Farhan Zulkifli
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Muhammad Farhan bin Zulkifli | ||
| Date of birth | 10 November 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Singapore | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger, attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Hougang United | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2017 | NFA U15 | ||
| 2018 | Home United U16 | ||
| 2019 | Hougang United U19 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019– | Hougang United | 60 | (3) |
| 2023-2024 | → Young Lions (loan) | 22 | (4) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017–2018 | Singapore U16 | 9 | (1) |
| 2019– | Singapore U19 | 6 | (0) |
| 2019–2021 | Singapore U23 | 6 | (1) |
| 2023– | Singapore | 5 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 September 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 December 2024 | |||
Muhammad Farhan bin Zulkifli (born 10 November 2002), better known as Farhan Zulkifli or just Farhan,is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for Singapore Premier League club Hougang United and the Singapore national team.
Club career
[edit]Hougang United
[edit]Farhan make his career debut coming on as a substitute and scored 12 minutes into his 2019 Singapore Premier League debut against Home United on 29 June 2019.[1][2][3] At 16 years and 231 days, he became the SPL's second-youngest ever scorer then.[4] Farhan was named in Goal Singapore's NxGn 2020 list as one of the country's biggest talents following his impressive start to life at Hougang.[5] He made a further 11 appearances for Hougang in the 2019 season.
Farhan would start both the 2020 Singapore Premier League season opener and the 2020 Singapore Community Shield.[6] However, the 2020 Singapore Premier League season hasn't been the best of years for Farhan, by his own admission. Farhan played in 12 matches and only had a solitary goal to his name.[7]
Farhan would go on to play a total of 1767 minutes in the 2021 season bagging 20 appearances however, he failed to score a goal once during the 2021 Singapore Premier League season.
2022 for Farhan could be called his breakout year as he managed to make 18 appearances for the team and scoring 1 goal during the 5–1 thrashing of Young Lions. Farhan also played a crucial role in Hougang United's triumph over Tampines Rovers in the 2022 Singapore Cup Finals, helping his team stun Tampines Rovers 3–2 to clinch the cup.[8]
Young Lions (loan)
[edit]On 12 July 2023, Farhan joined Young Lions on loan from Hougang United as he is undergoing his compulsory National Service. He was named the club vice-captain ahead of the 2024–25 Singapore Premier League season.
In November 2024, Farhan completed his National Service and returned to Hougang United.
International career
[edit]Farhan was first called up to the Singapore national team in 2019, for the friendly against Jordan on 5 October and the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan on 10 and 15 October respectively.[9][10][11]
In 2022, Farhan was called up to the national team for the 2022 AFF Championship tournament. He make his international debut against causeway rival, Malaysia.[12]
On 14 November 2024, Farhan scored his first goal for Singapore during a friendly match against Myanmar where he opened up the account in the 5th minute.[13]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of 10 October 2021.[14]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hougang United | 2019 | Singapore Premier League | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| 2020 | Singapore Premier League | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Singapore Premier League | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| 2022 | Singapore Premier League | 18 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | |
| Total | 60 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 4 | ||
| Young Lions | 2023 | Singapore Premier League | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| 2024–25 | Singapore Premier League | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | |
| Total | 18 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 78 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 8 | ||
International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 14 November 2024 | Singapore National Stadium, Singapore |  Singapore
|
1–0 | 3–2 | Friendly |
Honours
[edit]Club
[edit]Hougang United
- Singapore Cup: 2022
References
[edit]- ^ "Dream Singapore Premier League debut for Hougang United's Farhan Zulkifli thanks to wonder goal". The Straits Times. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ "From NFA rejection to Singapore call-up aged 16 - Inside the meteoric rise of Hougang hotshot Farhan Zulkifli | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Auto, Hermes (2 October 2019). "Football: Fleet-footed Cheetah Farhan Zulkifli on the fast track to becoming a Lion | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Impact 0352: Bouncing back from disappointment". Impact. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "From Ilhan Fandi to Farhan Zulkifli - Meet the future of Singapore". Goal.com.
- ^ "From Hariss Harun to Khairin Nadim - Meet Singapore Premier League's youngest debutants | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Impact 0352: Bouncing back from disappointment". Impact. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ cue (19 November 2022). "Football: Hat-trick hero Krajcek hails late brother after helping Hougang beat Tampines in S'pore Cup final | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- ^ "Football: Fleet-footed Cheetah Farhan Zulkifli on the fast track to becoming a Lion". The Straits Times. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- ^ "Singapore coach tweaks squad for S. Arabia, Uzbekistan games". The New Paper. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- ^ "From NFA rejection to Singapore call-up aged 16 - Inside the meteoric rise of Hougang hotshot Farhan Zulkifli". Goal.com.
- ^ Tan, Amanda (20 December 2022). "Five players in Singapore squad to take part in AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 for the first time". youthopia.sg. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- ^ "That Singapore were not happy with first win under Ogura is the biggest positive". ESPN.com. 14 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ Farhan Zulkifli at Soccerway. Retrieved 15 April 2019.