2024–25 Al Ain FC season

Al Ain
2024–25 season
President	Mohammed Bin Zayed
Chairman	Hazza Bin Zayed
Head coach	Hernán Crespo
Stadium	Hazza Bin Zayed
UAE Pro League	6th
President's Cup	Round of 16
League Cup	First round
AFC Champions League Elite	League stage
FIFA Intercontinental Cup	First round
FIFA Club World Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Kodjo Laba (4); All: Soufiane Rahimi (9)
	← 2023–24 2025–26 →

The 2024–25 Al Ain Football Club season is the club's 57th in existence and their 50th consecutive season in the top-level football league in the UAE.

Season overview

Pre-season

On 27 June 2024, Al Ain announced they would be touring in Rabat, Morocco, with four friendly matches against Union de Touarga on 24 July, Kénitra on 1 August, Chabab Mohammédia on 5 August and Raja CA on 10 August.^[1]^[2]

Management

Position	Name
Coaching staff
Head coach	Hernán Crespo
Assistant coaches	Juan Branda Nicolás Domínguez Ahmed Abdullah
Chief analyst	Carles Martínez
Analyst	Tiago Freire
Goalkeeping coaches	Gustavo Nepote
Fitness coach	Federico Martinetti
U-21 team head coach	Ismail Ahmed
Physiotherapist	Santiago Thompson Felipe Perseu Pianca Abdelnasser Aljohny
Club Doctor	Nikos Tzouroudis
Nutritionist	Ricardo Pinto
Scout	Daniele Di Napoli
Administration staff
Team manager	Ahmed Al Shamsi
Front office
Sporting Director	Rodrigo Mendes^[3]

Board of Directors

Office	Name
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Ain SCC Chairman of the Executive Committee Chairman of the Board of Directors	Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed
Supervising Sports affairs	Mohammed Al Mahmoud
Supervising Media affairs	Mohammed Al Ketbi
Supervising of Financial and Administrative affairs	Ziad Amir Ahmed Saleh
Supervising the Academy and Talents sector	Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah Khouri

Source: AlAinClub.ae

Players

First Team

^[4]^[5]^[6]

N	Position	Player	Age	Since	Notes
Goalkeepers
1	GK	Mohammed Abo Sandah	29	2014
17	GK	Khalid Eisa (VC)	35	2013
36	GK	Amer Al-Faresi	19	2024	^U21
Defenders
3	DF	Kouame Autonne	24	2021
15	DF	Erik Jorgens	23	2020
16	DF	Khalid Al-Hashemi	27	2023
46	DF	Dramane Koumare	19	2024
50	DF	Manea Al Shamsi	23	2021
66	DF	Mansour Al Shamsi	23	2020
—	DF	Khalid Butti	33	2024
—	DF	Marlon Santos	29	2024	on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk
Midfielders
5	MF	Park Youg-woo	31	2023
6	MF	Yahia Nader	26	2018
8	MF	Mohammed Abbas	22	2021	^U21
10	MF	Kaku	29	2023
11	MF	Bandar Al-Ahbabi (C)	34	2016
13	MF	Ahmed Barman	30	2013
18	MF	Khalid Al-Balochi	25	2018
20	MF	Matías Palacios	22	2022
21	MF	Soufiane Rahimi	29	2021
26	MF	Ahmed Al-Qatesh	23	2021
30	MF	Hazem Mohammad	19	2023	^U19
70	MF	Abdoul Karim Traoré	19	2023	^U19
—	MF	El Mehdi El Moubarik	23	2022
Forwards
9	FW	Kodjo Laba	32	2019
77	FW	Rilwanu Sarki	20	2023	^U19
90	FW	Eisa Khalfan	21	2021	^U21
99	FW	Josna Loulendo	20	2023	^U21
—	FW	Mohamed Awadalla	22	2020	^U21

New contracts

Date	Pos	No.	Player	Ref.	Notes
12 July 2024	GK	1	Mohammed Abo Sandah	^[7]	2026

Transfers

In

No.	Position	Player	From	Fee	Date	Ref.
Summer
—	MF	Mohammed Khalfan	Khor Fakkan	Loan return	1 July 2024
—	FW	Mohamed Awadalla ^U21	Khor Fakkan			^[8]
—	DF	Rafael Pereira	Khor Fakkan
—	MF	El Mehdi El Moubarik	Raja			^[9]
—	DF	Khalid Butti	Al Wahda	Free	12 July 2024	^[10]
Total				€0 million

