аÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û

A goalkeeper- Image by Phillip Kofler from

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Mohamed Faisal

Mohamed Faisal is a Maldivian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dhivehi Premier League club, Club Valencia and the Maldives national team. He was born on August 4^th, 1988.

He is well known for his sportsmanship and the fact that he has been able to represent his country quite well in the field of sports.

He is also respected with regards to the fact that he is a very talented goalkeeper and the ball hardly misses his grasp.

1. Faisal made his debut as a teenager

Teenage footballers in Burkina Faso- Author; Elodie Ouelo-

Faisal began his career with Club All Youth Linkage and made his debut as a teenager in 2006 Third Division.

He started every match of the season in goal and secured promotion to Second Division football as league runner-up.

In his second year, Faisal won both Second Division and Dhivehi League (first division) in 2007 with Club AYL and Victory Sports Club while on loan.

He also helped Club AYL promote to Dhivehi League for the first time in the club’s history.

He later played for Victory, Valencia, Club Eagles, New Radiant and Da Grande Sports Club. He joined Valencia on a swap deal on deadline day 2020 from Da Grande Sports Club.

2. He was mostly used as a backup goalkeeper

Substitute football players- Author; Fanny Schertzer-

Since his national team debut in 2009, he was mostly used as a backup goalkeeper and only earned the number one spot following Imran Mohamed’s retirement from international football.

He led Maldives to win the 2018 SAFF Championship as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

3. In 2006, Faisal helped his team gain promotion to the top division

A football game- Photo by Waldemar Brandt on

Born in Fenfushi, Maldives, Faisal started his playing career with Club All Youth Linkage in 2006, where he helped the team gain promotion to the top division from Third Division, during his four years at the club.

During his first season, they gained promotion to Second Division as 2006 Third Division runner-ups, also winning the best goalkeeper award.

4. Won second division in 2007

Football trophy win- Image by 3D Animation Production Company from

Faisal won Second Division and Dhivehi League both in 2007. He first claimed 2007 Second Division with Club AYL but failed to get promoted to first division in the play-off.

He was then loaned to Victory Sports Club for the rest of the season as their first choice Imran Mohamed got injured, and won the first division with them.

5. Mohamed Faisal again won another best goalkeeper award in 2008

Victory celebration- Image by Daniel Reche from

In 2008, Faisal earned another best goalkeeper award despite Club AYL being runner-ups in the 2008 Second Division.

They also gained promotion to first division football, winning the playoffs.

6. Made his debut in the Asian Football Confederation cup in 2010

Asian Football Confederation trophy cup- Author; SuperJew –

Faisal left Club AYL to play for Victory SC in 2010, making his debut in the AFC Cup against Indonesian club Sriwijaya. He won the FA Cup and President’s Cup in his first two seasons.

In 2012, Faisal fractured a bone in his left ankle in the AFC Cup qualifying round against Al-Tilal which sidelined him for five months.

On 2 November 2012, Faisal signed for Club Valencia on a one-year deal for the 2013 season.

7. Became Club Eagles player in 2014 and helped the club qualify to the president’s cup for the very first time in its history

Image by Ben Kerckx from

Faisal became a Club Eagles player on 25 February 2014. He helped Club Eagles, qualify for the President’s Cup for the first time in the club’s history, after securing third in the league.

They reached the final where they lost to the only goal which came in extra time.

8. Suffered an injury but returned a season later and secured victory

Injury while playing- Source; football.ua-

On 9 April 2015, Faisal suffered an ACL injury during the pre-season training with Club Eagles. After a gap of one season without a game, Faisal returned for Club Valencia on 7 January 2016.

They became the ultimate champions of the 2016 FA Cup, defeating the league runner ups TC Sports Club in the final, thus ending a trophy drought of 8 years for the club.

On 25th July 2017, Faisal joined New Radiant as Club Valencia failed to secure a top 4 spot in 2017 Malé League.

On 28 May 2019, Faisal signed up for Da Grande Sports Club . He spent one season with the club until returning to Club Valencia for the third time, on a deadline day; 5th, December 2020, swap with Mohamed Jazlaan.

9. Faisal made his 3^rd debut in 2021 by keeping a clean sheet on the goalless draw

Photo by Ian Higbee on

On 21 January 2021, Faisal made his third Valencia debut against the newly promoted Super United Sports in the last game week of Dhivehi Premier League first round, keeping a clean sheet in the goalless draw.

During a Premier League match against United Victory on 22 April 2021, Faisal suffered a hamstring injury, forcing him to make way for Mohamed Shafeeu in the 40th minute of the game.

Faisal made his international debut on 18 April 2009, against Bhutan in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualification. He kept a clean sheet to his name in the game as Maldives won by 5–0.

10. In the 2010 south Asian games, Mohamed Faisal won bronze with the national under 23 team

Football celebrations- Author; Jimmy Baikovicius-

In 2010, he was called up for the 2010 South Asian Games, where he won bronze with the national under-23 team. He only played the third place play-off match against India, in which he saved two penalties to win the penalty shoot-out.

Following the retirement of then goalkeeper Imran Mohamed, Faisal was the number one goalkeeper for the national team since 2017.

His first major tournament was the 2018 SAFF Championship in which they won the tournament for the second time in their history, also winning the best player award.