Ali spent his entire youth career at Iraqi giants Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, joining the club’s academy at a young age and going up the age groups before making his first team debut at the age of 18 in 2014. He spent two seasons at the Falcons, picking up appearances mostly as a bench player, coming on to help the team. After returning from his two loan spells, Yousif would break into Al-Jawiya’s starting lineup, becoming one of their most important players as he partnered club captain and legend Hammadi Ahmad up front.