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Naft Al-Wasat SC

Naft Al-Wasat Sports Club (Arabic: نادي نفط الوسط الرياضي, lit. 'Midland Oil') is an Iraqi sports club based in Najaf. Its professional football team plays in the Iraqi Premier Division League, the second tier of Iraqi football. The club's home stadium is An-Najaf Stadium.

Naft Al-Wasat
Full nameNaft Al-Wasat Sports Club
Nickname(s)Andaleeb Al-Furat (The Euphrates Nightingales)
Founded2008; 16 years ago (2008)
GroundAl-Najaf International Stadium (league)
Naft Al-Wasat Stadium (cup)
Capacity30,000 (league)[1]
5,000 (cup)
PresidentDawood Salem Ahmed[2]
ManagerImad Aoude
LeagueIraqi Premier Division League
2023–24Iraq Stars League, 20th of 20 (relegated)
Current season

Founded in 2008, Naft Al-Wasat spent three seasons in the Iraqi Second Division League and another three in the Iraqi First Division League until they were promoted from the 2013–14 Iraqi First Division League to the Iraqi Premier League. In their first season in the Iraqi Premier League, Naft Al-Wasat became the champions by achieving the 2014–15 Iraqi Premier League.

Their futsal club has participated in the AFC Futsal Club Championship.[3]

History

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Naft Al-Wasat SC was found on 1 July 2008 by the Ministry of Oil. The founding board consisted of Riyadh Bahr Al-Ouloom, Abbas Fakhruddin, Firas Nouri, Haitham Abbas, Ali Juwad, Yasin Khudhair, Mustafa Mohammed, Hassan Juwad, Wisam Fawzi and Basim Radhi.[4] The club entered the Iraqi Second Division League and was promoted to the Iraqi First Division League in the 2010–11 season. In the 2011–12 season, Naft Al-Wasat made their first transfer from other clubs, signing Karrar Abd from Kufa FC in January 2012.[5] In the 2011–12 season, Naft Al-Wasat barely qualified for the second stage, after having 8 wins, 6 draws and 4 losses, only a point away from Kufa FC.[6] In the second stage, Naft Al-Wasat finished in 4th place in Group 2, at 12 points, with 4 wins and 4 losses, ending their first season in the First Division League in failure.[7]

In the 2012–13 season, Naft Al-Wasat failed again to qualify. In the groups stage, they became in top of Group D, at 27 points, being won 7 matches, drawn in 5 and lost only one.[8] In the second stage they had a big breakdown, finishing in 5th place in Group 2, after winning only one match, drawing in 5 and losing 3.[9] In the 2012–13 Iraq FA Cup, they reached the third round before being eliminated. In the first round, they defeated Samawa 4–0, and in the second round they eliminated Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya by beating them 4–3 on aggregate (the first leg was 1–1 and the second leg was 3–2). In the third round, they lost the first leg to Masafi Al-Wasat 2–1 and drew the second leg 2–2, being knocked out 4–3 on aggregate.[10]

After the 2012–13 season, the technical staff was changed, signing the manager, Abdul Ghani Shahad, on 27 August 2013.[11] In the 2013–14 season, Naft Al-Wasat were promoted for the first time in their history. They were in top of Group E at 34 points, 8 points away from Al-Diwaniya FC, which was a big difference from last seasons.[12] In the second stage, Naft Al-Wasat took the Group 4 lead, at 20 points, by winning 6 matches and drawing in two.[13] They ended their season as the leaders of Group 1 in the last stage, claiming promotion to the Iraqi Premier League.[14]

After the end of the 2013–14 season, the club made major changes to get ready for the 2014–15 Iraqi Premier League with the total of 8 players signed,[5] but the most important signing was Noor Sabri.[15] Naft Al-Wasat were one of the teams that weren't expected to qualify to the second stage. Despite losing a third of their games in the first stage, finishing in 4th position out of ten teams in their group, Naft Al-Wasat just about managed to qualify for the final stage, after wins against the likes of Erbil and Al-Zawraa; this itself was considered a big success for the young team.[16] In the second stage, the team surprised everyone by defeating Al Shorta SC (the defending champions and one of the strongest contenders for the league championship) twice.[17] After taking the Group 1 lead, Naft Al-Wasat got qualified to the league final,[18] where they won over Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya via a penalty shoot-out.[19]

Their league title win qualified them for the 2016 AFC Cup. They finished top of Group B with a record of five wins and one loss, but they lost 1–0 in the round of 16 to Al-Jaish. They were not allowed to play their home matches in Iraq in this tournament due to security concerns. In the 2015–16 Iraqi Premier League, Naft Al-Wasat finished in second place in their group, behind eventual champions Al-Zawraa, to qualify for the final stage. In the final stage, Naft Al-Wasat finished as runners-up, again behind Al-Zawraa. As the league's runners-up, Naft Al-Wasat qualified for the 2016–17 Arab Club Championship, where they got revenge on Al-Jaish by knocking them out to qualify for the group stage.

