due to his looks and personality. Bachdim is married to Jennifer Kurniawan, a model born to a Chinese Indonesian father and a German mother. She is also the older sister of footballer Kim Kurniawan, who joined Bachdim at PSS on 28 February 2021. The couple met when the two Europe-trained footballers explored opportunities to play in Indonesia in 2010. On 8 July 2011, Bachdim and Kurniawan tied the knot in Germany. On 5 February 2012, Bachdim's first child and daughter, Kiyomi Sue Bachdim, was born. Two years later, on 21 March 2014, Bachdim's second child and first son, Kenji Zizou Bachdim, was born. Their third, Kiyoji Bachdim, was born on 1 March 2021, a few days before Bachdim renewed his contract with PSS. The Bachdims reside in Bali, where they also run a clothing line.