Shariff previously played for S.League clubs Sembawang Rangers FC, Young Lions and Tampines Rovers FC. He was brought into the Tampines Rovers squad from the Young Lions after a stint with Sembawang Rangers FC, largely as a back-up player for the 2007/2008 highlighting season. However, due to teammate Sead Muratovic's failure to pass the annual fitness test, he became a major part of the first team's fixture in the S-League. He then joined Home United FC in 2010. He was also known as a hot-tempered player, and was once handed out an eight-month ban by the Football Association of Singapore for throwing a punch at a Geylang United FC player, Peter Bennett in a S-League match when he was a Sembawang Rangers FC player. Shariff spent half a season in the NFL Division 2 side Admiralty FC during the first half of 2012, and it was announced that he would rejoin S.League side Tampines Rovers for the second half of their 2012 season. However, he failed to break into the squad and was released at the end of the season. On 2 February 2013, Shariff was unveiled as a Woodlands Wellington player during the team's pre-season fanfare. He made his debut for the Rams on 5 March 2013 in an away game against his former club, Home United FC. Shariff put in an outstanding performance against the Protectors, his clearance off the line of Masato Fukui's shot being heralded as the turning point of the game by Woodlands coach, Salim Moin, during the post-match conference. Shariff rejoined Tampines for the 2014 season, but was not retained for the 2015 season and played for another NFL side Singapore Recreation Club that year. He then was signed by Geylang International for the 2016 season, but was released at the end of the season.
International career
He first earned an international call-up for the games against North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia and the UAE. However, he was unable to break into the squad back then under Radojko Avramović. In 2013, Shariff was called up by new national coach Bernd Stange due to his impressive performances for Woodlands Wellington in the S.League. He made his international debut on 4 June 2013, coming on as a substitute against Myanmar in a friendly match in Yangon.
On 31 May 2001, Shariff encountered the 8-member gang 369, known as Salakau, who attacked him and his two other friends while they were walking along South Bridge Road. The gang killed one of his friends, then-17-year-old football playerSulaiman bin Hashim. During the attack, Shariff, who was named Muhammad Shariff bin Abdul Samat in court documents at that time, was stabbed on the back but survived. Six of the attackers were eventually arrested, jailed and caned, but the remaining two assailants remains at large till this day. On 10 November 2015, Shariff assaulted his brother-in-law over an incident. He was later found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt to his brother-in-law and on 24 May 2016, he was sentenced to 2 weeks' jail. On 10 February 2020, Shariff died of a heart attack at the age of 36, leaving behind a wife and 4-year-old daughter.
