Yaqoob Butt

Yaqoob Ijaz Butt (born 9 September 1988) is a footballer who plays as a defender. Born in Denmark, he represented Pakistan at the international level.

Club career
Butt started his career at Stenløse, and subsequently played at the lower divisions of Denmark. In 2014, Butt was approached by Thai League 1 club Roi Et PB United in a 5 million Thai baht deal, though the move seemingly failed to materialise.

International career
Butt hunted for national team call up, first approaching the Pakistan Football Federation in 2007 at the age of 18. While he was eventually not called up due to being too young and incomplete documentation being another reason, he came into radar again in 2010, when Pakistan International XI, a team made up of European based players of Pakistani origin played against Woking FC. Butt was subsequently called by the Pakistan national team coach Graham Roberts for the 2010 Asian games, but incomplete documents prevented his participation.

He received his first international cap in a friendly against Nepal ending in a 1–0 victory for Pakistan in 2013, as a replacement for the injured international defender Atif Bashir under the coach Zaviša Milosavljević. He then played in a two-match tour against Maldives in the same month, making an impact as a substitute in the last 15 minutes in the game, where his corner led to Pakistan scoring a last minute equalizer.

In March 2013, he participated in the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification, playing against Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Macau. He was subsequently called for the 2013 SAFF Championship.

After being left out for both the 2014 Asian Games and 2018 FIFA World Cup's Asian qualifiers 1st round of March 2015, Butt returned after almost 5 years away in a friendly against Palestine in 2018. He last played in 2019 in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification against Cambodia, as Pakistan failed to advance to the next round.

Personal life
His brother, Yousuf Butt, is also a footballer and has played alongside him for Pakistan. Butt also went to school with Hassan Bashir in Denmark, who eventually played alongside him in the national team.