Akram Afif is a Qatari professional footballer of Somali and Yemeni origin who plays as a left winger for Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd and the Qatar national team.

Early in his career, he was considered to be one of the most promising players to emerge from Qatar. Akram has been named in a three-man shortlist for the Asian Football Confederation’s men's player of the year for bringing the 2019 Asian Cup to Qatar. He won the Asian Footballer of the Year award in 2019.

Club career

Youth career

Akram Afif was born in Doha to a Yemeni father from the Yafa tribe. His father was born in Tanzania and lived in Somalia, his mother is from Yemen. He started off in the youth teams of Al-Markhiya and then Al Sadd before joining the Al Sadd as a full-time student in 2009. During his time at Aspire, Afif traveled to Spain on an exchange student program and played for the youth teams of Sevilla and Villarreal.

He represented Sevilla in the 2013 Al Kass International Cup, netting a brace and earning an assist in the team's first match, which ended as a 3–0 victory against Aspire Academy.

Afif later joined Villarreal's youth team.

Eupen

In January 2015, Afif was signed by Belgian club Eupen. He scored a goal in his debut against Eendracht Aalst on 19 January. On 24 January in his next match against KRC Mechelen, he assisted in three of his side's five goals.

Afif finished his first senior season with two goals in nine matches. On 18 March 2016, he scored a brace in a 4–0 home win against KSV Roeselare.

Villarreal

On 8 May 2016, it was confirmed that Afif would be rejoining Villarreal, this time on a permanent deal. In doing so, he became the first Qatari-born signing in La Liga history. On 4 August, he was loaned to fellow top tier club Sporting de Gijón in a season-long deal.

International career

Afif featured in Qatar U20's AFC U-19 Championship qualification campaign in 2014. During the main tournament, he scored the lone goal in the final against DPR Korea to give Qatar the victory.

He was called up to the senior national team in September 2015 by coach Daniel Carreño. He scored in Qatar's 15–0 win against Bhutan on 3 September 2015 during the 2018 World Cup Qualification rounds. He also registered an assist in the match.

During Qatar's successful 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign, Afif played a paramount role in helping his team lift the trophy.