Akram Afif: A Player Like No Other in Asia
The eyes of the world were on Al Bayt Stadium on 20th November 2022. What was this Qatar team going to be like? Were they going to be able to compete with the world’s best? Or a token team only there as a byproduct of hosting the world cup?
It didn’t begin well, a concession inside 3 minutes. Luckily, VAR ruled the goal out. Ecuador’s opening goal followed not long after, in the 16th minute. An Enner Valencia penalty, and Qatar limped to a 0–2 defeat. The tournament didn’t get much better for the hosts, with further losses to Senegal and the Netherlands, condemning them as the first host nation at a world cup to fail to win a game.
In amongst all this in the opening game was a Qatari forward gone rogue. Akram Afif, the Al-Sadd player who had spent the majority of his career in Qatar (minus spells in Europe at Eupen in Belgium and Sevilla, Villarreal and Sporting Gijon in Spain). Attackers are ‘supposed’ to attack, they’re ‘supposed’ to be up the pitch to make chances, score goals, take the limelight for their sides success.
But Afif was in his own half. Afif was as deep as a forward player could conceivably be. Picking the ball up off the defensive line. Was this the desperation of a player who wanted to advertise himself to a world audience of his technical qualities? If you’d just watched him for the first time, probably.
But this is just what Akram Afif does. This is what makes him the mercurial talent he is. This makes him the player that won the AFC player of the year in 2019. This is what makes coaches build the whole side around him.
Arkram Afif is like no other player in Asia, and we’ve seen it throughout this most recent asian cup. There’s been players who have stepped up in this tournament to show their great passing, positioning, dribbling ability, but Afif is a player who’s been able to show it all, whatever his team needs from him in that moment. This has added up to a player who is now a 2-time asian cup winner and the 2023 tournament’s top scorer and MVP.
The article takes a look at Afif throughout the 2023 Asian Cup (played in 2024), and the versatility he has shown throughout.
Qatar’s system: freedom to roam
While this Qatar team has had some strong performers throughout the tournament (Meshal Barsham, Lucas Mendes & Hasan Al Haydos were all name in the team of the tournament alongside Afif), the side is predominantly tooled to allow Afif a free role. Al Annabi have varied during the tournament, but have kept a similar base structure. Through the tournament they’ve switched between 3–5–2, 3–4–3 and 4–3–3.
In the opening game, Qatar lined up in a variation of 4–3–3 with Afif on the left whilst Al Haydos on the right of a front 3. In the knockout stages, Afif typically took up the role of second striker in something more akin to a 3–5–2. Free to move into gaps between midfield and defence (usually on the left), whilst Almoez Ali pinned the defensive line with his movement off the ball. Al Haydos on the left side of the midfield three, allowing for better combinations with Afif.
In the final, the 4–3–3 was nearer a 4–2–3–1. Al haydos in and advanced position centrally. Afif wide on the left, with the base of midfield occupied by Ahmed Fathi and Jassem Abulsallem.
As seen in that opening world cup game, Afif has the freedom within the system to move in to space as he sees fit. He can move wider to get away from pressure, drop deeper to get on the ball, move from one side of the pitch to the other to form better combinations. A pitch map of his actions from the opening game v Lebanon shows just how he can get everywhere:
Dropping Deep
Afif has the freedom within the system to move out of the usual zones forwards occupy to get on the ball. In the opening game v Lebanon, within the opening stages, he’s alongside midfielder, Fathi, receiving the ball almost on the halfway line:
While he can drop into those areas to get possession and carry the ball, he can also take up these positions to play line breaking passes. Again in that opening game, he drops deep, receives and a first time pass in behind that sets Yusuf Abdurisag off. Whilst he can get to the ball, the attack leads to nothing:
He can also drift into deeper wide positions, away from pressure and in increased space. How much the team plays for Afif is on show in these moments. Mendes moving the ball to Afif even though he has options to progress the ball, and Mohammed Waad moving centrally to free up more space for Afif:
Lost In Plain Sight
In Afif’s quest to find spaces where he can get on the ball, he also has the tendency to move away from the ball, out of the sight of the defensive block.
A prime example of this is the round of 16 game v Palestine. Usually he will find himself around the left half space and wing where Qatar typically build play. This gets him on the ball, and in their 3–5–2 tooling, positions him closer to Al Haydos to combine. However, in the first half of this game he would position on the right side, away from the build up.
Even if the ball moved to the right hand side, typically to RWB, Pedro, he would rarely move closer to combine, instead moving away from the ball and into the box to attack Pedro’s crosses. This was also the case when the attacks continued wide left, positioning away from the ball, out of the sight of defenders, before making late runs into the box:
Al Haydos Combinations
Even back in 2018, the AFC’s profile of Akram Afif mentions the on-pitch relationship that he had with long-time teammate Hassan Al Haydos:
‘Since joining Al Sadd, Afif has developed a telepathic understanding with fellow attacking midfielder Hassan Al Haydos, which sees the pair make up a core creative force for club and country.’
