# Al Shabab FC (Riyadh)

Shabab Club also known as Al-Shabab (Arabic: نادي الشباب لكرة القدم, romanized: nādī al-shabaab li-kurat al-qadam, lit. 'The Youth Football Club') is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Riyadh that competes in the Saudi Pro League. Founded in 1947 as Shabab Al-Riyadh (شباب الرياض; lit. 'Riyadhi Youth'), it was renamed Al-Shabab in 1967.
The club earned its name, "Shabab," meaning "youth" in Arabic, due to its emphasis on developing young players at its inception. Unlike its rivals, which primarily featured senior players, the club focused on nurturing youth talent. This distinction persisted for many years, becoming a defining characteristic of the club. As a result, the club became renowned for its commitment to youth development.

## History

Al Shabab was the first football club in Riyadh. The club began before 1947, with many conflicts before with its numerous members, but it was settled in 1947 and Abdulrahman Bin Saeed was the president. Five years later, Al Shabab won its first tournament beating Sakit Al Hadeed (Railway Club) in Riyadh. In 1955 Al Shabab beat the Military College to win the King Saud Cup. Two years passed, and a new conflict arose in 1957. The player, Saleh Jaber, was assigned captain, but then was fired, and the new captain was Ahmed Lmfoon. This did not please some members of the club. Soon the conflict was impossible to solve, and Abdulrahman Bin Saeed and some members, left Al Shabab and took the best players that played for the club back then in an injustice way leaving Al Shabab to a chaos, The club stopped for half a year due to financial weakness, a new football club was born from the conflicts and separation with Abdulrahman Bin Saeed as the president which is the club known today as Al-Hilal. Then in the beginning of 1959 another problem began, Abdullah Bin Ahmed, the president then, was all alone taking care of the club. He could not take the pressure of handling the club alone, and decided to take a vacation abroad. Before traveling, he disbanded the first team, and most of the players signed for other clubs mainly Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. What was left was the youth team, and the player Abdulrahman Bin Ahmed decided to take care of the youth, and from that they got there name Shabab Al Riyadh which means Riyadh's youth. Soon Abdullah Bin Ahmed returned, and many members returned and supported the club. Then Abdullah Bin Ahmed announced the return of forming the first team, and some players returned, but some stayed at Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. Also in 1959 was the formation of the Saudi Football Federation, and all football clubs were announced official. In 1960 in the first official tournament called King Saud Cup for the Central Province, Al Shabab faced Al Hilal in their first official games between the two, and won 3–0 to win their first cup.
In the 1960s, everyone wanted to play and be part of the club, and after the request of Al Najmah FC and Al Marekh in 1967, they were united as one club and changed their name from Shabab Riyadh, to simply Al Shabab. The colors of the team were at first white and green, then they were changed after the unification to orange and blue, but in 1977 it was changed to white, gray, and black, the current colors. In 1975 Al Shabab was relegated to 1st Division, but the following season it was able to gain 1st place and came back to the Premier League in 1976. In 1993, Al Shabab became the first club in Saudi Arabia to win 3 premier leagues in a row. In 2007, Al Shabab became the first club in Saudi Arabia to build projects to increase the club's revenue, and began a 200 million dollar project which contains a 5 star hotel, and a shopping mall. During a visit to the club in January 2008, Al Shabab's main supporter, Khalid bin Sultan, announced the launch of two new projects, Al Laith TV Channel, and Al Shabab Museum.

## Honours
### Domestic

* Saudi Pro League:
** Champions (6): 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2011–12
*** Runners-up (6): 1981–82, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2020–21
* King's Cup:
** Champions (3): 2008, 2009, 2014
*** Runners-up: 2013
* Crown Prince's Cup:
** Champion (3): 1993, 1996, 1999
*** Runners-up (4): 1992, 1994, 2000, 2009
* Saudi Super Cup:
** Champion: 2014
* Saudi Federation cup:
** Champion (4): 1988, 1989, 2009, 2010
* Saudi First Division League (tier 2):
** Champions: 1978–79

### Continental

* Asian Cup Winners' Cup:
** Champions: 2001

### Regional

* Arab Club Champions Cup:
** Champions (2): 1992, 1999
* Arab Super Cup:
** Champions (2): 1996, 2001
* Gulf Club Champions Cup:
** Champions (2): 1993, 1994

## Records

* First Saudi club to win three Saudi Premier League in a row (1991, 1992, and 1993).
* First Saudi club to win the professional and new Saudi Premier League, in 1991.
* Largest margin win was against Al Shoalah during a friendly tournament in 2007, 8–0. Largest margin win in an official game was against Al-Ta'ee in the Saudi Premier League in 2003, 7–0. Largest margin win against a high-ranked club was 6–1 against Al Nassr in the Saudi Premier League 2004.

