33·Legends
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Syria

The thirty-three greatest. Build your eleven, then settle the duels.
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The 33 of Syria

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1 OA 86 Omar Al-Somah 26 caps · 15 goals · Al-Fotuwa SC, Qadsia SCSyria were losing in Tehran deep into stoppage time on 5 September 2017 when Al Somah levelled it at 2-2 against Iran and sent his country into a World Cup play-off for the first time. He left Al-Ahli in 2022 as the Saudi Pro League's record scorer on 144 league goals, with the 2015-16 title, three consecutive Golden Boots, the King's Cup, and the 2014 AFC Cup and two Kuwaiti championships at Qadsia. ST2014–22
2 86 Omar Khribin Al-Wahda SC Damascus, Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaIn the 2017 Asian Champions League semi-final against Persepolis he completed a perfect hat-trick in Abu Dhabi, a header and one goal with each foot, with Al Hilal a man down from early in the second half. That season carried him to Asian Footballer of the Year, the first Syrian to take it, alongside the competition's top-scorer award with ten goals and three Saudi league titles in Riyadh. ST2011–2026
3 85 Firas Al-Khatib 51 caps · 26 goals · Al-Karamah SC, Al-Arabi SCA week after his debut he scored in Syria's 9-0 win over Laos on 11 May 2001, and eighteen years later, on 5 September 2019 against the Philippines, he became the first Asian to play in six World Cup qualifying campaigns. He remains Syria's record scorer with 36 goals in 72 caps, and in Kuwait he won four league titles, six Emir Cups and four golden boots, the last with 23 goals in 2015-16. SS2001–19
4 JA 81 Jehad Al-Hussain 90 caps · 10 goals · Al-Karamah SC, Najran SCThe 2009 AFC Cup final put him against Al-Karamah, the Homs club where he had spent seven seasons, and he finished the night a winner with Al-Kuwait and the tournament's joint top scorer on eight goals. Three Syrian league titles came with Al-Karamah between 2006 and 2008, along with 62 caps and ten goals for Syria, the 2011 Asian Cup, and three best playmaker awards in the Saudi league. CAM2006–11
5 RR 81 Raja Rafe 70 caps · 32 goals · Damascus Al-Ahli Club, Zakho S.C.A four-goal night at the Abbasiyyin Stadium in Damascus on 18 November 2007, as Syria beat Indonesia 7-0 in World Cup qualifying, is the return that still defines him. Thirteen years in the national side left Rafe on 32 goals in 84 caps, second only to Firas Al-Khatib among Syria's all-time scorers, with top scorer honours in the Syrian league across several seasons. ST2000s
6 AK 80 Abdul Kader Kardaghli 102 caps · Tishreen SC, Al-wathbaaSyrian crowds called him Malik, the King, and in Latakia on 25 September 1987 he was in the side that beat France's amateur team 2-1 for Mediterranean Games gold on home soil. A year later he was voted best player of the Arab Nations Cup as Syria finished runners-up, and his league record runs to a title with Tishreen in 1982, two with Al-Jaish in 1985 and 1986, a Syrian Cup in 1986 and the 1984 scoring title. CB1982–87
7 MA 80 Mahmoud Al-Mawas 88 caps · 15 goals · Riffa S.C., Umm Salal SCTwenty-two goals in the 2021-22 season made him the first foreigner ever to finish as top scorer in the Iraqi league, and Baghdad kept him at Al-Shorta for five years. He has 110 caps and 18 goals for Syria, including a hat-trick against the Maldives in June 2021, and at club level four straight Iraqi league titles from 2021 to 2025, the 2023-24 Iraq FA Cup, and Player of the Season in 2023-24. RM2021–25
8 AA 78 Abdelrazaq Al-Hussain Al-Taawon, Erbil SCSaudi Arabia came into the 2011 Asian Cup as three-time champions and lost their opening game 2-1 in Al Rayyan on 9 January, with both Syrian goals scored by Al-Hussain. He won the Syrian Premier League with Al-Jaish in 2009-10, reached the last sixteen of the 2005 Under-20 World Cup, took fourth place at the 2004 Asian Under-19 Championship, and finished runner-up at the 2009 Nehru Cup, all inside 56 caps and 12 goals. CM2004–11
9 AA 78 Ahmad Al-Saleh Al-wathbaa, Al-Arabi SCThe 74th minute of the WAFF final in Kuwait City on 20 December 2012 belonged to him, a single goal past Iraq that gave Syria the first title in their history. That WAFF Championship is the trophy on his record, and he added 56 caps between 2008 and 2022, a goal in the 2-2 draw with China during 2018 World Cup qualifying, and squads at the 2011 and 2019 Asian Cups. RB2008–22
10 78 Mosab Balhous Al-Karamah SC, Al-Wahda SC DamascusIn November 2006 he was Al-Karamah's goalkeeper in the AFC Champions League final, which the club from Homs lost 3-2 on aggregate to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. He reached a second continental final with them in the 2009 AFC Cup, won four Syrian league titles and four Syrian Cups, took the 2012 WAFF Championship with Syria, and finished with 86 caps between 2006 and 2016, at the time a Syrian record. GK2006–16
