Al Wahda FC

Al Wahda FC
نادي الوحـدة لكرة القدم
Full name	Al Wahda Football Club
Founded	June 3, 1984; 40 years ago
Ground	Al Nahyan Stadium
Capacity	15,894
Owner	Diab Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Chairman	Rashid Bin Diab Al Nahyan
Manager	Ronny Deila
League	UAE Pro League
2023–24	UAE Pro League, 5th
Website	http://www.alwahda-sc.com
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Al Wahda Football Club (Arabic: نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم, romanized: al-waḥda, lit. 'Union') is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that competes in the UAE Pro League.^[2] The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al Nahyan Stadium. The club's colours are maroon, navy blue and white.

History

Foundation

The first team created in Abu Dhabi was Al-Ahli in 1966, followed respectively by Al-Ittihad in 1968, Al-Falah and Al-Wahda in 1969. In 1974, a decision was made by the Minister of youth and sport to create Abu Dhabi SC by merging Al-Ittihad and Al-Wahda on 13 March 1974, and to create Al-Emirates SC by merging Al-Ahli and Al-Falah on 3 June 1974. In 1984, Abu Dhabi SC and Al-Emirates SC merged to create Al-Wahda FC.

Modern era

In 1999, Al Wahda won their maiden UAE League title with 8 points ahead of their rivals Al Ain. In 2018, Al Wahda changed its official logo as part of a new club redesign.

Honours

Leagues

UAE Pro League: 4

Champions: 1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2009–10

UAE Division One: 2

Champions: 1976–77, 1984–85

Cups

UAE President's Cup: 2

Champions: 1999–2000, 2016–17

UAE Federation Cup: 3

Champions: 1986, 1995, 2001

UAE League Cup: 3

Champions: 2015–16, 2017–18, 2023–24

UAE Super Cup: 4

Champions: 2002, 2011, 2017, 2018^[3]

Home stadium

The Al-Nahyan Stadium is the home of Al Wahda.^[4] It has 15,000 seats and located only three kilometers from the downtown at the heart of Abu Dhabi City.

Performance in AFC competitions

Al Wahda players (right) during an AFC Champions League match against FC Goa at the Fatorda Stadium in 2021

Al Wahda has been qualifying for Asian competitions regularly since the 1998–99 Asian Cup Winners' Cup, they've been qualifying for the AFC Champions League regularly by winning the President's Cup or consistently finishing near the top in the league.

Al Wahda's season-by-season record in international competitions
¹ Group stage. Highest-ranked eliminated team in case of qualification, lowest-ranked qualified team in case of elimination.
Asian Club Championship / AFC Champions League
Season	Preliminary stages			Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	Final
2000					Al-Sadd
2002					Al-Zawraa	Nasaf Qarshi¹
2004					Al-Sadd¹	Pakhtakor
2006					Al-Karamah¹
2007					Al-Zawraa¹	Al-Hilal	Sepahan
2008					Al-Karamah¹
2010		Al-Karamah	Churchill Brothers	Esteghlal¹
2011				Bunyodkor¹
2015			Al-Sadd
2017			Al-Wehdat	Persepolis¹
2018				Zob Ahan¹
2019				Lokomotiv Tashkent¹	Al-Nassr
2021			Al-Zawraa	FC Goa¹	Sharjah	Al-Nassr
Asian Cup Winners' Cup
Season	Preliminary stages			Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	Final
1999					Kazma
2001					Esteghlal
Arab Club Champions Cup
Season	Preliminary stages			Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	Final
2017						Al Ahly¹
2023			Bourj	ASFAR	CR Belouizdad¹	Al Shabab
FIFA Club World Cup
Season	Preliminary stages						Semi-finals / Fifth match	Final / Third match
2010					Hekari United	Seongnam	Pachuca

AFC Champions League: 12 appearances

2004: Quarter-finals

2006: Group stage

2007: Semi-finals

2008: Group stage

2010: Group stage

2011: Group stage

2015: Play-offs

2017: Group stage

2018: Group stage

2019: Round of 16

2020: Withdrew

2021: Quarter-finals

Asian Club Championship: 2 appearances

1999–2000: First round

2001–02: Group stage (Top 8)

