Yaser Safa Kasim Al-Kadefaje (Arabic: ياسر قاسم; born 10 May 1991) is an Iraqi former footballer who played as a midfielder.

[2] His mother told of a story of when he was young, kicking a ball in their second floor flat in West London, the peppy Yaser would break everything at home and have the neighbours below complaining about her son.

They wanted him to take up tennis and he was a competent player however he pleaded to his parents to allow him to play football, his true passion.

His father recounted when the family were living in Baghdad where his son was returning home with his filthy clothes knee deep in mud.

One local shopkeeper once told Yaser's father "What kind of player is your son, he’s fighting everyone and taking on everyone!”[3] The player explained how much both his parents had sacrificed for him and his siblings by leaving behind Baghdad under UN sanctions in the early 90s for London for a better life and mentioned that it "completes his heart", when he returned to Iraq and the national team and put on the shirt on because of what his parents had given up and thanked them for all they had done for him.

[3] That year and half out of football had a profound effect on the player and made him mentally stronger and that much more eager to succeed in a sport he knew he could play at the top level.

A coach at one of the sport centres that Kasim frequented took him to Fulham and he joined the youth setup there but left after a few months and switched to North London club Tottenham Hotspur.

[9] He played as a defensive midfielder through Luton's pre-season games, establishing himself as a first-team regular, and debuted for the club on 11 August in a 2–2 draw with Gateshead.

[22] In the summer of 2019, Kasim signed a one-year contract with Swedish club Örebro SK, playing in the Allsvenskan.

In June 2020, just five months after moving to Iraq, Kasim left Erbil claiming he hadn't been paid wages since arriving at the club.

[citation needed] After leaving Erbil, Kasim was close to a move to South America[25] but returned to Iraq ahead of the 2021-2022 Iraqi Premier League season, signing a one-year contract for Erbil's Kurdish rivals Zakho, unveiled in the number 5 he previously wore for the national team.

[26] Following an excellent start to the season which saw him score twice and Zakho in the top six, Kasim was recalled to the Iraqi national team.

On 15 January 2022, it was announced that Kasim will play one more game before joining a club in the Spanish second division, reported to be CF Fuenlabrada.

[32] On 24 February 2023, Kasim signed for Isthmian League Premier Division club Margate having previously played with assistant manager Ben Greenhalgh at Brighton & Hove Albion.

[37] According to football writer Hassanin Mubarak no player in the history of the Iraq national football team had made his position his own after only 90 minutes, but Yaser Kasim, the Baghdad-born West Londoner, who after one match had starred the midfield in Iraq's final Asian Cup qualifier against China on his debut.

[14] Kasim had refused an earlier call-up prior to the Asian Cup qualifying game with Saudi Arabia, deciding to concentrate on playing for Swindon Town in League One, where he had become a key figure in the club's five-man midfield, which also included Australia's Massimo Luongo.

[14] After several years out of the national team set-up, Kasim was called up by Iraq for the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup under new manager Dick Advocaat following his impressive start to the Iraqi Premier League season with Zakho where he scored two goals as his club sat in the top six at the time of his call-up.

He then requested three days leave, stating something about signing a new contract with his club and then went AWOL, switched off his phone and never explained why he had not returned.

[46] After returning from his decision to retire, he played a friendly match against Saudi Arabia national team on 28 February 2018.