11 NJ 78 Nader Jokhadar 14 caps · 9 goals · Al-Wathba SC, Al-Faisaly SCEight minutes into Syria's 1996 Asian Cup, Jokhadar had put them in front against holders Japan on 6 December, and six days later he opened the scoring again in the 2-1 win over Uzbekistan that gave Syria their only victory of the tournament. Nine goals in fourteen caps is the record he left behind, built in barely two years, before long spells with Al-Wathba in Syria and Al-Faisaly and Al-Wehdat in Jordan. ST1990s
12 GM 77 George Mourad 5 caps · 1 goals · Västra Frölunda IF Fotboll, IFK GöteborgHe scored in Amman on 23 July 2011 as Syria beat Tajikistan 2-1, and then FIFA ruled his switch from Sweden had never been approved, threw Syria out of 2014 World Cup qualifying and sent Tajikistan through instead. The rest of the record is club work: 14 goals in 68 league games at IFK Göteborg, eight in 25 for Tromsø in 2010, a loan at Brescia, and caps for Sweden in 2005 before Syria in 2011. ST2005–14
13 MA 77 Moayad Al-Ajan Al-Wahda SC Damascus, Al-Karkh SCTwice in one night, on 26 March 2024, the left back arrived in the Myanmar box and finished, and Syria took that World Cup qualifier 7-0. Ajan reached 76 caps by September of that year, and his medals come from three countries: the Iraq FA Cup in 2016 with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, the Egypt Cup in 2018 with Zamalek, and the WAFF Championship with Syria in 2012. LB2012–24
14 MZ 77 Mohammad Zeno Seventeen goals in the 2008-09 Syrian Premier League made him the division's leading scorer in an Al-Majd shirt, and a year later he walked off with the same prize at the Nehru Cup in India. He won the 2004 AFC Cup with Al-Jaish, scoring in the 3-0 quarter-final win over East Bengal, and left the national team in 2011 with 15 goals from 48 caps. SS2004–11
15 OM 77 Omar Midani Al-Wahda SC Damascus, Al-Mina'a SCSyria had never reached a knockout round until the 2023 Asian Cup, and he was there in the number 5 shirt when the round of 16 against Iran finished 1-1 and went to penalties. Seventy-one caps stand behind that, along with the Syrian league title of 2013-14 and four Syrian Cups with Al-Wahda, the Kuwait Premier League in 2019-20, and an Egypt Cup final with Pyramids in 2019. CB2013–23
16 77 Sanharib Malki Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, Beerschot A.C.Roeselare had never scored a goal in Europe until Malki got one against Vardar in the first qualifying round of the 2006-07 UEFA Cup. The numbers that define him are club numbers: 45 goals in 100 games for Union Saint-Gilloise, then 42 in 65 for Roda JC between 2011 and 2013, alongside 28 caps and seven goals for Syria after his debut against Kuwait on 8 June 2008. LM2006–13
17 TD 77 Taha Dyab Ahli of Aleppo SC, Afrin SCOn 18 December 2010 he was handed a Syria debut in a friendly against Iraq and scored, which is a rare way for a holding midfielder to begin. Earlier that year he had won the AFC Cup with Al-Ittihad Aleppo, who beat Kuwait's Al-Qadsia on penalties in the final; he added the Syrian Cup in 2011 and was named in the Asian Cup squad. CDM2010–11
18 76 Aatef Jenyat Al-Karamah SC, Shabab Al-Ordon ClubOn 8 November 2006 Al-Karamah beat Jeonbuk 2-1 at the Khaled bin Walid Stadium in Homs and still went out of the Asian Champions League final 3-2 on aggregate; Jenyat gave that side six years and scored 22 goals in 85 league games from the flank. Four consecutive Syrian league titles from 2005-06, four Syrian Cups, a second continental final in the 2009 AFC Cup, 47 caps. CAM2005–09
19 IA 76 Ibrahim Alma Al-Wathba SC, Al-Shorta SCAlma has played for ten clubs since 2010, eight of them inside Syria, and kept the national team shirt through all of it, 79 caps by January 2024 from a debut in 2012. He won the Syrian league in 2012 with Al-Shorta and again in 2018-19 with Al-Jaish, three Syrian Cups in 2015, 2016 and 2023, two Syrian Super Cups, and the WAFF Championship with Syria in 2012. GK2010–24
20 MM 76 Mardik Mardikian Sohar SC, Al-JazeeraLatakia knew the surname long before it knew him, because his father Kevork Mardikian is rated among the finest Syrian footballers ever to play; the son made his own case in Oman, top-scoring for Sohar with 11 goals in 2013-14. He lifted the Iraqi Super Cup with Al-Shorta in 2022, played at the 2019 Asian Cup, and has 8 goals in 46 caps for Syria. LM2013–22
21 MO 76 Mohammed Osman Three caps for the Netherlands U16 came first, and then on 6 September 2018 he played the full ninety of his Syria debut against Uzbekistan, born in Qamishli and raised in the Netherlands. A KNVB Cup with Vitesse in 2016-17, 45 goals in 80 games for their second team, the 2019 Asian Cup with Syria and 32 senior caps with two goals. CM2016–19
