Farhan Zulkifli

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Farhan Zulkifli

| image =

| caption =

| fullname = Muhammad Farhan bin Zulkifli

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2002|11|10|df=y}}

| birth_place = Singapore

| height = 1.62m

| currentclub = Hougang United

| clubnumber =

| position = Winger / Full-back

| youthyears1 = 2017

| youthclubs1 = NFA U15

| youthyears2 = 2018

| youthclubs2 = Home United U16

| youthyears3 = 2019

| youthclubs3 = Hougang United U19

| years1 = 2019–

| clubs1 = Hougang United

| caps1 = 60

| goals1 = 3

| years2 = 2023-2024

| clubs2 = → Young Lions (loan)

| caps2 = 22

| goals2 = 4

| nationalyears1 = 2017–2018

| nationalteam1 = Singapore U16

| nationalcaps1 = 9

| nationalgoals1 = 1

| nationalyears2 = 2019–

| nationalteam2 = Singapore U19

| nationalcaps2 = 6

| nationalgoals2 = 0

| nationalyears3 = 2019–2021

| nationalteam3 = Singapore U23

| nationalcaps3 = 6

| nationalgoals3 = 1

| nationalyears4 = 2019–

| nationalteam4 = Singapore

| nationalcaps4 = 6

| nationalgoals4 = 1

| club-update = 14 September 2024

| nationalteam-update = 14 December 2024

}}

Muhammad Farhan bin Zulkifli (born 10 November 2002), better known as Farhan Zulkifli or just Farhan, is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays either as a winger or full-back for Singapore Premier League club Hougang United and the Singapore national team. Considered as one of the brightest talents in the country, he is known for his pace, dribbling and playmaking abilities.

Club career

=Hougang United=

Farhan make his career debut coming on as a substitute and scored 12 minutes into his 2019 Singapore Premier League debut against Home United on 29 June 2019.{{cite web |title=Dream Singapore Premier League debut for Hougang United's Farhan Zulkifli thanks to wonder goal |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-dream-singapore-premier-league-debut-for-hougang-uniteds-farhan-zulkifli|work=The Straits Times|access-date=13 October 2019|date=29 June 2019}}{{Cite web |title=From NFA rejection to Singapore call-up aged 16 - Inside the meteoric rise of Hougang hotshot Farhan Zulkifli {{!}} Goal.com |url=https://www.goal.com/en-sg/news/from-nfa-rejection-to-singapore-call-up-aged-16-inside-the/6fty6aj90gxo157o8w5cyo4mq |access-date=21 July 2022 |website=www.goal.com}}{{Cite web |last=Auto |first=Hermes |date=2 October 2019 |title=Football: Fleet-footed Cheetah Farhan Zulkifli on the fast track to becoming a Lion {{!}} The Straits Times |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-fleet-footed-cheetah-farhan-zulkifli-on-the-fast-track-to-becoming-a-lion |access-date=21 July 2022 |website=www.straitstimes.com |language=en}} At 16 years and 231 days, he became the SPL's second-youngest ever scorer then.{{Cite web |title=Impact 0352: Bouncing back from disappointment |url=https://impact.youthopia.sg/impact_post/impact-0352-bouncing-back-from-disappointment/ |access-date=21 July 2022 |website=Impact |language=en}} Farhan was named in Goal Singapore's NxGn 2020 list as one of the country's biggest talents following his impressive start to life at Hougang.{{cite web |title=From Ilhan Fandi to Farhan Zulkifli - Meet the future of Singapore |url=https://www.goal.com/en-sg/lists/from-ilhan-fandi-to-farhan-zulkifli-meet-the-future-of/is3cbd9a0yhz185o5hcf7phpw|work=Goal.com}} He made a further 11 appearances for Hougang in the 2019 season.

