Irfan Fandi
Irfan Fandi
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Irfan Fandi

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Irfan Fandi

Irfan bin Fandi Ahmad (born 13 August 1997), better known as Irfan Fandi or just Irfan, is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays primarily as a centre-back for Thai League 1 club Port and the Singapore national team. Earlier in his career, he played as a striker and a winger before switching to the centre-back position. In 2013, he was listed as one of Goal.com's Top 20 Southeast Asian Rising Stars. In 2014, Irfan was also named as one of the top 40 best young talents in world football on The Guardian.

Irfan began his footballing career by going through the youth system at the National Football Academy (NFA), with subsequent stints and trials at various clubs before debuting as a professional at the age of 18 at top tier Chilean Primera División side Universidad Católica in 2015. Although Irfan was offered a two-year contract by the club, he rejected it to return to Singapore. For the next three years, Irfan played for local clubs the Young Lions and Home United. Around this time, he went on trials with Dutch Eredivisie side Groningen and Portuguese Primeira Liga side Braga, rejecting a contract offer from the latter.

In 2018, Irfan signed for Thailand's BG Pathum United prior to the 2019 Thai League 2 season, where he was instrumental to the club's immediate promotion back to the Thai League 1 and soon after when the club become the Champions of Thailand during the 2021–22 Thai League 1 season – becoming the first Singaporean to win Thailand's top tier league trophy. During their title winning season, Irfan led BG Pathum's defence with the club only losing a single game the entire season, while conceding just 11 goals in 24 matches and keeping 15 clean sheets.

Irfan made his senior international debut for Singapore in 2016, with a single goal as a centre-back coming against Turkmenistan in 2017, and earning 38 caps as of 2022. He has represented his country at various international tournaments, including the 2018 and the 2020 AFF Championships. Irfan also notably became the first Singaporean in history to win two matches against English teams in 2025, defeating Manchester United while playing for the ASEAN All-Stars team and later winning the 2025 Piala Presiden with Port against Oxford United.

Irfan was born on 13 August 1997 in Singapore. Irfan is the eldest son of Singaporean footballing legend Fandi Ahmad and South African former model Wendy Jacobs. He has four siblings, younger brothers Ikhsan and Ilhan, are both playing for BG Pathum United as well as Iryan, who plays for Young Lions and the other being his sister Iman, who is a singer, actress and model. His grandfather, Ahmad Wartam, was an ex-national goalkeeper. Hafiz Abu Sujad and the national team's physiotherapist Nurhafizah are the cousins of his father Fandi Ahmad.

Irfan started his career by going through the youth system of the National Football Academy (NFA).

In March 2013, Irfan had an opportunity to secure his first overseas stint, which was supposed to be with Hércules, a second-tier Spanish professional club. However, he failed to secure a contract with the club due to visa issues. He later joined Chilean side Barnechea, signing a two-year contract with the Chilean Primera División club.

Irfan then joined Chilean Primera División club Universidad Católica in 2014 and made his first team debut the following year, appearing from the bench for the club's senior team in the 81st minute, when Universidad Católica were leading 4–0 against San Luis de Quillota becoming the first Singaporean to play in the Chilean top flight league. However, Irfan later rejected a two-year contract from the club in order to return to Singapore and fulfil his National Service obligations.

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