Al Taawoun FC

Al-Taawoun FC (Arabic: نادي التعاون) is a Saudi Arabian professional football and multi-sports club based in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia, that competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system.

Al-Taawoun

Full name	Al-Taawoun Football Club
Nicknames	Sukkari Al-Qassim (Sugar of Al-Qassim) Al-Dhiyaab (The Wolves)
Founded	1956; 69 years ago (1956)
Ground	King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Al-Taawoun Stadium, Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia
Capacity	25,000[1] 5,624
Owner	Ministry of Sport
Chairman	Saud Al-Rashoodi
Head coach	Péricles Chamusca
League	Saudi Pro League
2024–25	Pro League, 8th of 18
Website	altaawounfc.com
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

The club plays its home matches at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, located in the city of Buraidah, which it shares with city rivals Al-Raed, with whom it contests the Qassim Derby. Additionally, the club uses the smaller Al-Taawoun Stadium for less prominent fixtures. The name "Al Taawoun" translates to "cooperation" in Arabic.

History

Al-Taawoun were founded in 1956 under the name of "Al-Shabab" by their founder Saleh Al Wabili. Four years after the founding of the club, they were officially registered as a professional club in 1960.

On 25 May 1990, Al-Taawoun reached the 1990 king cup final to face Al-Nasser but eventually lost 0–2. By reaching the final, Al-Taawoun became the second Saudi First Division League side to reach the final after Al-Riyadh in 1978. In the 2009–10 season, Al-Taawoun won promotion to the Pro League for the first time in over thirteen years as runners-up in the first division. Their last appearance in the top flight was in the 1997-98 season. They have been playing consecutively in the Saudi Pro League since the 2010–2011 season.^[2] On 29 May 2016, Al-Taawoun qualified to their debut AFC Champions League campaign for the first time ever by finishing fourth in the league during the 2015–16 season.^[3]

Their best ever top-flight season came in the 2018–19 season when the club successfully challenged for the Asian Champions League spots, eventually finishing in third place in the Saudi Pro League, their highest ever league position to date. And to top off their season, Al-Taawoun reached the King Cup final by thrashing Al-Hilal 5–0 at the King Saud University Stadium in the semi-final, and went on to defeat Al-Ittihad 2–1 in the final to claim their first-ever top-flight trophy, with the winning goal coming in the 90th minute.^[4] Al-Taawoun also became the first club from Al-Qassim Province to win the King Cup.

In the following season 2019–20, Al-Taawoun's performances were one of their worst in their league history. Al-Taawoun booked their spot in the 2019 super cup by winning the King Cup title the previous season. Al-Taawoun lost to Al-Nassr 4–5 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time. The club were almost relegated and needed a win in the final matchday against relegation threatened Al-Fayha, the highly tense match continued as a draw until the 91st minute when Mohammad Al-Sahlawi converted a cross with a tap in to make it 1-0 and avoid relegation in the final moments of the season. In the 2020–21 season Al-Taawoun reached their 3rd King Cup final in the 2020–21 edition to face Al-Faisaly, in the end Al-Faisaly won their first title after a 3–2 win over Al-Taawoun in the final on 27 May 2021.

Al-Taawoun qualified to the 2020 AFC Champions League as 2019 King Cup winners. Al-Taawoun finished the group as runners-up with a record of (3W,3L) to qualify to the knockout stages for the first time in their history. Al-Taawoun faced Al-Nassr in the round of 16 but eventually lost 0–1.