Out

No.	Pos.	Player	Transfer to	Fee	Date	Source
Summer
22	MF	Falah Waleed	Dibba Al-Hisn	End of contract	25 June 2024	^[11]^[12]
4	DF	Mohammed Shaker	Khor Fakkan	End of contract	27 June 2024	^[11]^[13]
44	DF	Saeed Juma		End of contract	1 July 2024	^[11]
27	MF	Sultan Al-Shamsi	Khor Fakkan	End of contract	1 July 2024	^[11]^[14]
12	GK	Sultan Al-Mantheri	Kalba	End of contract	1 July 2024	^[11]^[15]
—	MF	Mohammed Khalfan	Dibba Al-Hisn	End of contract	3 July 2024	^[16]

Loans in

No.	Pos	Player	From	Start date	End date	Ref.
—	DF	Marlon Santos	Shakhtar Donetsk	3 July 2024	End of season	^[17]

Pre-season and friendlies

On 27 June 2024, Al Ain announced they would be touring in Rabat, Morocco, with four friendly matches against Union de Touarga on 24 July, Kénitra on 1 August, Chabab Mohammédia on 5 August and Raja on 10 August.^[1]

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

24 July 2024 1

Union de Touarga

v

Al Ain

Rabat, Morocco

1 August 2024 2

Kénitra

v

Al Ain

Rabat, Morocco

5 August 2024 3

Chabab Mohammédia

v

Al Ain

Rabat, Morocco

10 August 2024 4	Raja	v	Al Ain	Casablanca, Morocco
				Stadium: Stade Larbi Zaouli

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Pro-League	24 August 2024	TBD 2025	Matchday 1	TBD	5	2	2	1	14	9	+5	040.00
President's Cup	TBD	TBD	Round of 16	TBD	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
League Cup	18 August 2024	TBD	First round	TBD	2	2	0	0	6	3	+3	100.00
AFC Champions League	16 September 2024	TBD	League phase	TBD	3	0	1	2	7	10	−3	000.00
FIFA Intercontinental Cup	22 September 2024	TBD	First round	African-Asian-Pacific Cup Runners-up	2	1	0	1	6	5	+1	050.00
FIFA Club World Cup	June 2025	July 2025	First round	TBD	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total					13	6	3	4	37	27	+10	046.15

Last updated: 27 August 2024
Source: Competitions

Pro League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
6	Kalba	6	3	1	2	11	6	+5	10
7	Al Wasl	7	2	3	2	13	13	0	9
8	Al Ain	5	2	2	1	14	9	+5	8
9	Ajman	7	2	1	4	10	11	−1	7
10	Baniyas	7	2	1	4	10	17	−7	7

Updated to match(es) played on 2 November 2024. Source: UPLeague
Rules for classification: ^[18] 1) points; 2) head-to-head goal difference; 3) head-to-head goals scored; 4) head-to-head away goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored; 7) number of away goals scored; 8) head-to-head points; 9) fair play ranking 10) draw

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: Soccerway

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result
Position

Source: UPLeague
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 6 July 2024.^[19]

TBC 1	Al Ain	v	Khor Fakkan	Al Ain
TBC GMT+4 (UAE Time)		Report		Stadium: Hazza Bin Zayed

