Nicknamed "Dangerous Ali", he was the Egyptian Premier League's top scorer for two times in the 1976–77 and 1978–79 seasons.

Despite his relatively short career, retiring at 28, Khalil still maintains his popularity despite his absence from his country over the past decades.

Khalil was soon selected to play with the Zamalek U-20 team in the Youth League, which was a tournament that received great media coverage at the time for the cessation of football activity in Egypt due to the War of Attrition.

Khalil played for the first team in 1971, he won with Zamalek the October League Cup title in the 1973–74 season.

[8][9]Khalil was Zamalek's valuable striker of the 1970s and the beloved player of its fans, he was capable of scoring strange goals.

[11][12] In 1980, and at the height of his career, Khalil, 28 at the time, retired from football at a relatively young age and became a coach for youth teams.

He also played in the 1972 Palestine Cup of Nations, and scored two goals in the group stage, and Egypt finished as champions.

He was a part of the team that participated in the 1973 All-Africa Games in Nigeria and he scored against Guinea and Upper Volta in the group stage.