Born: 10 October 1982 in Khobar (Saudi Arabia)
Nationality: Saudi
Height: 1.77m
Weight: 72kg
Position: Forward
Career as a player: 1992-1995: Al Aqrabiya (Saudi Arabia). 1995-2001: Al Qadisiya (Saudi Arabia). 2001: Al Najmah (Bahrain). 2001-2005: Al Qadisiya (Saudi Arabia). Since 2005: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia).
Honours as a player: Arab Cup winner (2002). Gulf Cup winner (2004). Saudi Crown Prince Cup champion (2006). Asian Cup joint-top scorer (2007). AFC Player of the Year (2007). 73 caps for Saudi Arabia, 44 goals.

After joining Al Hilal, he led the team to the 2006 Saudi Crown Prince Cup title and continued his impressive displays with rhe national team by leading Saudi Arabia to their fourth appearance in the World Cup finals. In Germany, Al Qahtani featured in two of Saudi Arabia’s three matches and netted his side’s equaliser in their first match against Tunisia.
Al Qahtani capped an impressive 2007 by winning the AFC Player of the Year award at the AFC Awards nigjit in Sydney in November, which rhe 25-year-old striker considers the best honour in his career so far. “Thank God I won this title and I will never forget this moment because it is a big achievement especially as it was based on certain rules. This title is the least that I can give ro Their Royal Highnesses Prince Sultan bin Fahad, Prince Nawaf bin Faisal and Prince Mohammed bin Faisal (Al Hilal president). I would also like to thank both my team-mates at Al Hilal and in the national team for their support.”
At Al Hilal, Al Qahtani helped the team to finish as runners-up in the league behind champions Al Ittihad and led them to the knockout stage of the 2007 AFC Champions League. In the summer, he led Saudi Arabia to the final of the 2007 Asian Cup where he was the tournament’s joint-top scorer with four goals.
After winning the AFC Player of the Year award, Al Qahrani turned his attention to becoming the first Saudi player to play in Europe since Sami Al Jaber’s short stint with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2000.
Al Qahtani recently had a trial with Premier League side Manchester City and he will be hoping to continue his success by joining the club soon. Will “The Sniper” strike in England, too?

Al Qahtani was born in October 1982 in the Al Aqrabiya district of the town of Khobar in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia and was the second son of Saeed Al Qahtani, who wanted Yasser to become an engineer. Nevertheless, after celebrating his tenth birthday, Yasser joined Al Aqrabiya and took his first steps towards becoming a football star.
He rhen joined the Al Qadisiya youth team before making his debut for the Al Qadisiya senior team in 2000 and although he played few matches that year, Al Qahtani played a big role in securing promotion to the Saudi Arabia premier league the following year. He was the division’s top scorer in the 2001-2002 season and his impressive performances earned him a place in the Saudi Olympic team for the International Friendship Tournament.
After sterling performances for the Olympic team, he was called to the Saudi national team by Dutch coach Gerard van der Lem to play in the 2002 Arab Cup and made a quick impact after scoring two goals against Yemen to steer the national team to the title. But despite his instant success with rhe national team in the Arab Cup, Al Qahtani was not included in Saudi Arabia’s squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and had to wait two yearst[o make anodier impact with the national team.
Early in 2004, Al Qahtani was called again to the national team and became a first-choice striker for Saudi Arabia.
Alter featuring in his first Asian Cup finals in 2004, where he scored two of Saudi Arabia’s three goals, Al Qahtani was ready to make the biggest ever transfer in the history of Saudi football.
After delicate negotiations, Al Qahtani moved from Al Qadisiya to his current club Al Hilal for a record 23 million Saudi riyals (USD 5.33 million), becoming the most expensive player in the history of Saudi football.
“It was my dream to move to Al Hilal and eventually I wore the blue shirt,” says Al Qahtani about his transfer. “I hope that I will satisfy all Al Hilal fans and achieve several titles with the team.”