[2] He began his football career at Kabi Nazrul Government College, where he was a student and after graduation joined the newly formed Dhaka Mohammedan.

Ali represented Dacca in the 1944–45 Santosh Trophy, where his team were defeated by Bengal in the preliminary round held on home ground.

Eventually, Ali was called up to the Pakistan national football team alongside another Bengali player, Nabi Chowdhury, for the 1954 Asian Games in Manila, Philippines.

[2] Ali completed a hat-trick of individual National Football Championship triumphs, this time guiding Dhaka Division to the title in both 1961 and 1962.

Ali's President's XI team won the game 2–0 with goals from Golam Sarwar Tipu and Scooter Gafoor.

[16] On 13 May 1972, Ali served as the head coach of "Dhaka XI", the unofficial Bangladesh national team (not affiliated with a FIFA Confederation), in a match against Mohun Bagan.

[18] In July 1973, Ali travelled to Malaysia as the head coach of the first Bangladesh national football team, when they took part in the Merdeka Cup.

On their way back, Ali's side played a friendly in Singapore and earned their first international football win by defeating the hosts 1–0.

[2] Ali also pioneered the beginning of women's football in Bangladesh, arranging a training camp at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in 1977.