He is one of the most prominent figures in the history of
Qatari football and a major factor in determining Qatar’s rise to success in
the 1990s, along with Mansoor Muftah, Mahmoud Soufi and Ibrahim Khalfan.

Mustafa started his senior international career at the age
of nineteen. He helped establish the Qatar football team on the international
stage, claiming many achievements in his time of playing for the Qatar national
team, such as winning the 1992 Gulf Cup of Nations, reaching the quarter-finals
of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and winning the 1998 Arab Nations Cup.
He played for Qatar in the 1998 World Cup Qualifiers, scoring two goals in the
group stage and securing the top position in their group before getting
eliminated in the final round. In a match at the 1992 Olympic Games in
Barcelona, Mustafa scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against Egypt, registering
the first competitive win in Qatar’s history against an African nation. Mustafa
had a reputation of being a fair player, having been shown very few red cards
in his career. He received the World Fair Play Trophy in 2005.