Luqman Hakim Shamsudin

In this Malay name, there is no family name. The name Shamsudin is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Luqman Hakim.

Luqman Hakim Shamsudin (born 5 March 2002) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Icelandic club Njarðvík, on loan from Belgian club Kortrijk, and the Malaysia national team. He was included in The Guardian's "Next Generation 2019".^[3]

Luqman Hakim Shamsudin

Personal information
Full name	Luqman Hakim Shamsudin^[1]
Date of birth	(2002-03-05) 5 March 2002 (age 21)
Place of birth	Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia^[2]
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Njarðvík (on loan from Kortrijk)
Number	18
Youth career
2014–2015	NFDP
2015–2019	Mokhtar Dahari Academy
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2020	Selangor II	0	(0)
2020–	Kortrijk	2	(0)
2023–	→ Njarðvík (loan)	0	(0)
International career^‡
2017–2018	Malaysia U16	6	(7)
2019	Malaysia U19	10	(9)
2019–	Malaysia U23	9	(3)
2021–	Malaysia	9	(0)
Honours Men's football Representing  Malaysia AFF U-19 Youth Championship 2019 Vietnam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 April 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2022

Early career

Luqman Hakim was first discovered by National Football Development Programme of Malaysia (NFDP) before starting his career at Mokhtar Dahari Academy. He was named in Goal Malaysia's NxGn 2020 list as one of the country's biggest talents.^[4][5]

Club career

Selangor FC II

Luqman as a youngster, who helped Malaysia reach the 2019 AFF U-18 Youth Championship final, was due to ink a five-year deal with his new team when he turned 18 in March 2020. However, his move fell through due to the COVID-19 pandemic and he ended up joining Malaysian club Selangor FC II instead. Luqman stressed that he remained keen on a move to Europe, though, when the time was right.^[6]

He eventually got his move to Kortrijk in July 2020, with Selangor announcing the move through an official statement.^[7]

KV Kortrijk

On 20 September 2019, it was confirmed that Luqman had signed a five-year deal with Belgian First Division side Kortrijk, a club owned by Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan.^[8][9]

He is the first Malaysian player to be allowed to sign a professional contract before the age of 18.^[10] Luqman was supposed to be able to join the club in March 2020, but this was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was finally introduced by the club to the press on 6 August 2020 through a video on the club's Facebook page.

On 4 September 2020, Luqman made his debut for the first-team during a friendly match against BX Brussels, in which he scored the second goal. KV Kortrijk won the match 2-1.^[11] On 24 October 2020, Luqman was selected for the first team against Anderlecht and he made his league debut after coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute, with the match ending with a 1–3 loss for Kortrijk.^[12]

In October 2022, according to a source close to the player, Luqman Hakim Shamsudin is showing improvement after two seasons in Europe, and is slowly gaining the trust of his coach in the under-21 squad of KV Kortrijk. The coach of the main squad wanted to play him in a league match against Antwerp, but he was unfortunately injured. Luqman is said to be focused on the under-21 squad and is working hard to get a place in the main squad. The source added there is no truth to the rumor that he will be returning to Malaysia in the near future.^[13] Early February 2023, Icelandic second level football club Njarðvík reported that Luqman would spend the full year 2023 on loan to them.^[14]

Njarðvík FC

In 7 February 2023, Luqman Hakim was loaned out to Iceland club Njarðvík FC by KV Kortrijk on a one year loan in Besta deild karla as Luqman was looking for more playing time, according to Kortrijk director of football. ^[15]

On 8 April 2023, Luqman made his first team debut for Njarðvík FC after selected for starting eleven in Icelandic Men's Football Cup round of 32 against Augnablik and won 3-2. Luqman also made his first assist in his team debut.^[16] On 20 April 2023, Luqman made his first official goal for team the in a 4-1 win against Fjarðabyggð / Leiknir in round of 16 of Icelandic Men's Football Cup. He scored on the 93 minutes of the match.^[17]

International career

Youth

Luqman has represented Malaysia at all youth level from the under 16-side to the under-23 sides. He was part of the national team for the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship that took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[18] On 20 September 2018, he made an emphatic start to the AFC U-16 Championship with a 6–2 win over Tajikistan.^[19] In that match, he scored four goals. Luqman also assisted Najmuddin Akmal goal in the opening group-stage match. He played every minute of Malaysia's campaign at the tournament, which saw them eliminated at the group stage.^[20]

