Al Wehda FC

This article is about the Saudi football team. For other uses, see Al-Wahda (disambiguation).

Al-Wehda FC (Arabic: نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم, romanized: Nādī al-Waḥdah li-kurat al-qadam, lit. 'Unity Football Club') is a multi-sports club based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Al-Wehda

Full name	Al-Wehda Football Club
Nickname(s)	Fursan Mecca (Knights of Mecca) Al Mared Al Ahmar (The Red Genie) altiniyn al'ahmar" (Red Dragons)
Founded	1916; 109 years ago (1916) (as Al-Hizb)
Ground	King Abdulaziz Sports City
Capacity	38,000[1]
President	Sultan Azhar
Manager	José Daniel Carreño
League	Saudi First Division
2024–25	Pro League, 16th of 18 (relegated)
Website	alwehdaclub.sa
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

History

Al-Wehda is the 5th oldest club in Saudi Arabia, founded in 1945,^[2] but if the club's establishment date (1916) is considered with the old name, this makes it the oldest club in the Kingdom.^[3]

The football section plays in the Saudi Pro League. They also have a handball section.

Al-Wehda were the first ever winners of the King's Cup in 1957.

Honours

Saudi First Division League (tier 2)

• Winners (4): 1982–83, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2017–18
• Runners-up (2): 2011–12, 2014–15
• Third place (1): 2021–22

King's Cup

• Winners (2): 1957, 1966
• Runners-up (6): 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1970, 2022–23

Crown Prince's Cup

• Winners (1): 1959–60
• Runners-up (5): 1958–59, 1963–64, 1969–70, 1972–73, 2010–11

(Source:^[4])

International record

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
2021	AFC Champions League	Play-off round	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–3 p)

Current squad

As of January 2025^[5][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  KSA Abdullah Al-Owaishir (on loan from Al-Ettifaq) 2 DF  KSA Saeed Al-Muwallad 4 MF  KSA Waleed Bakshween 5 DF  MAR Jawad El Yamiq 6 MF  ROU Alexandru Crețu 8 MF  KSA Alaa Al-Hejji 9 FW  NGA Odion Ighalo 10 MF  CUW Juninho Bacuna 11 MF  IRQ Youssef Amyn 13 DF  KSA Meshal Al-Alaeli (on loan from Al-Ettifaq) 14 DF  KSA Bandar Darwish 16 MF  KSA Nawaf Al-Azizi 17 DF  KSA Abdullah Al-Hafith 18 MF  TUN Saad Bguir

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  KSA Saad Al-Qahtani 22 DF  KSA Ali Makki 23 MF  AUS Craig Goodwin 24 MF  KSA Abdulaziz Noor 28 MF  KSA Hussain Al-Eisa 35 MF  MAR Mohamed Al Makahasi 44 DF  KSA Ridha Ambadu U19 47 GK  KSA Ahmed Al-Rashidi 49 DF  KSA Ali Al-Salem 55 DF  KSA Mohammed Al-Sufyani U19 60 GK  KSA Sultan Al-Harbi U19 71 GK  KSA Abdullah Fallatah U19 77 FW  KSA Mourad Khodari 80 FW  KSA Yahya Al-Najei

Other players under contract

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 50 DF  KSA Saad Al-Khayri

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 21 GK  KSA Abdulrahman Al-Shammari (on loan to Al-Faisaly) 25 MF  KSA Sattam Al-Tambakti (on loan to Jeddah)

No. Pos. Nation Player 29 MF  KSA Sultan Al-Akouz (on loan to Al-Najma) 33 DF  KSA Rakan Al-Harbi (on loan to Al-Bukiryah)

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Manager	José Daniel Carreño
Assistant manager	Mario Rodrigo Agustín Perez Mahmoud Abbas
Goalkeeper coach	Fernando Perez
Fitness coach	Rodrigo Miranda Costas Santiago Mendaña
Chief analyst	Saad Al-Dossari
Doctor	Fahad Al-Menhali
Physiotherapist	Mohammed Al-Shalwi
Sports scientist	Rustem Gashi
Interpreter	Khalid Baker Boujrafawi
Director of football	Yassin Al-Zahrani
Sporting director	Osama Barnawi Issa Al-Muhaini
Technical director	Hazim Al-Freej

