Rebin Sulaka

Contents

Rebin Gharib Sulaka Adhamat (Kurdish: ڕێبین سولاقا, romanized: Řêbîn Sûlaqa, Arabic: ريبين غريب سولاقا عظمت; born 12 April 1992) is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Thai League 1 club Port and the Iraq national team.

Club career

Sulaka started playing football in Eskilstuna City, where he as a 15-year-old made his debut in the first team. After the 2012 season, he did not renew the contract with the club. For the 2013 season he signed for Dalkurd FF. In January 2014 he signed a three-year contract with Ljungskile SK. In February 2015 wrote Sulaka on for Syrianska.[1] In August 2015, he was loaned out to AFC United.

Elverum

Sulaka signed for Norwegian club Elverum for the 2016 season.[2] After a successful season that ended in promotion to the second tier, he extended his contract for the 2017 season.[3] He left the club mid-season and moved to Qatar.

Al-Markhiya

On 9 July 2017, Sulaka signed for Qatari club Al-Markhiya.[4] He made his debut on 16 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a shock victory against giants Al-Sadd.[5] He was picked in the team of the week for his performance.[6]

Radnički Niš

Recently arrived at Radnički Niš, coach Milorad Kosanović expressed to the club management Sulaka to be his main desire to reinforce the defense, so the Serbian club signed him on 30 August 2019, a day before the closing of the transfer-window in Serbia and most of Europe.[7]

Levski Sofia

In January 2021 Sulaka signed a six-month deal with Levski Sofia.[8] In the spring of 2021 he left the club, which was experiencing financial troubles.[9]

Buriram United

On 6 August 2021, Sulaka signed with Thai League 1 club Buriram United. He make his debut for the club on 4 September 2021 in a goalless draw against Suphanburi. Sulaka went on to helped his club win the domestic treble in his first season.

On 19 January 2022, Sulaka scored his first goal for the club in the 2021–22 Thai FA Cup round of 16 fixture against Chiangrai United in a 4–1 win. He then went on to win another domestic treble with the club in his second season.

Brommapojkarna

On 7 July 2023, Sulaka signed with Brommapojkarna in Sweden.

FC Seoul

On 21 February 2024, Sulaka joined FC Seoul of South Korean K League 1.[10] He played in three matches during the season before coming to a mutual agreement with the club to terminate the contract in June.[11]

Schaffhausen

On 9 September 2024, Sulaka signed with Schaffhausen in Switzerland.[12]

Port

On 20 July 2025, Sulaka signed with Thai League 1 club Port. He make his debut on 17 August in a 3–1 win over Ayutthaya United. He ended the season with the club helping them to win the 2025 Piala Presiden and 2025–26 Thai League Cup.

International career

On 12 June 2015, Sulaka played his first game for the Iraq national team against Japan in Yokohama where the match ended in a 4–0 defeat.[13] Rebin was present in the final rounds of Iraq's 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, in which Iraq failed to qualify to the final tournament. In 2019, he was chosen in the Iraqi squad for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.[14]

On 20 February 2022, Sulaka announced his retirement from international football for personal reasons.[15] However, he announced a reversal of his retirement on 16 August 2023.[16] In December 2023, Sulaka was named in the Iraqi squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar where he scored his first international goal against Vietnam on 24 January 2024.[17]

Sulaka was then selected in Iraq squad in the 2026 FIFA World Cup where he would go on to play against France in the second group stage match. In the last group stage match, Sulaka was in the starting lined up against Senegal, however in the 13th minute, he was sent off with a red card after pulling Sadio Mané down.[18] Sulaka announced his retirement from the national team right after the tournament concluded.

Personal life

Sulaka was born in the suburb of Ankawa in Erbil, Iraq into an ethnic Assyrian Christian family. In 2002, at the age of 10, Sulaka moved to Sweden with his family.[19]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Iraq201510
201610
201780
201850
201970
202150
202360
202461
Total381
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.24 January 2024Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan, QatarVietnam1–13–22023 AFC Asian Cup

Honours

Club

Buriram United

  • Thai League 1: 2021–22, 2022–23
  • Thai FA Cup: 2021–22, 2022–23
  • Thai League Cup: 2021–22, 2022–23

Port

  • Piala Presiden: 2025
  • Thai League Cup: 2025–26

International

Iraq

  • King's Cup: 2023, 2025

References

  1. 1."KLART: Rebin Sulaka till Syrianska FC (Swedish Language)". Fotbolltransfer.com.
  2. 2."Seier over Nybergsund og midtstopper signert !". Kcweb.no.
  3. 3."Sulaka og Tervaniemi klar for 2017". Elverumfotbaa.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  4. 4."Rebin Sulaka has been in Qatar for one day and he's already dominating the newspapers". Twitter.com.
  5. 5."السد يستهل مسيرته في دوري النجوم بالخسارة من المرخية". Beinsports.com. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  6. 6."QSL TOTW1".
  7. 7.Radnički doveo reprezentativca Iraka at Sportski žurnal, 30 August 2019 (in Serbian)
  8. 8."Левски потвърди: "Сините" подписаха със Сулака". Gong.bg (in Bulgarian). 12 January 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  9. 9."Ребин Сулака разтрогва с Левски за неизплатени заплати". Topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). 21 April 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  10. 10.[오피셜] 서울, '아시안컵 종횡무진' 이라크 센터백 술라카 품었다... "수호신 위해 최선 다할 것". starnewskorea (in Korean). 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  11. 11.Choi, Byeong-jin (27 June 2024). [오피셜] FC서울, '이라크 국대 DF 술라카'와 계약 해지...반시즌 만에 작별. Mydaily (in Korean). Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  12. 12."Irakischer Nationalspieler zum FCS" [Iraqi international joins FCS] (in German). FC Schaffhausen. 9 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  13. 13."Getting to know Rebin Sulaka". Socceriraq.net. 20 June 2017.
  14. 14."Every AFC Asian Cup 2019 Squad Revealed - Final 23-man lists". Goal.com. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  15. 15."Rebin Sulaka announces retirement" (in Arabic).
  16. 16."Rebin Sulaka reverses retirement".
  17. 17."شاهد: بطريقةٍ جديدةٍ.. مدربُ المنتخب الوطنيّ كاساس يعلنُ القائمةَ النهائية لكأسِ آسيا 2023 والمُؤلفة من 26 لاعباً" [Watch: National team coach Casas announces the final list for the 2023 Asian Cup, consisting of 26 players]. Twitter (in Arabic). Iraq Football Association. 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  18. 18.Mediacorp Sports (26 June 2026). RED CARD! Iraq's Sulaka dismissed for denying Sadio Mané goal scoring chance | FIFA World Cup 2026™. Retrieved 27 July 2026 – via YouTube.
  19. 19.Lee, David (11 June 2026). "World Cup 2026: 5 players from Asean leagues to look out for". The Straits Times. Retrieved 24 June 2026.