22 NS 76 Nadim Sabagh Tishreen SC, Al-wathbaaBetween 29 June and 17 August 2011 a defender scored three times for Syria, against Iraq, Kazakhstan and Lebanon, which is most of what Sabagh managed in 43 caps. He played two matches at the 2011 Asian Cup, won the Syrian league with Al-Jaish in 2009-10, and then built a second career in Iraq: the Iraqi Premier League with Al-Zawraa in 2017-18, the FA Cup the year before, and the 2017 Super Cup. CB2009–17
23 WA 76 Wael Ayan Ahli of Aleppo SC, Al-FaisalyAn Aleppo boy who stayed home, he gave Al-Ittihad seven seasons between 2003 and 2010, 154 appearances and 34 goals from central midfield. The medals came in a cluster: the Syrian league in 2005, the Syrian Cup in 2005 and 2006, the AFC Cup in 2010, plus 47 Syria caps and losing Nehru Cup finals in 2007 and 2009. CM2003–10
24 AR 75 Ammar Ramadan Ferencvárosi TCSeven minutes was all he needed on 21 February 2026, a hat-trick in his 100th league match for DAC Dunajska Streda that beat Skalica 3-2. He had already become the first Syrian to score in the UEFA Europa Conference League, against Dila Gori on 13 July 2023; a Slovak Cup with Spartak Trnava in 2021-22, more than 100 league games and 29 goals for DAC, and Syria's 2023 Asian Cup squad complete the record. RM2021–26
25 FY 75 Fahd Youssef Al-Jehad SC Qamishli, That Ras ClubSyria did not give him a first cap until 2015, in a World Cup qualifier against Singapore, by which time he had spent nine seasons in club football without an international to his name. He made 44 caps and seven goals in the end, and Baghdad gave him the rest: four straight Iraq Stars League titles with Al-Shorta from 2021-22 to 2024-25 across 146 appearances, the Iraq FA Cup in 2023-24, and the Super Cup in 2022. CM2015–24
26 HA 75 Hamzeh Al Aitoni 11 caps · Damascus Al-Ahli Club, Al-YarmoukAt nineteen he was in the Syria side that came through a group with Italy and Canada at the 2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands and then faced Brazil in the knockout round. He served Al-Majd from 2004 to 2011, collected 11 senior caps, finished fourth at the 2004 AFC U-19 Championship and was a Nehru Cup runner-up with Syria in 2009. CB2004–11
27 OO 75 Osama Omari Al-Wahda SC DamascusDubai, 14 November 2019: his goal helped Syria beat China 2-1 in World Cup qualifying, and the following day Marcello Lippi resigned as China coach. He finished as the Syrian Premier League's leading scorer in 2016-17, has six goals in 39 caps with strikes against Iraq, Afghanistan, Cambodia and China, and played at the 2019 Asian Cup after eight years at Al-Wahda in Damascus. CAM2016–19
28 TJ 75 Tarek Jabban Al-wathbaa, PersepolisSixteen seasons at Al-Jaish, from 1994 to 2010, broken only by short loans to Kuwait and to Persepolis, and he wore the Syria captain's armband on top of that. His Al-Jaish years brought the 2004 AFC Cup, the first won by a Syrian club, in an all-Damascus final against Al-Wahda, plus six league titles and five Syrian Cups; for Syria, 35 caps, five goals and the 1996 Asian Cup. CB1994–2010
29 TK 75 Thaer Krouma Al-Wathba SC, Al-Shorta SCHe wore 13 in the Syria back line that reached the knockout round of the 2023 Asian Cup, a first in the country's history, and took Iran to penalties there after a 1-1 draw. His 46 caps include a first international goal at 33, against China in September 2023, and his club years ran from Homs through Iraq and Lebanon to Mumbai City, where he played 31 games. CB2020s
30 HM 74 Hamid Mido Ahli of Aleppo SC, Al-Mina'a SCAn Aleppo boy who joined Al-Ittihad at 17 in 2010, the year the club lifted Syria's first AFC Cup on penalties in Kuwait City, he then won the same trophy again in 2016 with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, the first Iraqi side to take it. Two continental titles with two clubs, an Iraq FA Cup in 2015-16, and 25 caps for Syria between 2012 and 2019. RB2010–19
31 KH 74 Kamel Hmeisheh Wearing 8, he was in the Syria team that reached the 2023 Asian Cup round of 16, the country's first knockout tie at the tournament, four years after his debut in a World Cup qualifier against the Philippines in September 2019. Twenty-seven caps to date, and Syrian league titles with Tishreen in 2019-20 and 2020-21, inside the club's run of three straight championships. CDM2019–23
32 KK 74 Khaled Kourdaghli Grandfather, father and uncles all played professionally in Syria, so he arrived at Tishreen carrying a name the domestic game already knew. He won back-to-back Syrian Premier League titles there in 2019-20 and 2020-21, has 40 caps since his debut in July 2019, and was in the squad that took Syria to the last sixteen of the 2023 Asian Cup. LB2019–23
33 MA 74 Mouhamad Anez Al-ArabiHis one goal for Syria came at the Arab Cup in Doha on 3 December 2021, two minutes after half time, sealing a 2-0 win over the Tunisia side that would reach the final. Forty caps since his debut against North Korea in July 2019, the number 14 shirt at the 2023 Asian Cup, and a working life spread across Bahrain, Iraq, the UAE, Lebanon and Indonesia. CDM2019–23

