[3] Yousef studied at Tahra Primary School and has been practicing football from an early age.
[2] Yousef joined the Baghdad school team Maaraf Baghdad representing the Ministry of Education before he joined Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in 1936, and continued to play for the team until he retired and turned to coaching.
[4] He appeared for the Baghdad Select side in high-profiled international matches against the army teams of England and Poland in 1943.
[4] Two years later (1945), Yousef played for the Baghdad Maaraf team against Lebanon, which ended with Iraq's victory in the two meetings (1–0) and (4–1).
Yousef helped Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in Iraq since its 1931 founding, guiding them to a number of cups and championships during his long career with the club, which ended in 1959.