Ali Al Haj

Ali Jamal Al Haj (Arabic: علي جمال الحاج; born 2 February 2001) is a Lebanese footballer who plays as a forward for Lebanese Premier League club Nejmeh.

Coming through the youth system, Al Haj scored on his senior debut for Nejmeh in 2018, becoming the first player born in the 21st century to score in the Lebanese Premier League. In 2020, he joined Ahed with whom he won a league title. Al Haj played for the Lebanon national team between 2022 and 2024.

Al Haj played at youth level for Advanced Soccer Academy (ASA), before moving to Nejmeh's youth sector in 2014. Al Haj's first-team debut for Nejmeh came during the 2017–18 Lebanese Premier League season on 3 March 2018, as a starter away to Safa; he scored a goal from outside the box to help Nejmeh win 3–1. He became the youngest player to score in the league, beating the previous record set by his brother Youssef, as well as the only player to have scored at least a goal in three official national divisions in a single season, having scored 14 and 27 goals respectively in the U17 and U19 leagues.

Al Haj played seven matches in the league (two as a starter and five as a substitute) for a total of 181 minutes, scoring and assisting once. He also scored seven goals for the U17 team in the Lebanese Youth League Final 6 (21 in total), coming second in the League with the Nejmeh youth team. For his performances, Al Haj won the Lebanese Young Player of the Year award for the 2017–18 season.

In July 2018, it was reported that Al Haj had undergone a trial with Austrian Football Bundesliga side Admira Wacker, with a professional contract expected to be signed. However, the transfer fell through and Al Haj remained at Nejmeh.

Al Haj played in the 2018–19 Arab Club Champions Cup for Nejmeh, in which he scored the match winner during stoppage time against Al Faisaly of Saudi Arabia in the play-off round on 20 May 2018; the match ended 2–1 for his team. He also scored a goal against Salam Zgharta in the 2018 Lebanese Elite Cup, which he won after Nejmeh beat Akhaa Ahli Aley 1–0 in the final. On 2 December 2018, Al Haj won the Lebanon Football League U19 Championship with Nejmeh U19. In the Lebanese FA Cup round of 16, played on 29 January 2019, he scored a brace in a 6–0 win against Taqadom Anqoun. On 25 February 2019, Al Haj made his debut in the AFC Cup as a 77th-minute substitute against Al-Wehdat of Jordan in a 1–0 away defeat.

Al Haj ended his season with six appearances in the league and four in the AFC Cup, and scored two goals in the Lebanese FA Cup.

Al Haj played two games for Nejmeh in the 2019–20 Lebanese Premier League; on 20 September 2019 he played against cross-city rivals Ansar, and on 27 September he played against Tadamon Sour, on both instances as a substitute. However, the league was cancelled due to financial and political issues in Lebanon and the COVID-19 pandemic.