He is the first Pakistani footballer to play and score in the United States,[4] and also the first Pakistani player to score 100 career goals in club competitions.[5] He has been praised for his positioning, teamwork and stamina, and has shown consistency in scoring and creating goals.
Early life
Khan was born in the city of Chaman, in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.[6] He started playing for his school team, the Government High School Chaman.[2] In the beginning, his parents were not supportive of his interest in the sport due to the lack of football support and infrastructure in the country, but agreed to it when he signed a contract with the club AFC Chaman.[6]
He made his debut with KRL on 27 July 2009 in a 3–0 win against PAF F.C., scoring his first goal in the 69th minute.[7] He finished the 2009-10 season with 4 goals in all competitions, as the club won the league and Challenge Cup, and qualified for the AFC President's Cup. During the 2010-11 season, Khan was soon promoted to the first team by KRL manager Sajjad Mahmood. Khan was an important player in KRL's Challenge Cup-winning squad of the 2010-11 season, scoring the second goal of the 4–0 win against Pakistan Navy in the cup final. Khan also made his debut AFC President's Cup on 10 May 2010 in a 2–1 win against Naga Corp from Cambodia, scoring both the goals in the continental club competition.
Khan won the Pakistan Premier League with Khan Research Laboratories in 2012 as KRL set a Pakistan Premier League record scoring the most points in a season in the Pakistan Premier League with 77 points.[8] Khan also won the Challenge Cup with KRL (1–0) against rivals K-Electric in 2011.
2012–13 season
During 2012-13 season, he became involved in the first-team under then manager Tariq Lutfi who replaced manager Sajjad Mahmood the previous season; Khan established himself as a key player – playing almost in every match and scored 35 times to make him the league's all-time record top goal scorer.[9] The club clinched a historic double; winning the league title, the domestic cup and qualified for the AFC President's Cup[10] for the following season – finishing runners-up in the competition losing (1–0) to Turkmenistan's Balkan.[8][11] Khan finished as the second top goal scorer of the continental cup with 7 goals behind Mirlan Murzaev, scoring 5 goals in an 8–0 group stage win against Yeedzin following with goals in 1–0 victory over Dordoi Bishkek from Kyrgyzstan and a 2–0 win against Hilal Al-Quds from Palestine in the final group stage.[12][13]
Khan was awarded the player of the year award by Pakistan Football Federation and was declared the best player in the Pakistan Premier League for his performances domestically in the league and internationally at AFC President's Cup in 2013. In 2013-14 season, Khan won his fourth and last league title with the Rawalpindi side.[14]
He played a major role in helping the team win a treble; the league title, league cup and super cup, finishing as top goal scorer, scoring 18 goals in 17 appearances in the league with 3 goals out of 3 appearances in the domestic league cup.[18] Khan's remarkable form and greater goals to appearance ratio for Dordoi Bishkek in the Shoro Top League as well as Kyrgyzstan Cup and Kyrgyzstan Super Cup in 2014 edition earned him the best player award in the league by the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic.[19][18] In total, Kaleemullah finished with 21 goals in 21 matches in the 2014 season for his new club in all competitions.
On 18 June 2015 it was announced that Kaleemullah had signed with the Sacramento Republic FC of the USL, the third tier of the United States soccer league system on a four-month contract.[22] At that time, it was believed that he was the first Pakistani-born player to sign a contract with a professional soccer club in the United States.
"The signing of Kaleemullah demonstrates the continued mission of Republic FC to bring the best players from around the world to our Capital City... His scoring prowess is well documented..."
Sacramento Republic FC Technical Director Graham Smith about the signing of Kaleemullah.[23][24]
He made his debut for the club on 20 June 2015, two days after signing, entering the match as a 66th-minute substitute for captain Justin Braun. The Republic won that match 2–1.[25] During the match, he made several runs and showed his skill on the ball and eye for passing. He later described the match as a "dream debut."[26]
Tulsa Roughnecks
On 16 December 2015, Tulsa Roughnecks FC announced the signing of Kaleemullah for the 2016 USL season.[27] In an interview after the move, Kaleemullah said he "couldn't settle in California [with Sacramento]" but that he hoped his transfer would reignite hopes of a "dream move" to the MLS.[28] On May 1, 2016, Khan scored his first goal for his club and first goal on American soil. By doing so, he became the first Pakistani football player to play in US and score there.
"I finally scored a goal and this was important for me. I played as striker for the first time for Roughnecks and scored. Earlier, I was playing as a winger. So this has given me the confidence that I am good enough. I just want to thank everyone who supported me. My coach was very supportive; he took a chance by letting me play as a striker and I delivered a good performance... He was happy for me that I started scoring. He said that this will benefit the team. He also told me that winning or losing is a part of the game and I just need to continue my game."
On 22 December 2016, Dawn in an interview with Kaleemullah reported that he has joined K-Electric on a loan deal from Tulsa Roughnecks until March 2017.[30]
On 28 July 2018 Khan signed a contract with Turkish club Izmirspor. His signing ceremony was attended by club's President Mustafa Gürkan. However, in August 2018, Khan parted ways with izmirspor because he didn't get international clearance certificate.[33]
Igdirspor
Khan went on to the sign a contract with a club Igdirspor which played in the same Turkish Regional Amateur League as Izmirspor did. On September 23, 2018, Khan made his debut for the club in a 4–0 win. Khan scored a goal and provided an assist in that match. On October 15, Khan scored in 68th minute against Cayelispor, it marked as Khan's 100th club career goal, making Khan the only Pakistani footballer to achieve this feat.