## Current squad

    As of 31 January 2025
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 |
| 2 | DF | KSA | Mohammed Al-Shwirekh |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Leandrinho (on loan from Vasco da Gama) |
| 4 | DF | NED | Wesley Hoedt |
| 5 | DF | KSA | Nader Al-Sharari |
| 7 | MF | ITA | Giacomo Bonaventura |
| 9 | FW | MAR | Abderrazak Hamdallah |
| 10 | MF | BEL | Yannick Carrasco |
| 11 | MF | ARG | Cristian Guanca |
| 12 | MF | KSA | Majed Kanabah |
| 14 | MF | FIN | Glen Kamara (on loan from Rennes) |
| 15 | MF | KSA | Musab Al-Juwayr (on loan from Al-Hilal) |
| 16 | DF | KSA | Hussain Al-Sibyani |
| 17 | MF | KSA | Younes Al-Shanqeeti (on loan from Al-Ahli) |
| 21 | MF | KSA | Nawaf Al-Sadi |
| 22 | GK | KSA | Mohammed Al-Otaibi |
| 30 | DF | BRA | Robert Renan (on loan from Zenit Saint Petersburg) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 31 | GK | UKR | Heorhiy Bushchan |
| 33 | GK | KSA | Abdullah Al-Mayouf |
| 34 | FW | KSA | Hisham Al Dubais |
| 36 | DF | KSA | Adel Al-Mutairi $^{U19}$ |
| 38 | DF | KSA | Mohammed Harbush |
| 44 | DF | KSA | Awaji Olwani $^{U19}$ |
| 45 | DF | KSA | Amjad Haraj $^{U19}$ |
| 46 | MF | KSA | Emad Qaysi $^{U19}$ |
| 50 | GK | KSA | Mohammed Al-Absi |
| 55 | GK | KSA | Mishal Saad $^{U19}$ |
| 56 | MF | POR | Daniel Podence |
| 66 | DF | KSA | Nawaf Al-Ghulaimish $^{U19}$ |
| 70 | FW | KSA | Haroune Camara |
| 71 | MF | KSA | Mohammed Al-Thani (on loan from Al-Hazem) |
| 77 | FW | KSA | Hamad Al-Khurayef $^{U19}$ |
| 90 | FW | KSA | Majed Abdullah $^{U19}$ |

### Other players under contract

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 |
| 8 | MF | KSA | Fahad Al-Muwallad |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | GK | KOR | Kim Seung-gyu |

### 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 | MF | BRA | Carlos Junior (on loan to Neom) |
| 20 | FW | SEN | Habib Diallo (on loan to Damac) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 37 | FW | KSA | Abdullah Matuq (on loan to Al-Jandal) |

## Management
### Current board of directors and Administrators

| Office | Name |
| President | Khalid AlBaltan |
| Vice-president | Kholaif AlHweshan |
| Member of the Board, Investment Officer | |
| Member of the Board, Secretary-General | |
| Member of the Board, Director of the Media Center | Ahmad AlMasoud |
| CEO | Pat Janssen |

## Current technical staff

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Fatih Terim |
| Assistant manager | Hamza Hamzaoğlu Levent Şahin |
| Goalkeeping coach | Ozan Özerkan |
| Fitness coach | Yasin Küçük |
| Match analyst | Metin Çakıroğlu |
| Club doctor | Misael Rivas |
| Physiotherapist | Salman Al-Khamis |
| U 23 team coach | Turki Al-Gabr |
| U 20 team coach | Waleed Al-Muslim |
| U 17 team coach | Omar Islam |
| Sporting director | Pavel Nedvěd |