Managerial history

• Hassan Sultan (1955–1957)
• Hassan Sultan (1965–1968)
• Raafat Attia (1974–1975)
• Redha Al Sayeh (1976–1977)
• Taha Ismail (1981–1983)
• Abdelmajid Chetali (1983–1985)
• Khaled Al-Jizani (1985)
• Mahmoud Abou-Regaila (1985–1986)
• Jairzinho (1988–1989)
• Mimi Abdelhamid (1989–1990)
• Pavle Dolezar (1995)
• Jean Fernandez (1997)
• Gaúcho (1998–1999)
• Eugen Moldovan (1999–2000)
• Khaled Al-Jizani (caretaker) (November 10, 1999 – November 27, 1999)
• David Roberts (November 27, 1999 – May 30, 2000)
• Dumitru Marcu (July 13, 2000 – March 2, 2001)
• Adel Latrach (March 2, 2001 – May 30, 2001)
• Vantuir (July 5, 2001 – January 14, 2002)
• Luis Carlos (January 14, 2002 – May 1, 2002)
• Zoran Đorđević (August 1, 2002 – October 23, 2002)
• Khalid Al-Koroni (October 23, 2002 – June 1, 2004)
• Lotfi Benzarti (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2006)
• Theo Bücker (July 6, 2006 – May 31, 2007)
• Jan Versleijen (June 2, 2007 – February 19, 2008)
• Khalid Al-Koroni (February 19, 2008 – May 1, 2008)
• Theo Bücker (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009)
• Eurico Gomes (August 13, 2009 – June 30, 2010)
• Jean-Christian Lang (July 1, 2010 – December 23, 2010)
• Mokhtar Mokhtar (December 25, 2010 – May 8, 2011)
• Lotfi Benzarti (May 8, 2011 – May 25, 2011)
• Bashir Abdel Samad (May 26, 2011 – June 30, 2011)
• Dragan Cvetković (August 21, 2011 – November 24, 2011)
• Adel Latrach (November 26, 2011 – February 16, 2012)
• Bashir Abdel Samad (February 17, 2012 – August 30, 2012)
• Wajdi Essid (September 15, 2012 – January 26, 2013)
• Khalil Obaid (January 26, 2013 – April 27, 2013)
• Florin Cioroianu (July 21, 2013 – October 1, 2013)
• Mohamed Salah (October 1, 2013 – March 1, 2014)
• Abderrazek Chebbi (March 1, 2014 – April 5, 2014)
• Djamel Menad (June 7, 2014 – September 20, 2014)
• Khalid Al-Koroni (September 22, 2014 – October 28, 2014)
• Juan Rodríguez (November 17, 2014 – October 30, 2015)
• Kheïreddine Madoui (November 9, 2015 – December 9, 2016)
• Adel Abdel Rahman (December 11, 2016 – May 5, 2017)
• Jameel Qassem (July 1, 2017 – May 5, 2018)
• Fábio Carille (May 22, 2018 – December 13, 2018)
• Mido (December 17, 2018 – March 19, 2019)
• Juan Brown (March 20, 2019 – May 17, 2019)
• Mario Cvitanović (July 2, 2019 – September 16, 2019)
• José Daniel Carreño (September 16, 2019 – August 19, 2020)
• Essa Al-Mehyani (caretaker) (August 19, 2020 – September 9, 2020)
• Ivo Vieira (September 10, 2020 – February 2, 2021)
• Mahmoud Al-Hadid (February 2, 2021 – March 21, 2021)
• Giorgos Donis (March 23, 2021 – May 31, 2021)
• Habib Ben Romdhane (July 26, 2021 – June 1, 2022)
• Bruno Akrapović (June 16, 2022 – October 20, 2022)
• José Luis Sierra (October 20, 2022 – June 1, 2023)
• Giorgos Donis (July 11, 2023 – June 1, 2024)
• Josef Zinnbauer (July 24, 2024 – November 15, 2024)
• Mahmoud Abbas (caretaker) (November 15, 2024 – November 27, 2024)
• José Daniel Carreño (November 27, 2024 – )

See also

• Saudi Arabia portal
• Association football portal

https://makkahnewspaper.com/article/1116315/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A8/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%A3%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B3

• List of football clubs in Saudi Arabia