Al Wehda FC

Association football club in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Football club

Al-Wehda

Full name

Al-Wehda Football Club

Nickname(s)

Fursan Mecca (Knights of Mecca)
Al Mared Al Ahmar (The Red Genie )

Founded

1916; 108 years ago (1916)

Ground

King Abdul Aziz Stadium

Capacity

38,000^[1]

President

Sultan Azhar

Head coach

Josef Zinnbauer

League

Saudi Pro League

2023–24

Pro League, 13th of 18

Website

Club website

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

Current season

Al-Wehda FC (Arabic: نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم, romanized: Nādī al-Waḥdah li-kurat al-qadam, lit. 'Union Football Club') is a multi-sports club from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, founded in 1916, making it the oldest club in Mecca.^[2] The football section plays in the Saudi Professional League. They also have a handball section.

Honours

Saudi First Division (Level 2)

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

King Cup

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

Crown Prince Cup

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

(Source:^[3])

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 1 June 2024^[4]^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
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
12	GK	URU	Ignacio de Arruabarrena
14	DF	KSA	Bandar Darwish
15	FW	KSA	Azzam Al-Bishi
16	MF	KSA	Nawaf Al-Azizi
17	DF	KSA	Abdullah Al-Hafith
21	GK	KSA	Abdulrahman Al-Shammari
22	DF	KSA	Ali Makki


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	MF	AUS	Craig Goodwin
24	MF	SDN	Abdulaziz Noor
28	MF	KSA	Hussain Al-Eisa
35	MF	MAR	Mohamed Al Makahasi
47	GK	KSA	Ahmed Al-Rashidi
49	DF	KSA	Ali Al-Salem
55	DF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Sufyani
71	GK	KSA	Abdullah Fallatah
77	FW	KSA	Mourad Khodari
80	FW	KSA	Yahya Al-Najei
—	GK	KSA	Abdullah Al-Owaishir (on loan from Al-Ettifaq)
—	DF	KSA	Meshal Al-Alaeli (on loan from Al-Ettifaq)
—	DF	KSA	Saad Al-Qahtani
—	MF	TUN	Saad Bguir

Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
29	MF	KSA	Sultan Al-Akouz
34	GK	KSA	Mohammed Makbashi
50	DF	KSA	Saad Al-Khayri


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
60	MF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Shalwi
—	MF	KSA	Wadhah Malik

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
25	MF	KSA	Sattam Al-Tambakti (on loan to Jeddah)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
33	DF	KSA	Rakan Al-Harbi (on loan to Al-Bukiryah)

Management staff

Position	Name
Head Coach	Josef Zinnbauer
Assistant Head Coach	Dragan Paljić
Goalkeeper Coach	Michael Kraft
Fitness Coach	Franck Plaine
Chief Analyst	Saad Al-Dossari
Doctor	Fahad Al-Menhali
Physiotherapist	Mohammed Filipović
Sports Scientist	Rustem Gashi
Director of football	Yassin Rodriguez
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 – )

References

^ "King Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
^ "تاريخ نادي الوحدة" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-04-03.
^ Ian King and Mohammed Qayed (14 May 2010). "Saudi Arabia – List of Cup Winners". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
^ "Al-Wehda squad". kooora. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
^ "Al-Wehda squad 2018–19 season". slstat. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018.

External links

Official website
Al-Wehda Logo and mascot designer
Profile's team – kooora.com

Al-Wehda – current squad

1 Mohamedi
2 Al-Muwallad
3 Bukhari
4 Bakshween
5 El Yamiq
6 Duarte
7 Van Crooij
8 Al-Qarni
9 Ighalo
11 Al-Akouz
12 Al-Qahtani
13 Atiah
14 Malik
15 Al-Bishi
16 Al-Azizi
17 Al-Hafith
18 Al-Hajri
20 Asiri
21 Al-Hussaini
22 Makki
23 Goodwin
24 Noor
27 I. Hawsawi
28 Al-Eisa
30 Al-Rashidi
34 Makbashi
35 Al-Harbi
38 Kariri
50 Al-Khayri
55 N. Hawsawi
76 Fajr
80 Al-Najei
87 Anselmo
88 Al-Hejji
90 Al-Ghamdi
Manager: Donis

Saudi Arabian football leagues

Pro League

Clubs

Seasons

1970s	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25