## Recent seasons

The table below chronicles the achievements of Al Shabab in various competitions since 2000.
ACL :
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 7th | Semi-final | – | – |
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 9th | Quarter-final | – |
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 6th | Quarter-final | – |
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 1st | Quarter-final | – |
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 2nd | Quarter-final | Group stage |
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 1st | Semi-final | Quarter-final |
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 4th | Quarter-final | Group stage |
| 2007–08 | Premier League | 3rd | Semi-final | Champion | – |
| 2008–09 | Pro League | 4th | Runners-up | Champion | Round of 16 |
| 2009–10 | Pro League | 4th | Semi-final | Semi-final | Semi-final |
| 2010–11 | Pro League | 4th | Round of 16 | Quarter-final | Round of 16 |
| 2011–12 | Pro League | 1st | Quarter-final | Quarter-final | – |
| 2012–13 | Pro League | 3rd | Round of 16 | Runners-up | Quarter-finals |
| 2013–14 | Pro League | 4th | Semi-final | Champion | Round of 16 |
| 2014–15 | Pro League | 5th | Round of 16 | Quarter-final | Group stage |
| 2015–16 | Pro League | 6th | Semi-final | Round of 16 | – |
| 2016–17 | Pro League | 6th | Quarter-finals | Round of 32 | – |
| 2017–18 | Pro League | 10th | – | Quarter-finals | – |
| 2018–19 | Pro League | 5th | – | Round of 16 | – |
| 2019–20 | Pro League | 7th | – | Round of 32 | – |
| 2020–21 | Pro League | 2nd | – | Round of 16 | – |
| 2021–22 | Pro League | 4th | – | Round of 16 | Quarter-final |
| 2022–23 | Pro League | 4th | – | Semi-final | Round of 16 |
| 2023–24 | Pro League |

## Managers

| Mahmoud Abou-Regaila (1970–71) Saleh El Wahsh (1977–78) Luiz Felipe Scolari (1984–85) Jair Pereira (1986) Joubert (1987) Lori Sandri (1989) Paulo Campos (1990–91) Lori Sandri (1992) Geninho (1993) Ivo Wortmann (1994) Yuriy Sevastyanenko (1995–96) Jean Fernandez (1996–97) Oscar (1998) João Alves (1998–99) João Francisco (1999) Arthur Bernardes (2001–02) Zé Mário (1 July 2004 – 30 June 2006) Daniel Romeo (2005–06) Ahmed Alajlani (2006) Humberto Coelho (2006–07) José Morais (2007) Enzo Trossero (1 July 2007–08) Nery Pumpido (1 July 2008 – 31 December 2008) Enzo Trossero (2008 – 30 June 2009) Jaime Pacheco (13 July 2009 – 15 April 2010) Edgar Ferreira (interim) Jorge Fossati (1 July 2010 – 31 December 2010) | Enzo Trossero (1 January 2011 – 30 June 2011) Michel Preud'homme (1 July 2011 – 19 September 2013) Emilio Ferrera (20 September 2013 – 23 January 2014) Ammar Souayah (interim) José Morais (6 June 2014–14) Reinhard Stumpf (2014–15) Jaime Pacheco (2015) Adel Abdulrahman (interim) Álvaro Gutiérrez (2015 – 3 January 2016) Fathi Al-Jabal (January 2016 – June 2016) Sami Al-Jaber (June 2016 – September 2017) José Daniel Carreño (September 2017 – March 2018) Khalid Al-Koroni (interim) Marius Șumudică (June 2018 – May 2019) Jorge Almirón (June 2019 – December 2019) Luis García (December 2019 – July 2020) Pedro Caixinha (July 2020 – January 2021) Carlos Inarejos (January 2021 – May 2021) Péricles Chamusca (July 2021 – March 2022) Marius Șumudică (March 2022 – June 2022) Vicente Moreno (July 2022 – June 2023) Marcel Keizer (July 2023 – Sept 2023) Juan Brown (interim) Igor Biscan (Oct 2023 – Dec 2023) Saad Al-Subaie (interim) Vítor Pereira (Feb 2024 – Dec 2024) |

## Asian competitions
### Overview

    As of 23 February 2023
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| AFC Champions League | 76 | 41 | 13 | 23 | 116 | 80 |
| Asian Club Championship | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 10 |
| Asian Cup Winners' Cup | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 10 |
| Asian Super Cup | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| TOTAL | 95 | 49 | 19 | 28 | 154 | 104 |

### Record by country

| Country | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
| Bahrain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 000.00 |
| China | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 100.00 |
| India | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 100.00 |
| Indonesia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
| Iran | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 036.84 |
| Iraq | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 075.00 |
| Japan | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Jordan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 050.00 |
| Kuwait | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 075.00 |
| Lebanon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 050.00 |
| Qatar | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 17 | +8 | 056.25 |
| Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 000.00 |
| South Korea | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 16 | −7 | 025.00 |
| Syria | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 066.67 |
| United Arab Emirates | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 20 | +15 | 057.89 |
| Uzbekistan | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 080.00 |