Asian Cup Winners Cup: 2 appearances

1998–99: First round

2000–01: First round

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	UAE	Mohamed Al-Shamsi
2	DF	UAE	Mansour Saleh ^U23
3	DF	UAE	Lucas Pimenta
4	DF	UAE	Sasa Ivkovic
5	DF	UAE	Alaeddine Zouhir
6	DF	BRA	Gianluca Muniz
7	MF	IRN	Ahmad Nourollahi
8	MF	UAE	Abdelaziz Al-Balushi
9	FW	CMR	Leonel Wamba ^U23
11	FW	UAE	Facundo Kruspzky
12	MF	UAE	Abdulla Hamad
14	MF	UAE	Khamis Nasser ^U23
15	MF	UZB	Khojimat Erkinov
16	MF	UAE	Abdulla Ahmed ^U23
17	MF	NGA	Philip Otele
19	DF	UAE	Rúben Canedo
20	FW	UAE	Mansoor Saeed ^U23
21	DF	UAE	Abdullah Khalid ^U23


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
22	MF	POR	Bernardo Folha ^U23
26	MF	MAR	Ahmed Jawar
28	DF	UAE	Zayed Abdulrahim ^U23
30	DF	NGA	Favour Ogbu
32	DF	POR	Guga ^U23
36	GK	UAE	Zayed Al-Hammadi
41	MF	NIG	Oumarou Diadje ^U23
50	GK	UAE	Rashed Ali
56	MF	UAE	Yasser Alo Ali ^U23
64	DF	UAE	Rashed Issam ^U23
65	MF	CMR	Patient Wassou ^U23
66	GK	UAE	Hazaa Ammar
68	DF	UAE	Mohamed Ali
70	FW	SYR	Omar Khribin
77	FW	UAE	Awadh Al-Katheeri ^U23
90	FW	UAE	Saud Al-Naqbi ^U18
94	MF	MLI	Brahima Diarra ^U23
99	MF	COL	Kevin Agudelo (on loan from Al-Nasr)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	DF	UAE	Hazaa Shehab ^U23 (on loan to United)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	DF	UAE	Khalid Al-Jabri ^U23 (on loan to United)

Coaching staff


Position	Name
Manager	Ronny Deila
Assistant Manager	Kenny Miller Liam weeks
Goalkeeper Coach	Abdullslam Jumaa
Fitness Coach	Marco Vego Monsef Bin Al-shikh
Club Doctor	Waleed Al-Shikh
Medical Therapist	Ninad Martino
Massage Therapist	Bojo Sinkovic Vlafmir Harfman

Managerial history

^* Served as caretaker coach.

Name	From	To	Ref.
Helmy Toulan	1979	1984
Heshmat Mohajerani	1984	1986
Slobodan Halilović	1991	1992
Mahmoud El-Gohary	1995	1996
Jo Bonfrère	1998	1999
Ruud Krol	1999	1999
Dimitri Davidovic	1999	2000
Rinus Israël	2000	2001
Jo Bonfrère	2001	2002
Cemşir Muratoğlu	2002	2003
Rolf Fringer	14 March 2003	30 June 2003
Rolland Courbis	1 July 2003	30 November 2003
Rinus Israël	1 December 2003	30 June 2004
Ahmad Abdel-Halim	2004	2005
Reiner Hollmann	1 July 2005	3 April 2006
Richard Tardy	2006	4 August 2006
Horst Köppel	5 August 2006	11 October 2006	^[5]
Jo Bonfrère	13 December 2007	10 December 2008
Josef Hickersberger	10 December 2008	1 June 2010
László Bölöni	29 May 2010	2 September 2010	^[6]
Tite	31 August 2010	19 October 2010
Josef Hickersberger	22 October 2010	30 June 2012
Branko Ivanković	20 May 2012	28 April 2013
Josef Hickersberger	28 April 2013	15 July 2013
Karel Jarolím	15 July 2013	9 November 2013
José Peseiro	11 November 2013	11 January 2015
Sami Al-Jaber	11 January 2015	19 May 2015
Javier Aguirre	18 June 2015	20 May 2017	^[7]
Laurențiu Reghecampf	3 July 2017	25 November 2018
Henk ten Cate	7 December 2018	26 May 2019
Maurice Steijn	9 June 2019	17 October 2019
Manuel Jiménez	17 October 2019	18 July 2020	^[8]
Mark Wotte	18 July 2020	8 September 2020
Vuk Rasovic	8 September 2020	12 March 2021	^[9]
Henk ten Cate	13 March 2021	25 October 2021
Grégory Dufrennes	26 October 2021	3 June 2022
Carlos Carvalhal	1 July 2022	2 October 2022	^[10]
Manuel Jiménez	5 October 2022	12 March 2023
Arno Buitenweg*	13 March 2023	17 June 2023
Pitso Mosimane	18 June 2023	10 November 2023	^[11]
Arno Buitenweg*	10 November 2023	5 January 2024
Goran Tufegdžić	5 January 2024	Present

