Gaafar finished seventh in the African Player of the Year, by France Football in 1975 and eighth in 1977.

[5][6] Farouk Fouad Gaafar was born in Sayyidah Zainab District, Cairo on 29 October 1952.

In 1963, in the streets of El-Munira neighborhood, Zamalek's scout Ibrahim Abdel-Rahman, saw Gaafar playing and enrolled him in the Zamalek U-14 youth team without his family’s knowledge after he obtained a preparatory certificate from Manial El-Rawda School.

Farouk Gaafar played in Zamalek's youth teams from 1963, he played for six years before being chosen for the first team, he trained under many notable coaches such as Hilal Qadri, Hamada El-Sharkawy, and Samir Qotb.

In front of Ghazl El Mahalla, he played as a right-back instead of Yakan Hussein.

He played for the team for 16 years from 1971 to 1987, he was nicknamed the "King of midfield", he scored over 53 goals for Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League.

After Zamalek's refusal of Gaafar signing to Al Ain FC in Emirates, Gaafar travelled to the United States and played for Cosmos, since rules were allowing him to play in the U.S. without his club's permission.

A retirement festival had taken place in Cairo Stadium, with a friendly match between Egypt and Kuwait in 1988.

Gaafar was part of the team that finished third in the 1974 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.

He won the best playmaker award in 1974 African Cup of Nations and was included in the 1974 CAN dream team and he also won the best playmaker in the 1976 African Cup of Nations and was included in the 1976 CAN dream team.

He also managed Ghazl El Mahalla in 2002 and reached the Egypt Cup final.