Fahad Khalfan played for the first time for the Qatar national team in a friendly game against Bahrain on September 3, 2010.
Khalfan became world famous for one of the greatest blunders in competitive football, on November 15, 2010. In a match against Uzbekistan in the 2010 Asian Games, Khalfan intercepted a pass to the opposing goalkeeper and then dribbled to a position a yard from the goal. He tried to shoot with the outside of his left foot which caused the ball to collide with the post and rebound 16 yards into the field. A teammate attempted to salvage the bad move by making a shot on the goal, which soared several meters above the crossbar. His mistake caused his team to be eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the 2010 Asian Games.
