Al-Wahda SC (Syria)

This article is about the Syrian sports club. For other uses, see Al-Wahda (disambiguation).

Al-Wahda Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الوحدة الرياضي) is a Syrian multi-sports club based in Damascus.^[1] The club is mostly known for its football and basketball teams.^[2] The football team plays in Syria's top competition, the Syrian Premier League. Al-Wahda SC was founded in 1928 and its colours are orange and white. They play their home games at the Al-Jalaa Stadium. The club is nicknamed "The Damascene orange".

Al-Wahda SC

Full name	Al-Wahda Sports Club Damascus
Nickname(s)	Damascene Orange (Arabic: البرتقالة الدمشقية)
Founded	1928; 97 years ago (1928) (as Qasioun SC)
Ground	Al-Jalaa Stadium
Capacity	10,000
Chairman	Ghias al Dbbas
Manager	Nizar Mahrous
League	Syrian Premier League
2024–25	Syrian Premier League, 4th
Website	www.alwahdasport.sy
Home colours Away colours
Current season

The club has one of Syria's most prominent football charts, as it has won the Syrian Premier League 2 times, the Syrian Cup 8 times and the Syrian Super Cup 3 times. Internationally, Al-Wahda biggest achievement is participation in the final of the 2004 AFC Cup.^{[citation needed]}

Al-Wahda SC have competed in the AFC Champions League group stage as first Syrian club in history and have reached the knockout rounds of the AFC Cup four times, as well as reaching the round of 32 at the Arab Club Champions Cup twice.^[3][4]

History

Founded in 1928, Al Wahda is one of the oldest clubs in the Arab world. Previous names for the club include Al Ghouta, and Qasioun (named after Mount Qasioun which overlooks the city of Damascus).^[5]

The club was officially opened in 1928 and hosted a series of sports, including football and weightlifting.^{[citation needed]}

The "Golden Era"

Nenad Stavrić is a Serbian coach who joined Al-Wahda club in 2001. He started with two losses against Al-Horriya and Al-Karamah followed with draw with Al-Jaish, the team had to wait until the fifth week of the season to achieve their first win with the new coach. The team finished the league in the third place. In his second year the team had a big improvement In the level of performance especially with the new formation 4–4–2 which was the first time ever a Syrian team to use it, in the beginning the results was awful with the new formation especially the big defeat against the Saudi Arabia champion Al-Ittihad Jeddah seven to nothing in the Arabian club tournament, but after that the team keep improving to win the Syrian Cup in 2003 against Al-Ittihad Aleppo after a dramatic match 5–3. In the next season he made the dream true and Al-Wahda is the 2003–04 Syrian League champion for the first time in the club history, also the team reached the final of AFC Cup and lost against the other Syrian side Al-Jaish after losing the first game 2–3 and winning the second game 1–0. In 2004–05 the team was too close to win the title again but it lost it in the last few weeks with missing a key players along the season with major injury. The curse of injuries continued in the following season but even though the team was closer than the year before to clinch the title. The chairman of the club Khaled Hbobaty decided to replace him with Mansoor Haj Saied and the club entered the black tunnel for several years and remains so to this day.^{[citation needed]}

Stadiums

Al-Jalaa Stadium

Main article: Al-Jalaa Stadium

The entrance of Al-Jalaa Stadium in 2010

Al-Jalaa Stadium is located in Mazzeh municipality of Damascus, Syria.^[6]

Abbasiyyin Stadium

Main article: Abbasiyyin Stadium

Abbasiyyin stadium in 2007

Al-Wahda formerly played their home games at their own ground, Abbasiyyin Stadium, but maintenance deficiencies prevented the club from using the stadium. As a consequence, Al-Jalaa Stadium replaced it as the official home ground.

Supporters and rivalries

The biggest rival of the club is Al-Jaish SC,^[7] with whom they play the Damascus city derby.

