Freestyle footballer Hadiya Hakeem has been drawing crowds at a Dubai fan zone during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, performing ball-control tricks between the day's matches.
Hakeem is from Kozhikode in Kerala, India, and now lives in the UAE. She taught herself freestyle football as a teenager, practicing at home from YouTube videos after she could not find a girls' team to join. The discipline rewards solo skill and close ball control rather than 11-a-side team play.
Her routines have spread widely online, where she posts as a freestyler and content creator to more than 160,000 followers on Instagram. A clip filmed with fellow freestyler Maymi Asgari at Al Seef earlier this year drew close to 2 million views. She led an Asian side to silver at the FIFA International Influencers Cup in 2022 and has since performed at football events, including an influencers match at the Qatar World Cup alongside Brazil great Cafu.
Hakeem had hoped to attend World Cup matches this year, but said her visa application was turned down. She told Khaleej Times the setback was "a blessing in disguise because it has helped me to be in the UAE in the middle of the action." She added that she had long wanted to move to the country: "I always wanted to come to the UAE because the opportunities this country gives to hijabis and football lovers is unmatched."
She now trains for about four hours at a time, at least four days a week, and plans to start a coaching program to teach freestyle football to others.
💬 Have you caught any of the World Cup fan zone performances around Dubai?