About this XI

Omar Al-Somah tops Syria's all-time pool, ahead of Omar Khribin and Firas Al-Khatib. The 33 covers 2 goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 14 midfielders and 7 forwards, spanning the 1990s to the 2020s. Omar Al-Somah leads the pool at 86 overall. Pick a formation, drag your eleven onto the pitch, then settle the duels below. Your votes reorder the people's ranking of these 33 in real time.

Left out, and why

A 33 is a set of decisions, and these are the players who lost their place in the last revision of Syria's list. Every one of them has a case.

Disagree? That is the point. Settle it in the duels above.

Who is the greatest Syria footballer of all time?
In the 33 Legends editorial ranking, Omar Al-Somah leads Syria with an overall rating of 86. The editorial top five: Omar Al-Somah, Omar Khribin, Firas Al-Khatib, Jehad Al-Hussain, Raja Rafe. The people's ranking on this page moves with every duel vote and can disagree.
How were these 33 Syria players chosen?
The pool covers every position across Syria's football history. Ratings weigh peak level, longevity, honours and historical standing, then the full methodology page explains the tiers. Fan votes in the duels build a second, independent ranking.
Which Syria players reach the Immortal tier or higher?
None yet. Omar Al-Somah leads the Syria pool at 86, in the Icon tier.
Can I build and share my own Syria all-time XI?
Yes. Pick one of eight formations, drag any of the 33 onto the pitch, and export your lineup as a PNG. There is no account and no sign-up.
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