Records

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After achieving the 2014–15 Iraqi Premier League, Naft Al-Wasat became the second team to be crowned as the Iraqi Premier League champions in their first season, the other being Al-Zawra'a in the 1975–76 season.[20] Naft Al-Wasat are also the first team from Najaf to achieve the league and the fifth team that isn't from Baghdad to achieve it since its start in 1974.[21][22]

Statistics

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The season-by-season performance of the club over the recent years:

Season League Rank P W D L F A GD Pts Cup
2011–12 Iraqi First Division League 3 – Group 2 26 12 6 8 29 23 +6 42 —
2012–13 Iraqi First Division League 5 – Group 2 23 8 11 4 29 20 +9 35 R32
2013–14 Iraqi First Division League 1 – Group 1 25 18 7 0 45 12 +33 61 —
2014–15 Iraqi Premier League 1 25 13 6 6 24 15 +9 45 —
2015–16 Iraqi Premier League 2 24 14 7 3 34 20 +14 49 R16
2016–17 Iraqi Premier League 5 36 19 11 6 45 26 +19 68 RU
2017–18 Iraqi Premier League 9 38 10 19 9 42 38 +4 49 —
2018–19 Iraqi Premier League 7 38 11 17 10 38 37 +1 50 R16
2019–20(1) Iraqi Premier League — 7 5 0 2 8 4 — — R16(2)
2020–21 Iraqi Premier League 5 38 16 15 7 46 31 +15 63 R32
2021–22 Iraqi Premier League 5 38 17 13 8 50 36 +14 64 R16
2022–23 Iraqi Premier League 18 38 5 21 12 26 34 –8 36 R16
2023–24 Iraq Stars League 20 38 1 13 24 24 65 –41 16 2R

As of 14 July 2024.[23] Rank = Rank in the league; P = Played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; Cup = Iraq FA Cup.
in = Still in competition; — = Not attended; 1R = 1st round; 2R = 2nd round; 3R = 3rd round; R16 = Round of sixteen; QF = Quarterfinals; SF = Semifinals.

1 The league was not completed and was cancelled.
2 Naft Al-Wasat had not yet been eliminated from the cup but it was abandoned midway through.

Current squad

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First-team squad

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As of 30 May 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Iraq  IRQ Mohammed Ali
6 MF Iraq  IRQ Ali Qasim
7 FW Iraq  IRQ Samer Muhsin
13 MF Iraq  IRQ Karrar Jassim
14 FW Iraq  IRQ Muntadher Shalaan
15 DF Iraq  IRQ Hassan Khaery
24 MF Gabon  GAB Nathaniel Mbourou
37 MF Iraq  IRQ Abbas Jassim
40 GK Iraq  IRQ Mustafa Zohair
44 DF Mauritania  MTN Bakary N'Diaye
55 DF Iraq  IRQ Naji Natiq
No. Pos. Nation Player
66 MF Iraq  IRQ Layth Tahseen
70 DF Iraq  IRQ Kareem Deli
71 FW Iraq  IRQ Hussein Abdul-Wahid
91 FW Iraq  IRQ Ahmed Turky
94 FW Colombia  COL Sebastián Rincón
95 FW Iraq  IRQ Mortaja Adel
98 DF Iraq  IRQ Luíz Fernando
33 FW Iraq  IRQ Ahmed Lafta Kony

Current technical staff

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Position Name Nationality
Manager: Imad Aoude Iraq 
Assistant manager: Iraq 
Assistant manager: Iraq 
Goalkeeping coach: Iraq 
Fitness coach: Iraq 
Technical and Statistical Analyst: Iraq 
U-19 Manager: Iraq 
Director of football: Iraq 
Administrative director: Firas Bahrul-Oloom Iraq 

Updated to match played 3 July 2020
Source: almaalomah.com

Managerial history

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Honours

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Domestic

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Performance in continental competitions

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2016: Round of 16
2017: Group stage

References

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  1. ^ "Najaf Stadium". stadiumdb.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Shield of all shiels between the sixth for Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and the first for Naft Al-Wasat" (in Arabic). Alnoor News. July 7, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  3. ^ "Group B: Thai Son Nam 6-4 Naft Al Wasat". AFC. August 11, 2019.
  4. ^ Al-Athari, Munthir (July 26, 2015). "Naft Al-Wasat – Story of A Small Club With Big Achievements". Al-Batal (in Arabic) (322).
  5. ^ a b "Naft Al-Wasat Players Transfers". Goalzz.
  6. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2011–2012". Goalzz.
  7. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2011–2012 – Second Stage". Goalzz.
  8. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2012–2013 – Groups Stage". Goalzz.
  9. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2012–2013 – Second Stage". Goalzz.
  10. ^ "Iraqi FA Cup 2012/2013". Goalzz.
  11. ^ "Abdul Ghani Shahad is named Naft Al-Wasat manager" (in Arabic). Holy Najaf Province Media Center. August 27, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  12. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2013–2014 – Group stage". Goalzz.
  13. ^ "Iraqi First Division League 2013–2014 – Second stage". Goalzz.
  14. ^ Al-Rikabi, Bassim (August 4, 2014). "Naft Al-Wasat are the first qualifiers to the Premier League and Al-Kahraba are in the lead" (in Arabic). Az-Zaman.
  15. ^ Al-Fili, Mushtaq (December 5, 2014). "Noor Sabri leaves Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and joins Naft Al-Wasat" (in Arabic). IMN News Center.
  16. ^ Hatam, Uday (May 5, 2015). "Manager of Naft Al-Wasat considers his teams qualification to the Premier League second stage a great success" (in Arabic). Al-Sumaria.
  17. ^ "Naft Al-Wasat gets qualified to the league final after winning over Al-Shorta" (in Arabic). Iraq Al-Qanoon. July 4, 2015.
  18. ^ "Today, Premier's final between Naft Al-Wasat and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya" (in Arabic). As-Sabah Al-Jadeed. July 11, 2015.
  19. ^ Essa, Sami (July 12, 2015). "Naft Al-Wasat eliminates Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and achieves the Iraqi League" (in Arabic). Kooora.
  20. ^ "Iraq 1975/76". RSSSF.
  21. ^ "Iraq – List of Champions". RSSSF.
  22. ^ Al-Husseini, Maitham (July 12, 2015). "Godfather of the penalty shoot-outs, Noor Sabri: The crowning with Naft Al-Wasat has a special taste to it". Al-Mashriq.
  23. ^ Stokkermans, Karel (October 15, 2015). "Iraq 2014/15". RSSSF.
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