Zidane Iqbal

Zidane Aamar Iqbal is a midfielder born in Manchester on 27 April 2003 to a Pakistani father and an Iraqi mother. A Manchester United academy product, he became the first British South Asian to play in the Champions League, then moved to Utrecht in the Netherlands and to Dundee United in Scotland. He represents Iraq at senior level. ^{1 2 3 4}

Iqbal played for Sale United from the age of four and joined Manchester United at nine. He signed his first professional contract in April 2021 and made his first-team debut on 8 December 2021, as a late substitute against Young Boys in the Champions League — the first British South Asian to play for the club, and the first to appear in the Champions League. In 2023 he moved to Utrecht, where he was named in the Eredivisie team of the month in December 2024 and March 2025, and in 2025 he joined Dundee United. ^{1 2 3 4}

Eligible for England, Iraq and Pakistan, Iqbal chose Iraq, his mother's country, and made his senior debut in 2022. He appeared for Iraq at the 2026 World Cup; an Al Jazeera profile in June 2026 called him the footballer who gave Pakistan its first World Cup moment, as the first player of Pakistani heritage to play at a World Cup. ^{1 2 3 4}

The English article's personal-life section states that Iqbal is Muslim, citing a Manchester United interview and the Manchester Evening News, and records that he cites Mesut Özil as an inspiration. That names Islam generically; no source names a school or branch for him. The Arabic article's text says nothing about his religion, though its categories file him among English Muslims and Iraqi Muslims, and the English article's categories do the same — category filings never attest. The Urdu article is a bot stub, and Wikidata carries no religion value. His faith is therefore recorded as unknown, with the evidence set out here in full. ^{1 2 3 4}