Colours and kits

The club's home jersey is based on the orange color that, in addition to the Damascus sword monument located on Umayyad Square and Damascene Jasmine, the club has had in its emblem since its foundation. Away jerseys are white with orange edges.^[8]

Shirt sponsor & kit manufacturer

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2012–2016	Kappa	Cham Wings Airlines
2016–2017	Lotto
2017–2019	Uhlsport	None
2019–2020	Nike
2020–2022	Adidas	Cham Wings Airlines
2022–	Nike

Honours

Domestic

• Syrian Premier League: 2
  • Winners: 2003–04, 2013–2014
• Syrian Cup: 8
  • Winners: 1993, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020
• Syrian Super Cup: 3
  • Winners: 1993, 2016, 2020
• Syrian FA Shield: 1
  • Winners: 2024

Continental

• AFC Cup:
  • Runners-up: 2004

Regional

• Arab Club Champions Cup:
  • Round of 32: 2006, 2007

Notes:

• In 2016, Al-Wahda received^[9] an extraordinary Nine Values Cup, an award of the international children's social programme Football for Friendship.

Performance in AFC competitions

See also: Syrian football clubs in the AFC Cup

• AFC Champions League: 1 appearance

2005: Group Stage

• AFC Cup: 8 appearances

2004: Finalists

2013: Qualifying Round

2014: Group Stage

2015: Round of 16

2016: Round of 16

2017: Zonal finals

2018: Group Stage

2021: Group Stage

Records

Accurate as of 28 September 2022

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
AFC Champions League	6	0	0	6	5	16
AFC Cup	49	17	13	19	66	66
TOTAL	55	17	13	25	71	82

Match won

Match drawn

Match lost

Champions

Runners-up

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Agg
2003–04	AFC Cup	Group stage	Dhofar	1–1	2–0	1st place
			Mahindra	5–1	0–0
		Quarterfinals	Nejmeh	2–1	2–3	4–4 [a]
		Semifinals	Geylang	1–1	1–0	2–1
		Final	Al-Jaish	2–3	1–0	3–3 [b]
2004–05	AFC Champions League	Group stage	Al-Ain	2–3	0–3	4th place
			Al Shabab	1–2	1–3
			Sepahan	1–3	0–2
2012–13	AFC Cup	Qualifying play-off	Ahli Taizz	3–5[c]
2013–14	AFC Cup	Group stage	Hidd	1–4[d]	1–3	4th place
			Al-Shorta	1–3	0–0
			Qadsia	1–3	1–1
2014–15	AFC Cup	Group stage	Al Nahda	1–2[e]	0–0	2nd place
			Salam Zgharta	3–1	2–0
			Al-Wehdat	1–1	1–0
		Round of 16	Istiklol	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)
2015–16	AFC Cup	Qualifying play-off	Balkan	2–0
		Group stage	Al-Ourouba	2–1[f]	1–2	2nd place
			Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	5–2	0–1
			Shabab Al-Dhahiriya	0–3[g]	3–0 [h]
		Round of 16	Al Ahed	0–4
2016–17	AFC Cup	Group stage	Hidd	0–2[i]	1–0	2nd place
			Safa	2–0	6–0
			Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0–0	1–1
		Zonal semifinals	Al-Wehdat	4–1	0–1	4–2
		Zonal finals	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2017–18	AFC Cup	Group stage	Al-Faisaly	1–2[j]	2–2	4th place
			Al Ansar	2–1	0–1
			Dhofar	0–0	0–2
2020–21	AFC Cup	Group stage	Hidd	1–1		2nd place
			Ahed	0–0

Performance in UAFA competitions

• Arab Club Champions Cup: 3 appearances

2002–03: Group Stage

2005–06: Round of 32

2006–07: Round of 32

Records

Accurate as of 28 September 2022

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Arab Club Champions Cup	6	0	1	5	3	17
TOTAL	6	0	1	5	3	17

Match won

Match drawn

Match lost

Champions

Runners-up

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Agg
2002–03	Arab Champions League	Group stage	Qadsia	1–2		3rd place
			Al-Ittihad	0–7
2005–06		Round of 32	Raja Casablanca	1–1	0–1	1–2
2006–07		Round of 32	Club Africain	0–3	1–3	1–6

Players

First-team squad

As of 30 May 2024

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  SYR Hussain Rahal 2 DF  SYR Abdullah Jniat 3 DF  SYR Yasser Shahen 4 DF  SYR Yousef Mohammad 5 DF  SYR Milad Hamad 6 DF  SYR Burhan Sahyouni 7 FW  SYR Firas Kareem 8 MF  SYR Maher Daaboul 9 FW  SYR Anas Bota 11 FW  GHA Mohammed Anas 12 FW  SYR Ahmed Al Sharif 14 DF  SYR Louay Al Shareef 15 DF  SYR Mohammad Othman 17 DF  SYR Mohamad Ali Rammal (captain) 18 FW  SYR Mohamad Sharif