TBC 2	Al Bataeh	v	Al Ain	Sharjah
TBC		Report		Stadium: Khalid bin Mohammed

TBC 3	Kalba	v	Al Ain	Kalba
TBC		Report		Stadium: Ittihad Kalba

TBC 4	Al Ain	v	Al Wasl	Al Ain
TBC		Report		Stadium: Hazza Bin Zayed

TBC 5	Al Ain	v	Al Wahda	Al Ain
TBC		Report		Stadium: Hazza Bin Zayed

TBC 6	Dibba Al-Hisn	v	Al Ain	Dibba Al-Hisn
TBC		Report		Stadium: Dibba

TBC 7	Al Ain	v	Shabab Al Ahli	Al Ain
TBC		Report		Stadium: Hazza Bin Zayed

TBC 8	Al Orooba	v	Al Ain	Fujairah
TBC		Report		Stadium: Al Sharqi

TBC 9	Al Ain	v	Baniyas	Al Ain
TBC		Report		Stadium: Hazza Bin Zayed

TBC 10	Al Jazira	v	Al Ain	Abu Dhabi
TBC		Report		Stadium: Mohammed bin Zayed

TBC 11	Al Ain	v	Sharjah	Al Ain
TBC		Report		Stadium: Hazza Bin Zayed

TBC 12	Ajman	v	Al Ain	Ajman
TBC		Report		Stadium: Rashid Bin Saeed

TBC 13	Al Ain	v	Al Nasr	Al Ain
TBC		Report		Stadium: Hazza Bin Zayed

UAE President's Cup

UAE League Cup

First round

First leg	Kalba	v	Al Ain	Kalba
		Report		Stadium: Ittihad Kalba

Second leg	Al Ain	v	Kalba	Al Ain
		Report		Stadium: Hazza Bin Zayed

AFC Champions League Elite

League phase

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Al-Hilal	4	4	0	0	16	5	+11	12	Advance to round of 16
2	Al-Ahli	4	4	0	0	10	2	+8	12
3	Al-Nassr	4	3	1	0	9	3	+6	10
4	Al-Sadd	4	2	2	0	5	2	+3	8
5	Al Wasl	4	2	1	1	4	4	0	7
6	Al-Gharafa	4	1	1	2	6	8	−2	4
7	Al-Rayyan	4	1	0	3	4	7	−3	3
8	Esteghlal	4	1	0	3	3	6	−3	3
9	Persepolis	4	0	2	2	2	4	−2	2
10	Pakhtakor	4	0	2	2	1	3	−2	2
11	Al-Shorta	4	0	2	2	2	11	−9	2
12	Al Ain	4	0	1	3	8	15	−7	1

Updated to match(es) played on 5 November 2024. Source: Asian Football Confederation
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) penalty shoot-out if only two teams remain tied and played each other on the final matchday 6) fair play ranking; 7) drawing of lots

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

16 September 2024 (2024-09-16) 1	Al Ain	1–1	Al-Sadd	Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
20:00 UTC+4	M. Palacios 80'	Report	Afif 45+1'	Attendance: 18,926 Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)

1 October 2024 (2024-10-01) 2	Al-Gharafa	4–2	Al Ain	Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor^{[note 1]}
19:00 UTC+3	Joselu 45+2', 48' Sano 54' Brahimi 76'	Report	Kaku 56' (pen.) Rahimi 66'	Attendance: 3,878 Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

21 October 2024 (2024-10-21) 3	Al Ain	4–5	Al-Hilal	Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
20:00 UTC+4	Rahimi 39', 67', 90+6' (pen.) Sanabria 63'	Report	Lodi 26' Milinković-Savić 45+2' Al-Dawsari 45+5', 65', 75'	Attendance: 24,126 Referee: Nazmi Nasaruddin (Malaysia)

5 November 2024 (2024-11-05) 4	Al-Nassr	v	Al Ain	King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh
21:00 UTC+3

25 November 2024 (2024-11-25) 5	Al Ain	v	Al-Ahli	Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
20:00 UTC+4

3 December 2024 (2024-12-03) 6	Pakhtakor	v	Al Ain	JAR Stadium, Tashkent^{[note 2]}
19:00 UTC+5

3 February 2025 (2025-02-03) 7	Al Ain	v	Al-Rayyan	Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
20:00 UTC+4

17 February 2025 (2025-02-17) 8	Al-Shorta	v	Al Ain	Karbala International Stadium, Karbala^{[note 3]}
19:00 UTC+3

FIFA Intercontinental Cup

Al Ain qualified for the tournament by winning the 2023–24 AFC Champions League.

First round

African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off

22 September 2024 (2024-09-22) First round	Al Ain	6–2	Auckland City	Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
20:00 GST	Cardoso 6' Gassama 11' Palacios 45+1' Rahimi 78', 90+4' Kaku 90+2'	Report	Lagos 43' Bevan 54'	Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

Second round

African–Asian–Pacific Cup

29 October 2024 (2024-10-29) Second round	Al Ahly	3–0	Al Ain	Cairo International Stadium, Cairo
EGY	Abou Ali 32' Ashour 55' Afsha 90+2' (pen.)	Report		Attendance: 52,000 Referee: Halil Umut Meler (Turkey)

FIFA Club World Cup

Group stage

Notes

^ Al-Gharafa played their home matches at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, instead of their regular home stadium Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Al Rayyan.
^ Cite error: The named reference Pakhtakor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Al-Shorta was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

