Ali Karimi (footballer, born 1994)

This article is about the footballer born in 1994. For other players, see Ali Karimi (disambiguation).

Ali Karimi
Karimi With Esteghlal in 2020
Personal information
Full name Ali Nozar Karimi[1]
Date of birth (1994-02-11) 11 February 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Isfahan, Iran
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Kayserispor
Number 6
Youth career
2004–2012 Sepahan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Sepahan 65 (4)
2016 Dinamo Zagreb II 9 (0)
2016–2017 Dinamo Zagreb 1 (0)
2017 → Lokomotiva (loan) 8 (1)
2017–2018 Sepahan 20 (1)
2018–2020 Esteghlal 53 (7)
2020–2021 Qatar SC 7 (0)
2021 →Al-Duhail (loan) 9 (0)
2021– Kayserispor 50 (5)
International career‡
2014–2016 Iran U23 18 (6)
2016– Iran 19 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 September 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 November 2023

Ali Nozar Karimi (Persian: علی کریمی; born 11 February 1994) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays for Kayserispor as a central midfielder.

Club career

Sepahan

He joined Sepahan in the summer of 2012. From 2010 to 2012, he was a member of Sepahan under-19 football team.[2] Karimi made his first league appearance in the 2013–14 season. He won the Persian Gulf Pro League with Sepahan in the 2014–15 season.

Dinamo Zagreb

2016–17

On 1 July 2016, Karimi joined Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on a five-year contract for a reported US$400,000 transfer fee.[3] He is the first Iranian to play in Croatian Prva HNL. Karimi made his preseason debut on 2 July 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute against Romanian club CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu.[4]

Loan to Lokomotiva

Karimi joined Dinamo Zagreb's feeder club Lokomotiva in January 2017 on a 6-month loan. He finally got a chance to show off his power and control in the midfield as he started six games for Lokomotiva, set up multiple goals and scored his first goal in the Croatian league for the NK Lokomotiva on 26 April 2017 in a 1–0 league victory against Istra 1961.

Esteghlal

On 15 July 2018, Karimi joined Esteghlal signing a one-year contract with the club.[5]

Qatar SC

On 1 November 2020, Karimi joined Qatar SC, signing a one-year contract with the club.

Kayserispor

In July 2020, Karimi joined Kayseispor as a free agent.

International career

Youth

He was invited to Iran U-23 training camp by Nelo Vingada[6] in preparation for Incheon 2014 and 2016 AFC U-22 Championship (Summer Olympic qualification). He was named for the Iran U23 and on the final roster for Incheon 2014.[7]

Senior

Karimi was called to the national team in March 2014 but did not play a game. He was called up again to the senior Iran squad for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against India in September 2015.[8] He made his debut against Papua New Guinea on 10 November 2016 in a friendly match.[citation needed]

In May 2018, he was named in Iran's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[9] but did not make the final 23 because of injury.[10] He was included in the final list for the 2022 World Cup by Carlos Queiroz.

Career statistics

Club

As of 3 April 2024[11]
Club Season League National cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sepahan 2012–13 Persian Gulf Pro League 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
2013–14 18 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 22 2
2014–15 19 0 0 0 — 0 0 19 0
2015–16 28 2 4 1 6 0 0 0 38 3
Total 65 4 4 1 11 0 0 0 80 5
Dinamo Zagreb II 2016–17 Druga HNL 9 0 0 0 — 0 0 9 0
Dinamo Zagreb 2016–17 Prva HNL 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Lokomotiva (loan) 8 1 0 0 — 0 0 8 1
Sepahan 2017–18 Persian Gulf Pro League 20 1 0 0 — 0 0 20 1
Esteghlal 2018–19 Persian Gulf Pro League 26 2 2 0 5 1 0 0 33 3
2019–20 27 5 4 1 6 2 0 0 37 8
Total 53 7 6 1 11 3 0 0 70 11
Qatar 2020–21 Qatar Stars League 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Al-Duhail 2020–21 Qatar Stars League 9 0 5 1 6 0 2 0 22 1
Kayserispor 2022–23 Süper Lig 21 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 25 2
2023–2024 27 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 28 3
Total 48 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 53 5
Career total 220 18 22 3 28 3 2 0 272 24

International

As of matches played 21 November 2023[12]
Iran
Year Apps Goals
2016 1 0
2017 6 0
2018 3 0
2019 1 0
2020 2 0
2022 3 0
2023 3 0
Total 19 0

Honours

Sepahan

Iran U23

References

  1. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: IR Iran (IRN)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 15. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ پیروزی جوانان فولاد مبارکه سپاهان در دیداری تدارکاتی Archived 28 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "کریمی: آقایان هر کاری کردند تا به اروپا نروم".
  4. ^ @CroSports_ (2 July 2016). "Ali Karimi is making his Dinamo Zagreb debut (albeit preseason). He is coming on in the 75th minute (Dinamo Zagreb vs Panduri)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "علی کریمی به استقلال پیوست" [Ali Karimi joined Esteghlal] (in Persian). Varzesh3.com. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  6. ^ "لیست ۳۱ نفره وینگادا برای تیم ملی امید".
  7. ^ "بازیکنان اعزامی تیم ملی امید به اینچئون مشخص شد". ffiri.ir. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  8. ^ "India vs Iran". fifa.com. 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 September 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  9. ^ "World Cup 2018: All the confirmed squads for this summer's finals in Russia".[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Carlos Queiroz Names Provisional Iran Squad for FIFA World Cup 2018". IFPNews.com. 20 May 2018.
  11. ^ Ali Karimi at Soccerway
  12. ^ Ali Karimi at National-Football-Teams.com