### Asian record
#### Matches

| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1992–93 | Asian Club Championship | Quarter-finals | Yomiuri | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2nd |
| 1992–93 | Asian Club Championship | Quarter-finals | Al-Muharraq | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 2nd |
| 1992–93 | Asian Club Championship | Quarter-finals | Arseto | 3–0 | 3–0 | | 2nd |
| 1992–93 | Asian Club Championship | Semi-finals | Al-Wasl | 2–2 (4–3 p) | 2–2 (4–3 p) | 2–2 (4–3 p) |
| 1992–93 | Asian Club Championship | Final | PAS Tehran | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| 1993–94 | Asian Club Championship | First round | Al-Arabi | 5–2 | 7–1 | 12–3 |
| 1993–94 | Asian Club Championship | Quarter-finals | – | – | – | Withdrew |
| 1994–95 | Asian Club Championship | Second round | Al-Ansar | 3–0 | 0–3 | 3–3 (4–5 p) |
| 2000–01 | Asian Cup Winners' Cup | Second round | Hutteen | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| 2000–01 | Asian Cup Winners' Cup | Quarter-finals | Al-Wehdat | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| 2000–01 | Asian Cup Winners' Cup | Semi-finals | Esteghlal | 3–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 |
| 2000–01 | Asian Cup Winners' Cup | Final | Dalian Shide | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 |
| 2001 | Asian Super Cup | Final | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–4 |
| 2001–02 | Asian Cup Winners' Cup | Second round | Al-Sadd | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 |
| 2005 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Sepahan | 1–1 | 0−1 | 3rd |
| 2005 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Al-Wahda | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3rd |
| 2005 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Al-Ain | 1–0 | 0–3 | 3rd |
| 2006 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Al-Sadd | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1st |
| 2006 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 2006 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Al-Arabi | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1st |
| 2006 | AFC Champions League | Quarter-finals | Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i | 0−1 | 0−6 | 0–7 |
| 2007 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Al-Ain | 2–0 | 2−0 | 2nd |
| 2007 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Sepahan | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2nd |
| 2007 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Al-Ittihad | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2nd |
| 2009 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Al-Gharafa | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2nd |
| 2009 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Persepolis | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2nd |
| 2009 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Sharjah | 5–0 | 3–1 | 2nd |
| 2009 | AFC Champions League | Round of 16 | Al-Ittihad | – | 1−2 | 1–2 |
| 2010 | AFC Champions League | Group C | Sepahan | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1st |
| 2010 | AFC Champions League | Group C | Pakhtakor | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1st |
| 2010 | AFC Champions League | Group C | Al-Ain | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1st |
| 2010 | AFC Champions League | Round of 16 | Esteghlal | 3–2 | – | 3–2 |
| 2010 | AFC Champions League | Quarter-finals | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| 2010 | AFC Champions League | Semi-finals | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 4–3 | 0–1 | 4–4 (a) |
| 2011 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Al-Rayyan | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2nd |
| 2011 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Zob Ahan | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2nd |
| 2011 | AFC Champions League | Group D | Emirates | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2nd |
| 2011 | AFC Champions League | Round of 16 | Al-Sadd | – | 0−1 | 0–1 |
| 2013 | AFC Champions League | Group A | El Jaish | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1st |
| 2013 | AFC Champions League | Group A | Al-Jazira | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1st |
| 2013 | AFC Champions League | Group A | Tractor Sazi | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1st |
| 2013 | AFC Champions League | Round of 16 | Al-Gharafa | 3–0 | 2−1 | 5–1 |
| 2013 | AFC Champions League | Quarter-finals | Kashiwa Reysol | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 (a) |
| 2014 | AFC Champions League | Group A | Esteghlal | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1st |
| 2014 | AFC Champions League | Group A | Al-Jazira | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1st |
| 2014 | AFC Champions League | Group A | Al-Rayyan | 4–3 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 2014 | AFC Champions League | Round of 16 | Al-Ittihad | 1–3 | 0−1 | 1–4 |
| 2015 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Al-Ain | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4th |
| 2015 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Pakhtakor | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4th |
| 2015 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Naft Tehran | 0–3 | 1–2 | 4th |
| 2022 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Mumbai City | 6–0 | 3–0 | 1st |
| 2022 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Al-Jazira | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1st |
| 2022 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1st |
| 2022 | AFC Champions League | Round of 16 | Nasaf Qarshi | 2–0 | – | 2–0 |
| 2022 | AFC Champions League | Quarter-finals | Al-Duhail | – | 1–2 | 1–2 |

## AFC Club ranking

| Rank | Club | Points |
| 8 | Esteghlal | 38.768 |
| 9 | Al-Ain | 67.608 |
| 10 | Al Shabab | 30.537 |
| 11 | Al-Ittihad | 90.000 |
| 12 | Bunyodkor | 20.990 |
| Rank | Club | Points |
| 15 | Shandong Taishan | 505.87 |
| 16 | Pakhtakor FK | 480.24 |
| 17 | Al Shabab | 460.69 |
| 18 | Al Wahda FC | 459.74 |
| 19 | Sepahan SC | 441.55 |