References

^ ^a ^b Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (27 June 2024). "Our Pre-Season Camp is Confirmed in preparations for the new season 2024-2025" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (11 July 2024). "Check out the latest details of our camp in Rabat" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (5 July 2024). "Al Ain Football Club have appointed Rodrigo Mendes as the Sporting Director" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ "Team | ALAINFC". Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
^ "UAEFA; Players". Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
^ "UAEProLeague; Squad and Manager". Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
^ Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (12 July 2024). "Al Ain FC renews goalkeeper Mohamed Bu Sanda's contract for two more years" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (11 July 2024). "The return of our player Mohamed Awadallah after his loan spell with Khorfakkan" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (2 July 2024). "Al Mahdi Mubarak.. One of the Moroccan Double Champions is Back to Al Ain" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (12 July 2024). "Khalid Butti .. Ainawi" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (1 July 2024). "By the end of last month, their contracts ended" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Dibba AL Hisn FC [@DHCLUB1980] (25 June 2024). "يسعدنا أن نعلن عن أولى تعاقداتنا للفريق الأول لكرة القدم مع اللاعب فلاح وليد قادماً من نادي العين في صفقة انتقال حر" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Khor Fakkan Football Club [@khorfakkanfc] (27 June 2024). "محمد شاكر بقميص خورفكان ولمدة موسمين" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Khor Fakkan Football Club [@khorfakkanfc] (10 July 2024). "النسر ســلــطــان الشامسي بقميص خورفكان" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Kalba FC [@ittihadkalbafc] (1 July 2024). "نادي كلباء لكرة القدم يعلن عن تعاقده مع الحارس سلطان المنذري لمدة موسمين" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Dibba AL Hisn FC [@dhclubfc] (3 July 2024). "Welcome Mohammed Baroot" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (3 July 2024). "The Champion of Asia.. Signs the Brazilian defender Marlon Santos" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.
^ "Article (15) P.50 of Arabian Gulf League Regulations" (PDF) (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
^ "ADNOC Pro League and ADIB Cup Draws Announced for 2024-2025 Season". UAE Pro League Committee. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.

External links

Al Ain FC official website (in English and Arabic)

[Al-Gharafa-20] Al-Gharafa played their home matches at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, instead of their regular home stadium Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Al Rayyan.

[Pakhtakor-21] Cite error: The named reference Pakhtakor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Al-Shorta-22] Cite error: The named reference Al-Shorta was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Al_Ain_in_Rabat-1] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (27 June 2024). "Our Pre-Season Camp is Confirmed in preparations for the new season 2024-2025" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[Rabat-2] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (11 July 2024). "Check out the latest details of our camp in Rabat" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[Director-3] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (5 July 2024). "Al Ain Football Club have appointed Rodrigo Mendes as the Sporting Director" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[4] "Team | ALAINFC". Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.

[5] "UAEFA; Players". Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

[6] "UAEProLeague; Squad and Manager". Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

[7] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (12 July 2024). "Al Ain FC renews goalkeeper Mohamed Bu Sanda's contract for two more years" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[8] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (11 July 2024). "The return of our player Mohamed Awadallah after his loan spell with Khorfakkan" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[9] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (2 July 2024). "Al Mahdi Mubarak.. One of the Moroccan Double Champions is Back to Al Ain" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[10] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (12 July 2024). "Khalid Butti .. Ainawi" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[contracts_ended-11] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (1 July 2024). "By the end of last month, their contracts ended" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[12] Dibba AL Hisn FC [@DHCLUB1980] (25 June 2024). "يسعدنا أن نعلن عن أولى تعاقداتنا للفريق الأول لكرة القدم مع اللاعب فلاح وليد قادماً من نادي العين في صفقة انتقال حر" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[13] Khor Fakkan Football Club [@khorfakkanfc] (27 June 2024). "محمد شاكر بقميص خورفكان ولمدة موسمين" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[14] Khor Fakkan Football Club [@khorfakkanfc] (10 July 2024). "النسر ســلــطــان الشامسي بقميص خورفكان" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[15] Kalba FC [@ittihadkalbafc] (1 July 2024). "نادي كلباء لكرة القدم يعلن عن تعاقده مع الحارس سلطان المنذري لمدة موسمين" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[16] Dibba AL Hisn FC [@dhclubfc] (3 July 2024). "Welcome Mohammed Baroot" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[17] Al Ain Football Club [@alainfcae_en] (3 July 2024). "The Champion of Asia.. Signs the Brazilian defender Marlon Santos" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 July 2024 – via Twitter.

[18] "Article (15) P.50 of Arabian Gulf League Regulations" (PDF) (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.

[19] "ADNOC Pro League and ADIB Cup Draws Announced for 2024-2025 Season". UAE Pro League Committee. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.

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[note 1]

[note 2]

[note 3]

v t e Al Ain FC seasons
Foundation and early years	1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75
UAE Football League	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
UAE Pro League	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25