The pair have played together for the national team since 2015 and at Qatari side, Al Sadd since Afif’s return from Europe in 2018. With both preferring to play on the left side, their positioning allows for them to be in close proximity, l ideal distances to combine. In the second half v Palestine, Afif moved back towards the left and the combinations between the pair eventually led to the penalty that Afif would convert and seal progression to the quarter finals:
And even in transition moments, they can combine at break-neck speed to open space to counter attack:
Their combinations aren’t just limited to short-range passing. Their movement off the ball can also help each create openings. The best example of this is the build up to Qatar’s 3rd goal v Iran in the semi final. Afif receives wide in a 1v3 situation. Al Haydos makes a lung-busting overlapping run around him, pulling a defender far enough away from Afif to get a cross in. Whilst the cross was unsuccessful, the ball eventually lands at the feet of Almoez Ali to score the winning goal:
Last Line Attacker
While Afif has a great relationship with club and national teammate Al Haydos, he also compliments Almoez Ali, and positions well off of him in his second striker role. If Almoez is in a deeper position, either freeing himself from a defensive marker or trying to win the ball back, Afif will position on the last line. Afif is then ready to make the run in behind once the ball is won or a teammate can spot him making the run. His goal v Tajikistan is a good example, and although you can claim some controversy with the referee obstruction, as soon as the opening is there, Afif is on the move:
And even in wider positions when Almoez is occupying his usual centre forward position, Afif will look to make runs in behind when the space presents itself:
He can also make these runs as a striker himself in the absence of Almoez. In the final group game v China, coming off the bench, his cameo in the game highlighted his ability to penetrate via his off the ball movement. Afif constantly made channel runs to get the ball in space:
Afif The Dribbler
A quick search on YouTube of any player will typically bring up the obligatory, ‘Skills, assists, goals’ and ‘Welcome to …’ videos. This usually will provide a glimpse into the type of player they are, and with Afif it’s no different. The majority of these on Afif highlight his dribbling ability, both when taking on players and evading pressure whilst maintaining possession:
During the asian cup, his other qualities were more prevalent, but that didn’t meant his dribbling skill was not on show. according to Opta/The Analyst data, of all outfield players at the Asian Cup, he ranked joint 1st for shot ending carries (8), goal ending carries (2) and chance creating carries (5).
He’s been able to showcase a range of dribbling styles, varying touches and speed to commit defenders, off-balance them and exploit space:
Shake and shimmy to resist pressure from behind:
Or exploit space by bursting through with the ball to create chances (and goals):
Conclusion
In 2019, Qatar and Afif announced themselves as a force to be reckoned with. 1 goal and 10 assists, the most of any player at an Asian Cup, won him the 2019 AFC player of the year. While the world cup was supposed to be the crowning glory, it instead turned into a largely witnessed disaster. The 2023 asian cup was somewhat of a redemption story, crowning Al Annabi as back-to-back champions at the iconic Lusail Stadium.
Afif, with 7 goals, 1 assist, the tournament’s golden boot and MVP, will take the accolades. But the tournament was also a showcase of his varied skillset. He can be a dribbler, a goalscorer, a creator, can position in relation to teammates or away from the ball to find the spaces he can get the ball and dismantle defences. While he ranked 1st in carries, he also ranked high in open-play expected assists (3rd, 1.23xA) open-play chanced created (tied 11th, 7) and non penalty expected goals (9th, 1.62xG).
Yet most football fans won’t have even seen this. Playing in Qatar and out of the eyesight of most European fans, his quality almost goes unnoticed. Umear ‘Umir’ Irfan notes in his excellent piece on the importance of the Asian Cup:
‘This platform also acts as advertisements for domestic leagues outside of Europe. It’s a big shame that a player like Qatar’s Akram Afif doesn’t have his ability beamed into homes across the world every weekend. His all-encompassing quality — with the ability to pick up the ball from the central defenders, roam into midfield, and all the way into attack — is how young children who play in playgrounds wish to play. And yet his magical command of the football would be a mystery to European audiences without the presence of the AFC Asian Cup.’
Stephen Ganavas on the Scouted Football Podcast made a similar point of how playing domestically has stunted his chances of (re)joining the top table in Europe:
‘When you’ve got a player like Akram Afif, who I honestly think has to go down as one of the best players the AFC has ever produced, and I don’t say that lightly. But unfortunately he’s probably never going to play big-time European football, but I think he’s a player that could easily play [at a] good champions league level. […] The dominant player of the tournament by a country mile.’
No other player in this asian cup, has been able to showcase such a diverse portfolio of work, and be as dominant on the pitch. Akram Afif, a player like no other in Asia.