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  SYR Abdul Kader Adi 21 FW  SYR Qais Al-hassan 23 MF  SYR Yahya Karak 24 FW  SYR Mahmoud Al-khatib 27 FW  SYR Firas Kraym 30 MF  SYR Qusay Habib 31 MF  SYR Anas Al-aji 66 DF  SYR Zakaria Karak 70 DF  SYR Farhad Khaled 77 DF  SYR Amro Jenyat 88 FW  SEN Sekou Traore 90 DF  SYR Ahmad Al Khaimi 92 GK  SYR Ali Mariama 97 GK  SYR Eyad Jomaa 99 MF  SYR Mohammed Harb

Personnel

Current technical staff

Administration

Club presidents

• Wahda presidents since 1974:

Former managers

• Ayman Hakeem (1993–1995)
• Sameer Soukieh (1995–2001)
• Nenad Stavrić (2001–06)
• Mansour Al Haj Saied (2006)
• Ayman Hakeem (2006–07)
• Costică Ştefănescu (2007)
• Muhammad Jomma (2007–08)
• Nizar Mahrous (2008)
• Assaf Khalifa (2009)
• Faruk Kolović (2009)
• Nizar Mahrous (2009–11)
• Ayman Hakeem (2012)
• Hussam Al Sayed (2012)
• Mohannad Al Fakir (2013)
• Rafat Muhammad (2013–2017, 2018, 2019)
• Eyad Abdulkareem (2019–2020)
• Ghassan Maatouk (2020–2021)
• Ayman Hakeem (2021)
• Maher Bahri (2021–2022)
• Siniša Dobrašinović (2022)
• Ammar Shamali (2022–2023)
• Mohammad Istanbuli (2024)
• Nizar Mahrous (2024–present)

Notable players

Further information: Category:Al-Wahda SC (Syria) players

Fajr Ibrahim, four-time coach of the Syrian national team and winner of the 1993 Syrian Cup with Al-Wahda.

Omar Kharbin, Al-Wahda prodigy, Asian Footballer of the Year 2017 and international

Player records

League top scorer

See also: List of Syrian Premier League top scorers

• Al-Wahda SC players won the title of top scorer in the Syrian Premier League 7 times:

No.	Season	Name	Nation	Goals	Notes
1	1990–91	Othman Bawarshi	Syria	11
2	1992–93	Assaf Khalifa	Syria	11	With Mouhanad Boushi
3	2010–11	Ali Salah Hashim	Iraq	9	Season suspended
4	2013–14	Majed al-Haj	Syria	11
5	2015–16	Raja Rafe	Syria	22
6	2016–17	Osama Omari	Syria	17
7	2017–18	Basel Mustafa	Syria	15

Top scorers

• List of top scorers for Al Wahda club in the league and cup historically:

No.	Name	Nation	Goals	Notes
1	Osama Omari	Syria	78
2	Maher Al-Sayed	Syria	76
3	Assaf Khalifa	Syria	59
4	Mahmoud Mahmalji	Syria	51
5	Raja Rafe	Syria	46
6	Nizar Mahrous	Syria	44
7	Majed al-Haj	Syria	38
=7	Nabil Al-Shahma	Syria	38
9	Ismail Fatout	Syria	31
10	Maher Kharrat	Syria	30

Notes

1. Al-Wahda won on away goals rule.
2. Al-Jaish SC won on away goals rule.
3. Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
4. Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
5. Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
6. Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
7. The Al-Wahda v Shabab Al-Dhahiriya match on matchday 2 (9 March 2016) was not played as scheduled. It was awarded 3–0 to Al-Wahda by the AFC Disciplinary Committee on 28 April 2016, as it found Shabab Al-Dhahiriya as the relevant party for causing the cancellation of the match.^[10][11] The decision was reversed and awarded 3–0 to Shabab Al-Dhahiriya by the AFC Appeal Committee on 24 June 2016, as it found Al-Wahda as the relevant party for causing the cancellation of the match.^[12][13]
8. The Shabab Al-Dhahiriya v Al-Wahda match was required by the AFC to be played at a neutral venue due to restriction of Syrians entering Palestine.^[14] However, Shabab Al-Dhahiriya were unable to secure a neutral venue and the match was forfeited.^[15]
9. Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
10. Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.