He later moved up to the under 19s squad for 2019 AFF U-19 Youth Championship in the Vietnam. Luqman played a large role in the Malaysia under-19s progression to the semi-finals.^[21] He scored 4 goals in 5 appearances during the matches. He played in the final against Australia which Malaysia lost 1–0.^[22]

On 2 November 2019, Luqman was named in the 20-man Malaysia Squad for the 2019 Sea Games.^[23]

Senior

In May 2021, Luqman was called up to the Malaysian national team for the friendly match against Bahrain and the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Thailand.^[24] He debuted on 28 May 2021 in a 2–0 defeat against Bahrain.^[25]

Career statistics

Club

As of 23 April 2023.^[26]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup^[a]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Selangor II	2020	Malaysia Premier League	—		—		—		—
Kortrijk	2020–21	Belgian First Division A	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2021–22	Belgian First Division A	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2022–23	Belgian First Division A	1	0	1	0	—		2	0
Njardvík	2023	1. deild karla	0	0	2	1			2	1
Career total			2	0	3	1	—		5	1

1. Includes Malaysia FA Cup, Belgian Cup, Icelandic Men's Football Cup

International

As of 26 March 2022^[27]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Malaysia	2021	8	0
	2022	1	0
Total		9	0

Honours

Malaysia U19

• AFF U-19 Youth Championship runner-up: 2019

Individual

• AFC U-16 Championship top goalscorer: 2018

References

1. "Kenali Pemain Malaysia di AFC U16". Football Association of Malaysia. from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
2. "Biodata Luqman Shamsudin". Iluminasi.com. 15 August 2019. from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
3. "Next Generation 2019: 60 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. 8 October 2019. from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
4. "From Luqman Hakim to Arif Aiman - Meet the future of Malaysia". Goal.com. GOAL. from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
5. "NxGn 2020: The 50 best wonderkids in football". Goal.com. GOAL. from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
6. "Luqman Hakim not giving up on European dream, but ready for Malaysia Super League challenge". Goal.com. GOAL. from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
7. "Selangor FA confirm Luqman Hakim Shamsudin set to join Kortrijk". Goal.com. GOAL. from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
8. Zulhilmi Zainal (6 August 2020). "KV Kortrijk owner Vincent Tan admits having to convince the Belgian top-side club to sign Luqman Hakim". Goal.com. GOAL. from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
9. "Luqman Hakim sign up with Belgium club KV Kortrijk". The Star. 20 September 2019. from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
10. "OFFICIEEL: KV Kortrijk zorgt voor unicum met transfer van Luqman (17)". www.voetbalprimeur.be (in Dutch). from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
11. "KV Kortrijk wint oefenpot". KV Kortrijk (in Dutch). from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
12. "Opluchting bij Anderlecht: het houdt nu wel zijn voorsprong vast in Kortrijk". sporza.be (in Dutch). 23 October 2020. from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
13. "Luqman kekal di KV Kortrijk" [Luqman stays at KV Kortrijk] (in Malay). from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
14. "Archived copy". from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "KORTRIJK ALLOW 'MALAYSIAN MESSI' LUQMAN HAKIM TO JOIN UMF NJARDVIK ON LOAN!". onefootball.com. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
16. "Luqman made his first asist!". vocketfc.com. 8 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
17. "Luqman First Goal!". stadiumastro.com. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
18. "Senarai 23 Pemain ke Kejuaraan B16 AFC 2018". Football Association of Malaysia. from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
19. "Four goal Luqman stars as Malaysia make emphatic stats". Fox Sports Asia. from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
20. "Malaysia tersingkir dari Piala Asia B16 2018". CNN Indonesia. from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
21. "Malaysia in final after thrilling 4-3 win over Indonesia". The Star (Malaysia). from the original on 14 September 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
22. "Maloney proud of second place finish despite final heartbreak". Goal.
23. "Luqman likely to get Sea Games nod". The Star. from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
24. "Siaran Media: Senarai 25 Pemain Ke Kem Latihan Pusat Skuad Harimau Malaya Bermula 16 Mei 2021" (in Malay). Football Association of Malaysia. 10 May 2021. from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
25. "Bahrain – Malaysia 2:0 (Friendlies 2021, May)". worldfootball.net. from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
26. "Luqman Hakim Shamsudin". Soccerway. from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
27. "Luqman Hakim". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 June 2021.