Honours

King's Cup

• Winners (1): 2019
• Runners-up (2): 1990, 2020–21

Saudi Super Cup

• Runners-up (1): 2019

Saudi First Division League (tier 2)

• Winners (1): 1996–97
• Runners-up (2): 1994–95, 2009–10

Saudi Second Division League (tier 3)

• Winners (1): 1977–78

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Cup for Division 1 and 2 Teams.^[5]

• Winners (4): 1996–97, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2008–09

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Péricles Chamusca
Assistant coach	Cláudio Prates Mohammed Al-Abdali
Goalkeeper coach	Francisco Gercosimo
Fitness coach	Rodrigo Poletto
Youth Coach	Jehad Al-Hussien
Development coach	Khaled Al-Dhefiri
Performance coach	Thamer Al-Sahli
Match analysis	Hassan Al-Dossari
Performance and Market Analyst	Bruno Cianciarulo
Doctor	Abdullah Bahusayn
Physiotherapist	Tiago Guedes Paulo Moreira
Sporting director	Abdullah Al-Ahmed

Players

Current squad

As of January 2025^[6]

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  BRA Mailson 2 DF  KSA Mishal Al-Alaeli (on loan from Al-Ettifaq) 3 DF  BRA Andrei Girotto 5 DF  KSA Mohammed Mahzari 6 MF  BRA Vitão 7 MF  KSA Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi 8 MF  BRA Flávio Medeiros 9 FW  KSA Abdulfattah Adam 10 FW  COL Roger Martínez 11 MF  NCL Angelo Fulgini (on loan from Lens) 13 GK  KSA Abdulquddus Atiah 17 MF  KSA Mohammed Al-Aqel

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  MAR Aschraf El Mahdioui (captain) 19 FW  ECU Cristhoper Zambrano (on loan from Aucas) 21 MF  FRA Romain Faivre (on loan from Bournemouth) 23 DF  KSA Waleed Al-Ahmed 26 DF  KSA Ibrahim Al-Shoeil 27 MF  KSA Sultan Mandash 29 MF  KSA Ahmed Bahusayn 32 DF  KSA Muteb Al-Mufarrij 55 DF  KSA Mohammed Waleed (on loan from Neom) 66 DF  KSA Bassam Al-Hurayji 77 MF  KSA Abdulelah Hawsawi (on loan from Al-Ittihad) 99 FW  GAM Musa Barrow

U21 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 12 DF  KSA Adeeb Al-Hassan 15 MF  SYR Bassam Al-Hamad 20 FW  KSA Bassem Al-Arini 24 DF  SEN Moustapha Sémbène 25 GK  KSA Abdulrahman Al-Senaid 28 MF  KSA Turki Al-Shaifan 33 FW  KSA Anas Al-Ghamdi 37 MF  KSA Ibrahim Al-Hazmi

No. Pos. Nation Player 39 FW  KSA Ali Sharahili 44 MF  KSA Abdulmalik Al-Marwani 49 MF  KSA Abdulrahman Al-Marwani 97 DF  KSA Ibrahim Al-Zahrani 98 GK  KSA Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi — MF  KSA Adel Fallatah — FW  KSA Ghannam Al-Ghannam

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 16 DF  VEN Renné Rivas (on loan to Kalba)

No. Pos. Nation Player 93 DF  KSA Awn Al-Saluli (on loan to Neom)

International competitions

Overview

As of 15 April 2025

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
AFC Champions League Elite	20	6	4	10	25	34
AFC Champions League Two	12	6	4	2	20	14
GCC Champions League	5	1	4	0	7	6
Total	37	13	12	12	52	54

Record by country

Country	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win%
Bahrain	2	2	0	0	5	3	+2	100.00
Iran	8	1	3	4	7	10	−3	012.50
Iraq	2	1	0	1	2	2	+0	050.00
Oman	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	050.00
Qatar	8	3	4	1	15	12	+3	037.50
Saudi Arabia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Syria	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Turkmenistan	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	100.00
United Arab Emirates	7	2	2	3	4	12	−8	028.57
Uzbekistan	4	1	1	2	9	10	−1	025.00
Total	37	13	12	12	52	54	−2	035.14

