Rosa Kafaji

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Rosa Kafaji
Personal information
Full name Rusul Rosa Kafaji
Date of birth (2003-07-05) 5 July 2003 (age 22)
Place of birth Solna, Sweden
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) [1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Brighton & Hove Albion
(on loan from Arsenal)
Youth career
2011–2014 Kallhälls FF
2014–2015 Bele Barkarby
2015–2019 AIK
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2019–2021 AIK 45 (19)
2022–2024 BK Häcken 39 (17)
2024– Arsenal 10 (1)
2025- →Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 0 (0)
International career‡
2018–2020 Sweden U17 20 (5)
2021 Sweden U19 5 (4)
2021–2023 Sweden U23 4 (0)
2023– Sweden 12 (2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19 August 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 19 August 2025

Rusul Rosa Kafaji [a] (born 5 July 2003) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion on loan from Arsenal and the Sweden national team.

Contents

Early life

Kafaji was born in Solna in Stockholm to Iraqi parents. [2]

Club career

AIK (2019–2021)

Kafaji grew up in Akalla and started playing football in Kallhälls FF when she was eight years old. [3] After that, Kafaji played for Bele Barkarby FF before she went to AIK before the 2015 season. [3] Kafaji made her debut for the A-team in the Elitettan in 2019 and scored four goals and three assists in seven matches during the season. [3] In the 2020 season, she scored 12 goals in 18 matches and helped AIK to be promoted to the Damallsvenskan.

BK Hacken (2022–2024)

In January 2022 she signed for Damallsvenskan club BK Hacken where she scored 28 goals in 61 appearances. She also made her debut in the UWCL scoring four goals in the 2023-24 season where Hacken made it to the quarter finals for the first time in club history. Because of her performance she was named as one of UEFAs ten players to watch in 2024. [4] She ended her last season as club top scorer with 15 goals.

Arsenal (2024–Present)

On 13 August 2024, Kafaji joined Women's Super League club Arsenal on a long-term contract. [5] On 20 October 2024, she scored her debut goal for Arsenal in a 2–0 away win over West Ham. [6]

Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)

On 11 August 2025, it was announced that Kafaji would spend the 2025-26 season on loan at Brighton. [7] [8]

International career

In February 2021, Kafaji was selected for the Swedish women's national team for the first time. [9] She earned her first cap on 31 October 2021, subbing in on the 86th minute during a 1-1 draw to Italy as part of the 2023-24 UWNL campaign. [10]

In 2024 she was called up to join the National Team in the two UWNL playoff games against Bosnia-Herzegovina on February 23 and 28. She started both games and scored her first goal for the Swedish senior women's team in the latter one. [11]

Personal life

Kafaji was born to parents who are originally from Iraq and her father moved back there after her parents divorced. [12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 March 2025
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
AIK 2019 Elitettan 2100——21
2020181200——1812
2021 Damallsvenskan 266??——266
Total4619??——4619
BK Häcken 2022 Damallsvenskan 10??——10
20232612??——2612
20242411??—1043415
Total5124??—1046128
Arsenal 2024–25 WSL 101101070191
Career total10744101017412648

International

As of match played 28 November 2024 [11]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sweden 202320
2024102
Total122
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kafaji goal.
List of international goals scored by Rosa Kafaji
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
128 February 2024 Tele2 Arena, Stockholm, SwedenFlag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–05–0 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League
228 November 2024 Dubočica Stadium, Leskovac, SerbiaFlag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 2–02–0 UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs

Honours

Club

AIK

Arsenal

Notes

  1. ↑ Arabic: رسل روزا الخفاجي, pronounced [ˈrusulˈruːza‿l.xaˈfaːdʒi] .

References

  1. ↑ "Profile of R. Kafaji". bkhacken.se. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  2. ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/assiletoufaily/2024/03/18/uwcl-rosa-kafaji-is-a-name-to-remember-in-the-world-of-womens-soccer/
  3. 1 2 3 "AIK Fotboll skriver treårskontrakt med Rosa Kafaji". aikfotboll.se. 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  4. ↑ UEFA.com. "The official website for European football". UEFA . Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  5. ↑ Roché, Art de (13 August 2024). "Arsenal confirm Rosa Kafaji signing from Hacken". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  6. ↑ Burton, Chris (20 October 2024). "Arsenal women's player ratings vs West Ham: Stina Blackstenius stars after replacing anonymous Alessia Russo as Mariona Caldentey and Rosa Kafaji fire manager-less Gunners to much-needed WSL win". Goal.com . Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  7. ↑ "Rosa Kafaji joins Albion on loan from Arsenal". www.brightonandhovealbion.com. 11 August 2025. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Brighton sign Arsenal forward Kafaji on loan". BBC Sport. 11 August 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "Rosa Kafaji uttagen till Svenska Damlandslaget". ungdomsfotboll.se. 9 February 2021. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Sweden W vs Italy W Stats, H2H, Predictions, xG | FootyStats". footystats.org. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  11. 1 2 "Rosa Rusul Kafaji - spelarstatistik". svenskfotboll.se. 28 February 2024. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  12. ↑ Niva, Erik. ”Aldrig känt att jag behövt vara någon annan än mig själv” Archived 22 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine , Aftonbladet, 21 mars 2021. Läst 21 mars 2021.
  13. ↑ Sanders, Emma (24 May 2025). "Women's Champions League Final: Arsenal stun Barcelona to win title". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 24 May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
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