Farhan would start both the 2020 Singapore Premier League season opener and the 2020 Singapore Community Shield.{{Cite web |title=From Hariss Harun to Khairin Nadim - Meet Singapore Premier League's youngest debutants {{!}} Goal.com |url=https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/from-hariss-harun-to-khairin-nadim-meet-singapore-premier/9ynwg3y2tjq01obyqnk8nm5na |access-date=21 July 2022 |website=www.goal.com}} However, the 2020 Singapore Premier League season hasn't been the best of years for Farhan, by his own admission. Farhan played in 12 matches and only had a solitary goal to his name.{{Cite web |title=Impact 0352: Bouncing back from disappointment |url=https://impact.youthopia.sg/impact_post/impact-0352-bouncing-back-from-disappointment/ |access-date=21 July 2022 |website=Impact |language=en}}

Farhan would go on to play a total of 1767 minutes in the 2021 season bagging 20 appearances however, he failed to score a goal once during the 2021 Singapore Premier League season.

2022 for Farhan could be called his breakout year as he managed to make 18 appearances for the team and scoring 1 goal during the 5–1 thrashing of Young Lions. Farhan also played a crucial role in Hougang United's triumph over Tampines Rovers in the 2022 Singapore Cup Finals, helping his team stun Tampines Rovers 3–2 to clinch the cup.{{Cite web |last=cue |date=19 November 2022 |title=Football: Hat-trick hero Krajcek hails late brother after helping Hougang beat Tampines in S'pore Cup final {{!}} The Straits Times |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-krajcek-hat-trick-helps-hougang-beat-tampines-3-2-to-win-their-first-singapore-cup |access-date=16 December 2022 |website=www.straitstimes.com |language=en}}

== Young Lions (loan) ==

On 12 July 2023, Farhan joined Young Lions on loan from Hougang United as he is undergoing his compulsory National Service. He was named the club vice-captain ahead of the 2024–25 Singapore Premier League season.

In November 2024, Farhan completed his National Service and returned to Hougang United.

International career

Farhan was first called up to the Singapore national team in 2019, for the friendly against Jordan on 5 October and the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan on 10 and 15 October respectively.{{Cite news|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/football-fleet-footed-cheetah-farhan-zulkifli-on-the-fast-track-to-becoming-a-lion|title=Football: Fleet-footed Cheetah Farhan Zulkifli on the fast track to becoming a Lion|date=2 October 2019|work=The Straits Times|access-date=13 September 2019|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://tnp.straitstimes.com/sports/singapore-football/singapore-coach-tweaks-squad-s-arabia-uzbekistan-games|title=Singapore coach tweaks squad for S. Arabia, Uzbekistan games|date=27 September 2019|work=The New Paper|access-date=13 September 2019|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.goal.com/en-sg/news/from-nfa-rejection-to-singapore-call-up-aged-16-inside-the/6fty6aj90gxo157o8w5cyo4mq|title=From NFA rejection to Singapore call-up aged 16 - Inside the meteoric rise of Hougang hotshot Farhan Zulkifli|work=Goal.com}}

In 2022, Farhan was called up to the national team for the 2022 AFF Championship tournament. He make his international debut against causeway rival, Malaysia.{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Amanda |date=20 December 2022 |title=Five players in Singapore squad to take part in AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 for the first time |url=https://youthopia.sg/read/five-players-in-singapore-squad-to-take-part-in-aff-mitsubishi-electric-cup-2022-for-the-first-time/ |access-date=10 January 2023 |website=youthopia.sg |language=en-US}}

On 14 November 2024, Farhan scored his first goal for Singapore during a friendly match against Myanmar where he opened up the account in the 5th minute.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-14 |title=That Singapore were not happy with first win under Ogura is the biggest positive |url=https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/42387376/that-singapore-not-happy-first-win-tsutomu-ogura-biggest-positive |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}

Career statistics

=Club=

rowspan="2"\|Club !rowspan="2"\|Season !colspan="3"\|League !colspan="2"\|Cup !colspan="2"\|Continental !colspan="2"\|Other !colspan="2"\|Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
Division !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals
rowspan="5" \|Hougang United \|2019	Singapore Premier League \|9	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	12	1
2020	Singapore Premier League \|13	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	14	1
2021	Singapore Premier League \|20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	0
2022	Singapore Premier League \|18	1	6	1	0	0	0	0	24	2
colspan=2 \|Total !60	2	9	0	1	0	0	0	70	4
rowspan="3"\|Young Lions \|2023	Singapore Premier League \|7	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	10	1
2024–25	Singapore Premier League \|11	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	3
colspan=2\|Total !18	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	21	4
colspan=3 \| Career total !78	5	12	1	1	0	0	0	91	8