# 1998 Arab Club Champions Cup

The 1998 Arab Club Champions Cup was played in Saudi Arabia in the city of Jeddah. WA Tlemcen won the championship for the first time beating in the final Al Shabab.

## Participants

Participants :
| Zone | Team | Qualifying method |
| | Al-Ittihad | Hosts |
| | Club Africain | Holders |
| Zone 1 | West Riffa SC | 1996–97 Bahraini Premier League winners |
| Zone 1 | Al-Arabi (Kuwait City) | 1996–97 Kuwaiti Premier League winners |
| Zone 1 | Sur SC | 1996–97 Omani League runners-up |
| Zone 1 | Al-Arabi (Doha) | 1996–97 Qatar Stars League winners |
| Zone 1 | Al-Hilal | 1996–97 Saudi Premier League 3rd |
| Zone 1 | Al-Wasl | 1996–97 UAE Football League winners |
| Zone 2 | Al Ahly | 1996–97 Egyptian Premier League winners |
| Zone 2 | Al Shabab | 1996–97 Saudi Premier League 4th |
| Zone 2 | Al-Merrikh | 1996–97 Sudan Premier League winners |
| Zone 2 | Al-Wehda | 1996–97 Yemeni League winners |
| Zone 3 | WA Tlemcen | 1996–97 Algerian Championnat National 5th |
| Zone 3 | Al Tahaddy | 1996–97 Libyan Premier League winners |
| Zone 3 | CA Bizertin | 1996–97 Tunisian Championnat National 4th |
| Zone 4 | Al-Wehdat | 1996–97 Jordan League winners |
| Zone 4 | withdrew | Lebanese League representative |
| Zone 4 | withdrew | West Bank or Gaza Strip League representative |
| Zone 4 | Tishreen | 1996–97 Syrian League winners |

## Preliminary round
### Zone 1 (Gulf Area)

Qualification from GCC Champions League held in Muscat in February 1998.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Al-Hilal | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 11 |
| West Riffa SC | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 8 |
| Al-Wasl | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Sur SC | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Al-Arabi (Doha) | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 |
| Al-Arabi (Kuwait City) | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 3 |
Al-Hilal withdrew. West Riffa SC & Al-Wasl advanced to the final tournament.

### Zone 2 (Red Sea)

Qualifying tournament held in Cairo. Al-Merrikh & Al-Wehda withdrew.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Al Ahly | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
| Al Shabab | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
| Al-Merrikh (W) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Al-Wehda (W) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Al Ahly qualified but withdrew, Al Shabab replaced it and advanced to the final tournament.

### Zone 3 (North Africa)

CA Bizertin withdrew.
WA Tlemcen & Al Tahaddy advanced automatically to the final tournament.

### Zone 4 (East Region)

Tishreen, Lebanon & Palestine representative teams withdrew.
Al-Wehdat advanced automatically to the final tournament.

## Final tournament
### Group stage

The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four. Each group was played on one leg basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

#### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Al-Wasl | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 |
| Al-Ittihad | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 |
| Al Tahaddy | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 2 |
| Al-Wehdat | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 1 |

#### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Al Shabab | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |
| WA Tlemcen | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |
| West Riffa SC | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 3 |
| Club Africain | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 2 |

### Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 27 November – Jeddah | 27 November – Jeddah |
| Al-Wasl | 1 |
| Al-Wasl | 1 | 30 November – Jeddah | 30 November – Jeddah |
| WA Tlemcen | 3 | 30 November – Jeddah | 30 November – Jeddah |
| WA Tlemcen | 3 | WA Tlemcen | 3 |
| 27 November – Jeddah | 27 November – Jeddah | | WA Tlemcen | 3 |
| 27 November – Jeddah | 27 November – Jeddah | Al Shabab | 1 |
| Al Shabab | 1 | Al Shabab | 1 |
| Al-Ittihad | 0 | | |

#### Final
## Winners

* 1998 Arab Club Champions Cup
* WA Tlemcen First title

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Aissa Aidara | WA Tlemcen | 5 |
| 1 | Hamzah Idris | Al Shabab | 5 |

### Awards
#### Highest Scorer

* Hamzah Idris

#### Man of the Competition

* Abdullah Al-Sheehan

#### Best Goalkeeper

* Hichem Mezaïr

#### Fair Play team of the tournament

* Al Shabab