Pro-League record

Season	Lvl.	Tms.	Pos.	President's Cup	League Cup
2008–09	1	12	4th	Semi-Finals	Runner-ups
2009–10	1	12	1st	Semi-Finals	Semi-Finals
2010–11	1	12	5th	Runner-ups	Semi-Finals
2011–12	1	12	6th	Semi-Finals	First Round
2012–13	1	14	7th	Semi-Finals	Semi-Finals
2013–14	1	14	2nd	Quarter-Finals	First Round
2014–15	1	14	4th	Round of 16	First Round
2015–16	1	14	3rd	Round of 16	Champions
2016–17	1	14	5th	Champions	First Round
2017–18	1	12	2nd	Semi-Finals	Champions
2018–19	1	14	3rd	Round of 16	Runner-ups
2019–20^a	1	14	5th	Round of 16	Quarter-Finals
2020–21	1	14	7th	Round of 16	First Round
2021–22	1	14	3rd	Runner-ups	Semi-Finals
2022–23	1	14	3rd	Preliminary Round	Quarter-Finals
2023–24	1	14	5th	Round of 16	Champions

_{Notes^ 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.}

Key

Pos. = Position
Tms. = Number of teams
Lvl. = League

References

^ "نبذة عن منشآت نادي الوحدة الرياضي". Archived from the original on 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
^ Al Wahda FC (UAE): club profile, squad, fixtures and achieves Archived 2021-04-30 at the Wayback Machine Soccerway.com. Retrieved 16 April 2021
^ "Al Ain FC 3 : 3 , 222: 4 PAl Wahda FC". globalsportsarchive.com. Global Sports Archive. 25 August 2018. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ "Al Wahda – Clubs – UAE Pro League Committee". Al Wahda Club. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ "Köppel wechselt in die VAE". kicker (in German). 5 August 2006. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
^ Bölöni appointed as head coach of Al-Wahda Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine
^ Cerezo, Hugo (18 June 2015). "Javier Aguirre ficha por el Al Wahda". Marca (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ Jose, James (17 October 2019). "Al Jazira, Al Wahda appoint new managers". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ "Al Wahda set to name Vuk Rasovic as new coach ahead of Asian Champions League resumption". thenational. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
^ "Carlos Carvalhal leaves Al Wahda". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
^ Mahlatse Mphahlele. "Pitso Mosimane joins UAE side Al Wahda". timeslive. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

External links

Official website (in Arabic)
Al Wahda FC on Facebook

[1] "نبذة عن منشآت نادي الوحدة الرياضي". Archived from the original on 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2015-03-10.

[2] Al Wahda FC (UAE): club profile, squad, fixtures and achieves Archived 2021-04-30 at the Wayback Machine Soccerway.com. Retrieved 16 April 2021

[STATS_AND_INFO-3] "Al Ain FC 3 : 3 , 222: 4 PAl Wahda FC". globalsportsarchive.com. Global Sports Archive. 25 August 2018. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

[4] "Al Wahda – Clubs – UAE Pro League Committee". Al Wahda Club. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

[alwahdajob-5] "Köppel wechselt in die VAE". kicker (in German). 5 August 2006. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2013.

[6] Bölöni appointed as head coach of Al-Wahda Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine

[7] Cerezo, Hugo (18 June 2015). "Javier Aguirre ficha por el Al Wahda". Marca (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

[8] Jose, James (17 October 2019). "Al Jazira, Al Wahda appoint new managers". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

[9] "Al Wahda set to name Vuk Rasovic as new coach ahead of Asian Champions League resumption". thenational. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

[10] "Carlos Carvalhal leaves Al Wahda". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 October 2022.

[11] Mahlatse Mphahlele. "Pitso Mosimane joins UAE side Al Wahda". timeslive. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

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