He is the younger brother of Zulfahdmi Suzliman who plays mainly as winger and striker for Singapore Premier League club Tanjong Pagar United.

Zulqarnaen made his professional debut for Young Lions in a 2–0 league match lost to Geylang International on 25 February 2016.

[3][4][5] On 26 July 2023, in a friendly match against Tottenham Hotspurs at the Singapore National Stadium, Zulqarnaen was tasked to marked against Son Heung-min who was considered as one of the best players in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time in which he managed to close down and prevented Son for scoring or dribbling past him for the first half of the match.

On 15 December 2023, Lion City Sailors announce that Zulqaernaen has signed a contract extension with the club, Zulqarnaen made his professional debut for the Singapore national football team in a friendly 2–0 win over Fiji on 19 September 2018.

On 21 November, Zulqarnaen started and played 90 minutes in Singapore's 6–1 win over Timor Leste in the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup.