Omar Kharbin


Omar Maher Kharbin is a Syrian footballer who plays for Al-Hilal in the Saudi Professional League and for the Syrian national team. He can be deployed as a left winger or second striker. In 2017, Kharbin became the first Syrian ever to win the Asian Footballer of the Year.

Club career

Early career

Born in Damascus, Syria, Kharbin started playing football at a young age, after he saw his older brother Mohamed playing it. Omar's talents started showing when he joined Al-Wahda's youth team.

Al Wahda

Kharbin was handed his debut aged just 15 in 2009. He played 4 seasons in the Syrian top division. He moved to the Iraqi League in 2013.

Al Quwa Al Jawiya (loan)

In the Summer of 2013, Kharbin joined Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya In the Iraqi Premier League, until 2015.

Al Mina'a (loan)

On 6 August 2015, Kharbin signed for Al Mina'a, signing a one-year contract with the club. After two and a half seasons in the Iraqi league Kharbin moved to the Emarati League in winter 2016.

Al Dhafra (loan)

In January 2016, Al Dhafra signed Kharbin on a one-year loan deal from Al-Wahda, with an option to buy permanently. In his debut, he scored his first goal for his new club against Al Ain FC. From January to May 2016, he played 12 matches, scored 9 goals, and got one assist. The Emirati club signed him permanently in July after an impressive performance. His team finished 8th in the league.

2016–17 season

He continued his outstanding performance, playing 14 matches in the league, scoring 8 goals and getting 4 assists. In January 2017, so many local and Asian clubs tried to sign Kharbin, but failed because his club accepted an offer from Al-Hilal.

Al Hilal (loan)

On 16 January 2017, Al-Hilal signed him on a six-month loan. The loan fee was $1.3 million. Famous Argentinian footballer and the former coach of Al Hilal Ramon Diaz was the one who told the club management to sign him. Kharbin said that he was very happy and is going to achieve his dream to play in Saudi Professional League. On 28 January 2017 he made his debut in a 1–0 win against Al Ittifaq, playing the full 90 minutes. After five days, he scored his first goal and saved Al Hilal from defeat against mid table Al Qadisiyah. The match ended 1–1.
On 9 February, he led his club to a 2–0 victory against Al Faisaly. He made his debut in the AFC Champions League on 21 February against Iranian side Persepolis. The match ended in a 1–1 result and he didn't score in that match. In March 2017, he scored a crucial goal against Al Ittihad FC in the Saudi El Clasico. This was the first goal he had scored against a strong opponent. Omar finally scored a goal in Champions League against Al-Wahda.
On 20 April, he scored a Panenka against Al Shabab. The match ended, with Al-Hilal winning 2–1. He with his teammates helped Al Hilal to win the league for the first time in 6 years. In the last game of the league, he scored his first hat-trick in Saudi Professional League in 5–1 against Al Nassr which boosted his 2016–17 season tally to 9 goals in 16 games. On 8 May, he scored twice against Al Rayyan and helped Al Hilal to get first position in Group D of AFC Champions League.

Al-Hilal

On 19 June 2017, Al-Hilal officially bought Kharbin for 44 million riyals on a four-year contract. Omar started the first match of the season against Al-Fayha, and he scored a penalty which made Al-Hilal win 2–1. On 10 August, Omar scored the first goal against Al-Taawoun in the 14th minute, Omar and his team won 4–3. On 26 September 2017, Omar scored a hat trick, beating Persepolis 4–0 in the first leg of their AFC Champions League semi-final. On 17 October 2017, Omar scored both of Al-Hilal's goals against Persepolis in the 2nd leg of the AFC Champions League semi-final, ending the match with a 2–2 draw. Al-Hilal won 6–2 on aggregate, going through to the final, thanks to Omar's 5 goals scored in the 1st and 2nd leg of the semi-final. Al-Hilal however, lost the final to Urawa Red Diamonds with Kharbin scoring in a 1–1 draw in the 1st leg, then a 1–0 loss in the 2nd leg by Rafael Silva sealed the deal for Urawa Red Diamonds and won their second title. Kharbin's injury in a match against Al-Ittihad on 13 January 2018 ruled him out of Al-Hilal's final squad in AFC Champions League 2018.
The following season was complicated from the very beginning, with the new players coming to Al-Hilal. Omar participated in just 4 matches as a substitute in the league after the first half of the season.

Pyramids (loan)

In winter 2019, he moved to Egyptian side Pyramids on a loan deal until the end of 2018–19 season, he had a promising start as he scored in his first match against Zamalek in 24 January 2019 and 4 goals in his first 5 matches.

Career statistics

As of 26 December 2019.

International career

On 20 November 2012, Kharbin was called up for the Syrian team and made his first International friendly games against Palestine.
In 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, he was part of the 10th matches in the third stage and the two matches against Australia in the knockout stage, he just scored 3 goals although, he scored 7 goals in the second stage.
In AFC Asian Cup 2019, he played the whole 90 minutes of the three matches, although, he didn't participate in any of the friendly matches who preceded the tournament for different reasons. He made considerable effort in the tournament comparing the whole squad and scored 1 goal against Australia. He said after Australia match that there are a lot of hidden stuff happened behind the scenes.
In September 2019, the Syrian Football Federation announced that Kharbin was discharged from the national team due to multiple times of uninformed absence. However, Kharbin played against Maldives on 10 October.

International goals

NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.26 March 2013Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad, Iraq1–11–2Friendly
2.11 November 2013Prince Mohammed Stadium, Zarqa, Jordan1–01–2Friendly
3.5 March 2014Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan1–21–22015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
4.12 November 2014Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia3–03–0Friendly
5.15 November 2014Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia1–02–0Friendly
6.5 June 2015Al-Seeb Stadium, Seeb, Oman2–02–1Friendly
7.11 June 2015Samen Stadium, Mashhad, Iran6–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.8 September 2015Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia1–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.8 September 2015Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia3–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
10.17 November 2015National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore1–02–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.17 November 2015National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore2–12–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
12.24 March 2016Al-Seeb Stadium, Seen, Oman1–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
13.24 March 2016Al-Seeb Stadium, Seen, Oman2–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
14.23 March 2017Hang Jebat Stadium, Malacca, Malaysia1–01–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.31 August 2017Hang Jebat Stadium, Malacca, Malaysia1–03–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.31 August 2017Hang Jebat Stadium, Malacca, Malaysia2–13–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
17.30 December 2018Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates1–01–0Friendly
18.15 January 2019Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates1–12–32019 AFC Asian Cup

Honours

Club

Al Hilal
Syria