International record

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2015	GCC Champions League	Group A	Al-Suwaiq	1–0	2−2	2nd
			Al-Rayyan	1–1	2–2
		Quarter-finals	Al-Nasr	–	1−1 (p)	1–1 (p)
2017	AFC Champions League	Group A	Lokomotiv Tashkent	1–0	4−4	3rd
			Esteghlal	1–2	0−3
			Al-Ahli	1–3	0−0
2020	AFC Champions League	Group C	Sharjah	0–6	1–0	2nd
			Al-Duhail	2–0	1–0
			Persepolis	0–1	0–1
		Round of 16	Al-Nassr	0–1		0–1
2022	AFC Champions League	Play-off round	Al-Jaish	1–1 (5–4 p)	–	1–1 (5–4 p)
		Group D	Al-Duhail	3–4	2–1	2nd
			Pakhtakor	0–1	4–5
			Sepahan	3–0	1–1
2024–25	AFC Champions League Two	Group B	Al-Khaldiya	2–1	3–2	1st
			Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1–2	1–0
			Altyn Asyr	2–1	4–0
		Round of 16	Al-Wakrah	2–2	2–2	4–4 (4–3 p)
		Quarter-finals	Tractor	2–2	0–0	2–2 (4–2 p)
		Semi-finals	Sharjah	1–0	0–2	1–2

Past seasons

Season	League	Position
1985–86	Saudi First Division League	3rd
1986–87		5th
1987–88		7th
1988–89		4th
1989–90		?
1990–91		3rd
1991–92		7th
1992–93		5th
1993–94		4th
1994–95		2nd
1995–96	Saudi Premier League	11th
1996–97	Saudi First Division League	1st
1997–98	Saudi Premier League	12th
1998–99	Saudi First Division League	8th
1999–00
2000–01		7th
2001–02		6th
2002–03		7th
2003–04
2004–05		5th
2005–06		10th
2006–07		6th
2007–08		7th
2008–09
2009–10		2nd
2010–11	Saudi Pro League	8th
2011–12		12th
2012–13
2013–14		5th
2014–15		9th
2015–16		4th
2016–17		7th
2017–18
2018–19		3rd
2019–20		12th
2020–21		4th
2021–22		12th
2022–23		5th
2023–24		4th

Managers

• Eoin Hand (1 July 1987 – 30 June 1988)
• Antal Szentmihályi (1991–92)
• Marco Cunha (2004)
• Tohid Sebravî (2008–09)
• Celso Fernandes (2008–09)
• Abderrazek Chebbi (31 May 2009 – 1 January 2010)
• Grigore Sichitiu (10 January 2010 – 9 May 2010)
• Gheorghe Mulțescu (3 July 2010 – 20 December 2010)
• Florin Motroc (22 December 2010 – 29 December 2011)
• Srećko Juričić (1 January 2012 – 20 January 2012)
• Grigore Sichitiu (20 January 2012 – 1 April 2012)
• Khalid Kamal (caretaker) (1 April 2012 – 24 June 2012)
• Gjoko Hadžievski (1 July 2012 – 20 February 2013)
• Taoufik Rouabah (February 2013 – September 2014)
• José Gomes (September 2014 – 29 May 2016)
• Darije Kalezić (2 June 2016 – 16 October 2016)
• Constantin Gâlcă (18 October 2016 – 20 March 2017)
• José Gomes (21 March 2017 – 2 May 2018)
• Pedro Emanuel (7 May 2018 – May 2019)
• Paulo Sérgio (21 May 2019 – 29 December 2019)
• Abdullah Asiri (caretaker) (29 December 2019 – 15 January 2020)
• Vítor Campelos (15 January 2020 – 30 August 2020)
• Abdullah Asiri (caretaker) (30 August 2020 – 16 September 2020)
• Patrice Carteron (16 September 2020 – 12 March 2021)
• Nestor El Maestro (13 March 2021 – 22 August 2021)
• José Gomes (22 August 2021 – 20 March 2022)
• John van den Brom (31 March 2022 – 7 May 2022)
• Mohammed Al-Abdali (caretaker) (7 May 2022 – 28 June 2022)
• Péricles Chamusca (29 June 2022 – 1 June 2024)
• Rodolfo Arruabarrena (6 July 2024 – 9 February 2025)
• Mohammed Al-Abdali (caretaker) (10 February 2025 – 20 July 2025)
• Péricles Chamusca (20 July 2025 – present)

See also

• List of football clubs in Saudi Arabia