30 Facts About Mohanad Ali

Mohanad Ali Kadhim Al-Shammari, commonly known in Iraq as Mimi, is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a forward for Iraqi club Al-Shorta and the Iraq national team.

Mohanad Ali is known for his positioning, shooting, heading, close ball control and dribbling.

Mohanad Ali enrolled at the Ammo Baba Football School at the age of six without a trial after coaches had been impressed with the striker.

Mohanad Ali then joined the Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya youth team, and he represented them in the Al-Zawraa Youth Championship; he was top scorer at two local tournaments, and was then called up by the Iraq FA to play for Saad Hashim's under-14 team, and with an outstanding performance, he grabbed the attention of the managers of Al-Shorta.

On 24 September 2013, Mohanad Ali signed a five-year contract with Al-Shorta and took the number 26 shirt.

Mohanad Ali made two starts and nine substitute appearances in the group stage of the league, where Al-Shorta finished 4th in Group 2 to qualify to the Elite Stage.

Mohanad Ali returned to Al-Shorta and renewed his contract in October 2017 for three years, taking the number 18 shirt.

Mohanad Ali continued to score regularly throughout the season, forming a partnership with fellow striker Alaa Abdul-Zahra.

Mohanad Ali finished his season with the team with 16 goals and assisted 8 times in 32 appearances in the league.

Mohanad Ali began his season with his team with a new coach, Nebojsa Jovovic, to exploit his speed as he took on increasing defensive and creative duties.

Mohanad Ali scored 20 goals and 10 assists in 31 games; he won league with the club.

Mohanad Ali helped Al-Sailiya win the Qatari Stars Cup for the first major honour in the club's history, scoring a goal in the final.

Mohanad Ali played the first three matches of Al-Sailiya's QFA Cup-winning campaign before suffering a head injury that kept him out of the semi-final and final.

Mohanad Ali played 27 games and scored 12 goals and had 3 assists in all competitions.

On 31 August 2021, Mohanad Ali was loaned to Super League Greece side Aris Thessaloniki FC in the form of a one-year loan and with a purchase option from Al-Duhail.

However, after only a few games, Mohanad Ali damaged his cruciate ligaments, causing him to be sidelined for at least 6 months, to not only miss the majority of the season, but miss the rest of the World Cup qualifiers with the Iraq national team.

In September 2023, Mohanad Ali returned to Iraq to join his former club Al-Shorta.

Mohanad Ali made his debut for Iraq's Under-14s in 2013 at the age of just 13.

Mohanad Ali was the joint-top scorer at the 2013 Asian Youth Games with six goals in Nanjing in August 2013, where the Iraq beat Singapore, Kuwait and Thailand in the quarterfinals before they lost to Iran in the semis and the third-place playoff on penalties to North Korea.

Mohanad Ali played his first match for the Iraq national team in a friendly against United Arab Emirates on 17 December 2017, however the match was not counted as an official international game, and so his official debut came against Bahrain in the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup on 23 December 2017.

Mohanad Ali scored for Iraq in an unofficial friendly game against Iraqi Premier League club Naft Al-Junoob on 24 February 2018.

Mohanad Ali played against Argentina on 11 October 2018, coming on as a second-half substitute.

Mohanad Ali was nominated by the Asian Football Confederation as one of the top young talents; he was described as the youngest player who has the potential to changing the shape of the game before 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Mohanad Ali scored his seventh goal against Vietnam on 8 January 2019, and his eighth against Yemen on 12 January 2019, followed by a goal against Jordan to help Iraq win the 2019 International Friendship Championship.

Mohanad Ali went on to score five more goals by the end of 2019.

Mohanad Ali has good feet, he can connect powerfully with headers and he is very clever in the box.

Mohanad Ali is talented player with good technique and close control, who is an adept header of the ball, and who has an ability to score impressive goals, in the air or with either foot, courtesy of his shooting ability and positional sense.

Mohanad Ali is physically strong, and is gifted with dribbling skills, anticipation, and confidence in going at opponents with numerical superiority.

Mohanad Ali is known for his speed, and his ability beat defenders with sudden turns, as well as his vision, which gave him the ability to link-up with and provide assists for teammates.

The former international striker Mohanad Ali Salah is one of his cousins.