[8] Irfan made his senior international debut for Singapore in 2016, with a single goal as a centre-back coming against Turkmenistan in 2017, and earning 38 caps as of 2022.

Irfan is the eldest son of Singaporean footballing legend Fandi Ahmad and South African former model Wendy Jacobs.

In March 2013, Irfan had an opportunity to secure his first overseas stint, which was supposed to be with Hércules, a second-tier Spanish professional club.

[14] However, Irfan later rejected a two-year contract from the club in order to return to Singapore and fulfil his National Service obligations.

[16][17][18] On the same day, he was immediately named in the starting line-up to face Tampines Rovers, due to an injury suffered by Shakir Hamzah.

[24][25] In January 2018, Irfan returned to join Young Lions after his national service for the inaugural 2018 Singapore Premier League season.

[26] He also went on another trial with Portuguese top-tier side, Braga, and was later offered a two-year deal, with the club retaining the option to extend the contract by two additional years.

He also added that the clause of having to fork out a hefty compensation of 15 million euros should he decide to leave the club during the contract was one of the other reasons that he did not accept it.

On 11 November 2018, it was confirmed that Irfan would join BG Pathum United to fill up the club's ASEAN slot for the 2019 Thai League 2 season.

[8] Irfan won his fourth silverware in the form of the 2022 Thailand Champions Cup with BG Pathum in a 3–2 win over Buriram United.

On 10 February 2024, Irfan returned to action after a 6 months injury that forced him out since late August 2023 where he scored the equaliser in the 83rd minute of the game in a 1–1 draw against PT Prachuap.

Irfan was part of the Singapore U16 side in the 25th edition of the Lion City Cup held in 2013, impressing against Arsenal U15 and Eintracht Frankfurt U15.

[2][3] He made his Singapore U23 debut on 14 February 2015, scoring against the Japan U22s, and was selected by coach Aide Iskandar for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.

[36][37] In September 2016, Irfan was called up by national team coach V. Sundramoorthy for the friendlies against Malaysia and Hong Kong on 7 and 11 October respectively.

Irfan received a call up to the national team for a friendly against Afghanistan and the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches held in Riyadh against Palestine, Uzbekistan, and Saudi Arabia along with brothers, Ikhsan and Ilhan.

During their stint, they had continued to play and train professional football under the Sportsmen Scheme by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) that gives special dispensation for local athletes with flexible timetables for sports events – including representing Singapore at international competitions.