Araklıspor
Three months later on 18 January 2019, Kaleemullah moved to Araklıspor in the same regional league,[31] where he had a short stint scoring two goals in two matches.[1][34]
On, 24 August 2019, Kaleemullah Khan posted two photos regarding his new club but he didn't disclose his new club's name.[37] Later on, In September 2019, it was announced that Kaleemullah signed to Zakho SC.[38]
In 2020, he received a shin injury during the 2019–20 Iraqi Premier League season which left him unsettled for more than a year.[39] He consequently had to leave the country due to COVID-19 and security issues.[40] The league was postponed due to the 2019–2020 Iraqi protests and the COVID pandemic,[41][42] and ultimately cancelled on 3 June 2020.[43] He trained at his hometown in Chaman to maintain his fitness level.[40] In October 2021, he recovered from his injury with his contract due to expire in one month, and hinted he had received offers from clubs from Qatar, Russia, United States, and his previous Kyrgyzstan's club Dordoi Bishkek for his next move.[39]
Later career
In 2022, the Pakistan Football Federation organized trials inviting 90 players for the men's senior team camp after three-and-a-half years of inactivity because of the Pakistan Football Federation's suspension by FIFA, which didn't include Khan, despite him being available and expressing dissatisfaction with his omission. After a perception of his retirement, Khan denied he had retired from football.[44]
In 2023, he started playing for Karachi club Abdul FC, for which he also partnered to launch a football facility at the Rahat Football Ground in Clifton, Karachi.[45][46] In 2024, he participated in the Futsal National Cup with the club, finalizing as runner-up of the phase in Karachi after falling to Forza FC in the final in the penalties.[3]
International career
Khan represented Pakistan at various youth levels, starting with the under-23s in 2010. He was called up to the under-23 team for the 2010 Asian Games making his debut in a 6–0 group stage defeat against Thailand. He earned seven caps for the under-23s and scored one goal, the first in a 2–0 thrashing of arch-rivals India by a free-kick.[47] Whilst with the under-23 team, Kaleemullah also represented Pakistan in the Asian Games and South Asian Games.
The following year, Khan's regular appearances for KRL's first team caused Pakistan national team manager Zaviša Milosavljević to publicly consider him for a call-up, Khan was named in the squad for a friendly against Palestine.[1] With less opportunity to try out new players, and with the national team facing crucial qualifiers for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, Milosavljević felt that Khan was needed at the national level.
He was called in the senior squad for its next get-together, a training session in Lahore in March. Khan earned his first senior cap for Pakistan in a 0–0 draw against Palestine on 4 March 2011 prior to the qualifiers.[1] He made his debut in this game as a substitute at the Punjab Stadium, his home stadium. He was named in the squad for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification matches against India, Turkmenistan and Chinese Taipei later the same month.
Kaleemullah was also called up for the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup against Yemen and played in legs of the matches which were played at neutral venues in March 2015, due to security concerns in their respective countries. Pakistan could not beat the strong Yemen national team and lost 3–1 away in Qatar, and drew 0–0 at the home leg in Bahrain. Pakistan ended up getting knocked out of the World Cup Qualifiers on an aggregate score of 3–1.
PFF dispute
Khan had a dispute with PFF authorities as the former spoke out on the federation's incompetence which ultimately led him not to be selected for the 2018 SAFF Championship. PFF banned the Pakistani players to speak about this matter on any platform.[48][49] In response Khan, the experienced star striker questioned how PFF could implement such an order considering none of the players are centrally contracted to them.[50] To further complicate matters, PFF's Sardar Naveed Haider Khan accused the striker of signing a contract with Turkish fifth-tier side Izmirspor 'for the money' and neglecting national duty. However Khan disagreed by saying "My name was specifically omitted from the list by PFF president because of the statements I'd given about the working of the PFF and it's very petty-minded of them to do that really."[48]
2020 Malaysia tour
In January 2020, Khan was named in Pakistan's squad for a two-match friendly tour in Malaysia.[51] On 22 January, he scored the opening goal in the 5th minute against UKM in the eventual 2–2 draw.[52] In the second and last match the next day against Felda United, he scored a disallowed goal ruled out in the dying minutes of the match in the eventual 2–0 victory.[53]
Style of play
Khan is known for being an attacking all-rounder, capable of playing in different forward positions. As he came through the youth system, he was seen primarily as a midfielder, but since breaking into the first-team he has been used in more forward roles.[2] He has been used as an out-and-out striker on occasion.
Khan has been praised for his maturity, pace, technique, awareness and positioning. He has been compared with Lionel Messi due to his goal scoring record by the local media in Pakistan.[2]
In 2022, Khan acted as convenor of the Sindh Super League, a franchise-based football league held in the province of Sindh.[56]
In 2023, he partnered with Shahzaib Ahmed Khan, the founder of Karachi club Abdul FC, to launch a football facility at the Rahat Football Ground in Clifton, Karachi.[45]
^Wasim, Umaid (7 January 2013). "KRL's 'Messi' sets sights on further glory". Dawn. "Football is a family tradition for me," Kaleemullah, a cousin of former Pakistan captain Mohammad Essa, told Dawn. "I played football at home and Essa was always there to help me in my early days. He was the biggest inspiration for me when I was young.
