Al Ahly are set to start our journey in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar on Thursday when we take on Al Duhail SC at Education City Stadium.
We are participating in the FIFA Club World Cup for the 6th time in history and we enter this year's edition with our eyes set on new goals.
Al Ahly are the African Club with the most appearances in the competition's history, having represented the continent in the prestigious competition on five previous occasions.
First Appearance
Al Ahly participated for the first time in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2005 in Japan.
We went to Japan with big dreams, backed by an extraordinary performance on both domestic and continental levels.
Our team, then led by our legend Manuel Jose, managed to have an impressive 55-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Unfortunately, we failed to meet our high expectations as we lost our opening game against Al-Ittihad Club of Saudi Arabia 1-0.
We failed to bounce back in the second match, which we lost against Western Sydney Wanderers FC 2-1.
Historic Achievement
After securing the CAF Champions League title for the second consecutive season, our Eagles returned once again to Japan but this time we were more experienced.
We secured a 2-0 win against Auckland City FC in our opening game, thanks to goals from Mohamed Abou Trika and Flavio Amado to reach the semi-finals for the first time.
We played against the Copa Libertadores champions, S.C. Internacional from Brazil.
In a thrilling game, the Red Eagles showed a great performance against the Brazilian champions and we were the better side in many parts of the game but we barely lost 2-1.
Internacional's Brazilian striker Alexander Pato scored the opening goal in the game, and then Flavio managed to equalize from a perfect header. However, the Brazilian team won the encounter thanks to a late goal and secured a spot in the final.
Our journey in the tournament continued as we faced Mexico's Club América in the tournament’s third-place playoff and we managed to clinch the bronze medal after defeating them 2-1.
Mohamed Abou Trika scored the opener and gave us the lead, but Salvador Cabañas scored the equalizer to the Mexican champions.
In the 79th minute, Abou Trika’s moment of glory came as he scored the winner to secure the bronze medal for the Red Eagles.
Al Ahly became the first African and Arab club to reach the podium in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Third Appearance
In 2008, the African champions returned back to Japan to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup for the third time, but unfortunately, we did not achieve much that year.
We lost our opening game against C.F. Pachuca of Mexico 4-2 and then we lost our second game against Australia's Adelaide United 1-0.
New Achievement
In 2012, everything was different as our champions secured the CAF Champions League title, at the time when the sporting activity was canceled in Egypt.
The Red Eagles put on a strong performance in the competition and finished the tournament in fourth place.
We started the tournament with a victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1, thanks to goals from Mohamed Abou Trika and Sayed Hamdy.
We faced Corinthians Paulista of Brazil in the semi-final.
We played one of our best games against the Brazilian champions and dominated the whole match, but we lost the match 1-0.
Then, we faced C.F. Monterrey in the third-place playoff and we lost the game 2-0.
Al Ahly also succeeded to achieve several individual records in our fourth participation.
Abou Trika’s and Sayed Hamdy’s goals were ranked among the top 10 goals in the tournament. Abou Trika’s goal was named the best goal while Hamdy’s goal came in the 3rd place.
Also, our player Abou Trika cemented his position as one of the all-time top scorers in FIFA Club World Cup history.
Our Last Appearance
The Red Eagles participated for the fifth time in the tournament in 2013 after winning the CAF Champions League for the second year in a row, despite the suspension of domestic sporting activities in Egypt.
We lost our opening game against Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao F.C.2-0 and then we lost against C.F. Monterrey 5-1.
Following our fifth participation in the competition, our legend Mohamed Abou Trika decided to hang up his boots after an impressive career in the red jersey.
