# Al Wahda FC

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. 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

## Home stadium

The Al-Nahyan Stadium is the home of Al Wahda. 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 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 | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final |
| 2000 | | | | | | | | | | | | Al-Sadd |
| 2002 | | | | | | | | | | | | Al-Zawraa | Nasaf Qarshi$^1$ |
| 2004 | | | | | | | | | | | | Al-Sadd$^1$ | Pakhtakor |
| 2006 | | | | | | | | | | | | Al-Karamah$^1$ |
| 2007 | | | | | | | | | | | | Al-Zawraa$^1$ | Al-Hilal | Sepahan |
| 2008 | | | | | | | | | | | | Al-Karamah$^1$ |
| 2010 | | | | | | | | | Al-Karamah | Churchill Brothers | Esteghlal$^1$ |
| 2011 | | | | | | | | | | | Bunyodkor$^1$ |
| 2015 | | | | | | | | | | Al-Sadd |
| 2017 | | | | | | | | | | Al-Wehdat | Persepolis$^1$ |
| 2018 | | | | | | | | | | | Zob Ahan$^1$ |
| 2019 | | | | | | | | | | | Lokomotiv Tashkent$^1$ | Al-Nassr |
| 2021 | | | | | | | | | | Al-Zawraa | FC Goa$^1$ | Sharjah | Al-Nassr |
| Asian Cup Winners' Cup ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final |
| 1999 | | | | | | | | | | | | Kazma |
| 2001 | | | | | | | | | | | | Esteghlal |
| Arab Club Champions Cup ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final |
| 2017 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Al Ahly$^1$ |
| 2023 | | | | | | | | | | Bourj | ASFAR | CR Belouizdad$^1$ | Al Shabab |
| FIFA Club World Cup ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | Preliminary stages | 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; some limited exceptions apply. 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 (c) |
| 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; some limited exceptions apply. 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 |
| Head Coach | Darko Milanič |
| Assistant Coach | Sandro Bloudek |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Abdullslam Jumaa |
| Fitness Coach | Marco Vego Monsef 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 |
| 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 |
| Jo Bonfrère | 13 December 2007 | 10 December 2008 |
| Josef Hickersberger | 10 December 2008 | 1 June 2010 |
| László Bölöni | 29 May 2010 | 2 September 2010 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Mark Wotte | 18 July 2020 | 8 September 2020 |
| Vuk Rasovic | 8 September 2020 | 12 March 2021 |
| 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 |
| Manuel Jiménez | 5 October 2022 | 12 March 2023 |
| Arno Buitenweg* | 13 March 2023 | 17 June 2023 |
| Pitso Mosimane | 18 June 2023 | 10 November 2023 |
| Arno Buitenweg* | 10 November 2023 | 5 January 2024 |
| Goran Tufegdžić | 5 January 2024 | 5 July 2024 |
| Ronny Deila | 5 July 2024 | 18 December 2024 |
| Darko Milanič | 18 December 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 | 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 |
$_{Notes^2019–20UAEfootballseasonwascancelledduetotheCOVID-19pandemicintheUnitedArabEmirates.}$
Key
* Pos. = Position
* Tms. = Number of teams
* Lvl. = League