[4][5][6][7] Zayed started his career with Broadford Rovers before moving to St. Joseph's Boys AFC, based in Sallynoggin, Dublin.

He joined Bray Wanderers and after impressing in the Under-21s, Zayed soon graduated to the senior team making his League of Ireland debut on 18 October 2002 at the Carlisle Grounds.

[8] Zayed signed for Crewe Alexandra in February 2004 on loan, but returned to Bray in May without having made a first team appearance at Gresty Road.

He went on trial at Incheon United in the K-League,[19] but eventually decided to remain in Ireland and moved to Sporting Fingal in January 2009.

On 2 February 2012, he came on as a substitute in his first appearance, in the Tehran derby with Persepolis being reduced to 10 men and 2–0 behind, he scored in the 82nd minute to make it 2–1 with a right-footed curling shot.

In the 92nd minute of the match Zayed put Persepolis into a 3–2 lead in dramatic style to be the first non-Iranian player to net a hat-trick in the Tehran derby.

[29] However, he decided to leave his team before end of the season and on 24 November 2012, Perspolis and Zayed officially agreed to cancel his contract.

[30] On 11 January 2013, Zayed joined another Iranian club, Aluminium Hormozgan and signed a contract with this team until the end of the season.

[36] On 16 April 2016, Zayed scored two late goals against the New York Cosmos, leading his side to a 2–1 victory, and earning Player of the Week honors.

[39] On 24 October 2018, it was announced that Zayed would join USL League One side Chattanooga Red Wolves SC ahead of their inaugural season in 2019.

Zayed made his international debut for the Irish U-20s against South Korea in January 2003 in a pre-World Cup tournament and followed up with two goals against the United Arab Emirates two days later in a 3–2 win.

Zayed played in all four of Ireland's games in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, held in the UAE, starting two and making two appearances as a substitute.

[42] Following the tournament, he was contacted by both the Tunisian and Libyan FAs with a view to declaring for either, however, Zayed declined as he wanted to pursue his dream of representing Ireland at senior level.

[41] After impressing on his debut, Zayed was called up to Libya's 23-man training squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in November 2011.

On 11 August 2021, Zayed was hired as the first ever head coach of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, which began playing in USL League One, starting in the 2022 season.