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.^[1]

1998 Arab Club Champions Cup

بطولة الأندية العربية لأبطال الدوري 1998
Tournament details
Host country	Saudi Arabia
City	Jeddah
Dates	19–30 November
Teams	8 (from 2 confederations) (from 7 associations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	WA Tlemcen (1st title)
Runners-up	Al Shabab
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	43 (2.87 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Aissa Aidara (5 goals) Hamzah Idris (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Abdullah Al-Sheehan
Best goalkeeper	Hichem Mezaïr
← 1997 1999 →

Participants

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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

5 February 1998

Sur SC	2–2	Al-Arabi (Doha)

Muscat

6 February 1998

West Riffa SC	1–1	Al-Arabi (Kuwait City)

Muscat

6 February 1998

Al-Wasl	1–1	Al-Hilal

Muscat

---

8 February 1998

Sur SC	1–0	Al-Arabi (Kuwait City)

Muscat

8 February 1998

Al-Hilal	2–1	Al-Arabi (Doha)

Muscat

9 February 1998

West Riffa SC	2–1	Al-Wasl

Muscat

---

10 February 1998

Sur SC	2–2	Al-Hilal

Muscat

11 February 1998

Al-Arabi (Kuwait City)	1–1	Al-Wasl

Muscat

11 February 1998

Al-Arabi (Doha)	1–1	West Riffa SC

Muscat

---

13 February 1998

Al-Arabi (Doha)	0–0	Al-Arabi (Kuwait City)

Muscat

13 February 1998

Al-Hilal	4–1	West Riffa SC

Muscat

14 February 1998

Sur SC	1–1	Al-Wasl

Muscat

---

15 February 1998

Al-Hilal	3–1	Al-Arabi (Kuwait City)

Muscat

16 February 1998

Al-Wasl	2–1	Al-Arabi (Doha)

Muscat

16 February 1998

West Riffa SC	1–0	Sur SC

Muscat

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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(W) Withdrew

Al Ahly	3–1	Al Shabab

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

---

Al Ahly	1–0	Al Shabab

Cairo International Stadium, Cairo

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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

19 November 1998

Al-Ittihad	0–1	Al-Wasl
		Ouédraogo –'

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

19 November 1998

Al-Wehdat	2–2	Al Tahaddy

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

---

21 November 1998

Al-Ittihad	3–1	Al-Wehdat

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

21 November 1998

Al-Wasl	0–0	Al Tahaddy

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

---

24 November 1998

Al-Ittihad	6–0	Al Tahaddy

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

24 November 1998

Al-Wasl	5–1	Al-Wehdat

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

20 November 1998

WA Tlemcen	0–0	Al Shabab

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

20 November 1998

Club Africain	0–3	West Riffa SC

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

---

22 November 1998

Al Shabab	2–1	West Riffa SC

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

22 November 1998

WA Tlemcen	1–1	Club Africain
Kendouci 39'		Belhassen Aloui 75'

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

---

25 November 1998

Club Africain	1–1	Al Shabab

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

25 November 1998

WA Tlemcen	2–1	West Riffa SC
Tarek Bettadj 18' Aissa Aidara 35'

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

Knockout stage

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

Semi-finals

27 November 1998

Al-Wasl	1–3	WA Tlemcen
Abdellah Hambes 28'		Mohamed Djalti 18' (pen.) Aissa Aidara 58', 72'

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

---

27 November 1998

Al Shabab	1–0	Al-Ittihad
Alesandro –'

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

Final

30 November 1998

WA Tlemcen	3–1	Al Shabab
Aidara 33', 90' Brahimi 42'		Al-Dawod 64'

Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah

Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt)

Winners

1998 Arab Club Champions Cup
WA Tlemcen First title

Statistics

Goalscorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Aissa Aidara	WA Tlemcen	5
	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