Nawaf Al-Aqidi

Nawaf Al-Aqidi
Al-Aqidi with Al Nassr in 2023
Personal information
Full name Nawaf bin Dhahi bin Faisal Al-Suwaiti Al-Aqidi
Date of birth (2000-05-10) 10 May 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Al Nassr
Number 44
Youth career
Al Nassr
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Al Nassr 31 (0)
2022 → Al-Tai (loan) 7 (0)
International career‡
2019–2021 Saudi Arabia U20
2021–2022 Saudi Arabia U23 21 (0)
2023– Saudi Arabia 4 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Saudi Arabia
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Winner 2022 Uzbekistan
WAFF U-23 Championship
Runner-up 2021 Saudi Arabia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 January 2024

Nawaf bin Dhahi bin Faisal Al-Suwaiti Al-Aqidi (Arabic: نواف بن ضاحي بن فيصل الشويطي العقيدي; born 10 May 2000) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Saudi Arabia national team and Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr.[2]

Career

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Club

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Nawaf began his career for the youth team of Al-Nassr. On 30 June 2019, he was chosen in the Saudi program to develop football talents established by General Sports Authority.[3] He signed his first professional contract with Al-Nassr on 8 August 2019.[4] He returned from the program due to family circumstances and was promoted to Al-Nassr's first-team on 31 December 2019.[5] On 11 January 2020, he was named on the bench for the first team the league match against Al-Ittihad.[6] On 30 September 2021, Al-Aqidi made his debut for Al-Nassr in the league match against Abha.[7] On 30 January 2022, Al-Aqidi joined Al-Tai on loan.[8] He made his debut on 12 February 2022, in the 3–1 win against Al-Batin.[9] He made 7 appearances and kept 3 clean sheets for Al-Tai before returning to Al-Nassr at the end of the season.

International

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Saudi Arabia U23

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He played for the Saudi Arabia U20 national team but was not part of the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship qualification, in which Saudi Arabia qualified with two wins and one draw. However, with the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, he was able to redeem himself in the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup with a spectacular performance, guiding the team to conquer the first title without conceding a single goal and a near perfect record with only Japan managed to hold Saudi Arabia a draw.

He was also summoned for the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey, which was delayed to 2022 due to the same reason. Al-Aqidi once again impressed in the tournament without conceding a single goal in the group stage until the semi-finals, when he finally conceded a goal after eight consecutive clean sheets, in Saudi Arabia's 2–1 win over Algeria, albeit it was from a penalty rather than an open play. In the final, Al-Aqidi finally conceded the first ever open play goal after nine games, which was against the hosts Turkey in a pressuring attempt that saw Metehan Altunbaş netted, yet that goal proved disastrous as Saudi Arabia proved unable to break the Turkish defence as Saudi Arabia's hope to win the second major tournament in the same year crashed by this 0–1 loss.

Senior

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On 18 November 2021, Al-Aqidi called up to the senior side for the first time to take part in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup.[10] He made no appearances in the competition, as Saudi Arabia exited at the group stage.

On 11 November 2022, Al-Aqidi was named in the squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[11] He didn't play a single game in the tournament as third choice keeper to Mohammed Al-Owais and Mohammed Al-Rubaie, as Saudi Arabia again crashed out of the group stage despite historic win over Argentina in the opener.

On 30 December 2022, Al-Aqidi was named in the squad for the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup.[12] He started in all three matches, as Saudi Arabia again failed to progress from the group stage. However, under the coaching of Roberto Mancini, Al-Aqidi was excluded from the squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[13]

Honours

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Al-Nassr

Saudi Arabia U23

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: List of players: Saudi Arabia" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 24. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Nawaf Al-Aqidi-". Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  3. ^ "21 لاعبا يفتتحون برنامج ابتعاث وتطوير المواهب".
  4. ^ "إدارة النصر تُوقع عقود إحترافيه مع الحارس نواف العقيدي".
  5. ^ "نواف العقيدي يعود من إسبانيا للمشاركة في تدريبات النصر".
  6. ^ "Saudi Pro League Al-Nassr vs Al-Ittihad".
  7. ^ "ABHA VS. AL NASSR 1 - 3".
  8. ^ "رسميًا.. الطائي يتعاقد مع حارس النصر". 30 January 2022.
  9. ^ "AL TAI VS. AL BATIN 3 - 1".
  10. ^ "23 لاعباً في قائمة المنتخب السعودي لبطولة كأس العرب".
  11. ^ "Renard announces the national team list for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar". Saudi Arabian Football Federation. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  12. ^ "الشهري يعلن قائمة الأخضر المشاركة في كأس الخليج 25 بالبصرة".
  13. ^ "Mancini in spotlight as off-field issues dampen Saudi Arabia's Asian Cup bid". The Guardian. 17 January 2024.
  14. ^ "دياز المدرب الأفضل.. وسليتي والمعيوف والعقيدي يحصدون جوائز مايو ويونيو".
  15. ^ "عضو مجلس إدارة الاتحاد السعودي لكرة القدم الدكتور خالد المقرن سلّم جائزة أفضل حارس في البطولة للاعب المنتخب السعودي نواف العقيدي".
  16. ^ "Saudi Arabia's Nawaf Alaqidi named Best Goalkeeper". the-AFC. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  17. ^ "توج حارس فريق النصر السعودي، نواف العقيدي بجائزة أفضل حارس في بطولة كأس الملك سلمان للأندية 2023" (in Arabic). Union of Arab Football Associations. 12 August 2023.
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