After winning the AFC Champions League last season, can the UAE's most successful club cause a shock this summer?
We're going to get it out of the way right here at the start: the Club World Cup isn't going to be easy for Al Ain FC. Hailing from the United Arab Emirates, Al Ain have been drawn into a group with Manchester City and Juventus. Good luck with that one!
But that's the fun part of this tournament, isn't it? Al Ain are the UAE's most successful club and, as they prepare to head to the U.S. for this summer's tournament, they'll be dreaming of causing an upset against one of the world's Goliaths.
Back on home soil, the club is known as , which translates to "The Boss". Rightfully so. They are far and away the UAE's top trophy winners, having won 38 in total, including 14 league crowns. Most notably, though, they are the only UAE side to have won the AFC Champions League, which has booked them their date with the world's best.
They do have a history in this competition, too. In 2018, as hosts of the Club World Cup, Al Ain topped Team Wellington and Esperance de Tunis to earn a clash with Argentine giants River Plate. They won that on penalties, thus getting a lucky ticket to face Real Madrid in the finale. The UAE side lost, 4-1, but it was a dream run, one that will give them hope ahead of this summer.
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be played in 12 stadiums in 11 U.S. cities, from the opener on June 14 until the final on July 13. In the U.S., fans can stream or watch matches on DAZN or TNT. Leading up to kickoff, GOAL will provide scouting reports on each of the 32 participating teams in the expanded field.
Next up is Al Ain, with a look at key players to watch, and expectations for the UAE side at the tournament.
Getty Images SportThe Basics
DOMESTIC LEAGUE: UAE Pro League
CLUB WORLD CUP HISTORY: Second appearance (Finished second in 2018 edition)
GROUP: G (Al Ain, Juventus, Manchester City, Wydad Casablanca)
OPENING MATCH: Juventus – June 18, 9 p.m., Washington, D.C
AdvertisementAFPHow they got here
Al Ain are the reigning AFC Champions League winners, having run through plenty of familiar faces on their push to the trophy. En route, they took down Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr and the similarly stacked Al Hilal, who currently feature the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Malcom.
Once in the finale, they crushed Yokohama Marinos, 6-3 on aggregate, to win the club's second Champions League and, more importantly for the purposes of this preview, earn a spot in the Club World Cup.
AFPThe player to watch
Al Ain feature a familiar face for die-hard MLS fans: none other than former New York Red Bulls star Alejandro 'Kaku' Gamarra. The Paraguayan was a pretty good attacking presence during his three seasons in MLS, but his exit was unceremonious, to put it lightly. Kaku joined Al-Taawoun in February 2021, setting off a series of lawsuits related to his contract with the club.
That's all in the past now, and Kaku has been with Al Ain since 2023. The creator behind star striker Soufiane Rahimi, who led the AFC Champions League with 13 goals last season, Kaku has been quite prolific himself. With 18 goals and 22 assists in his two seasons so far with the club, Kaku is the one who will have to pull some strings if Al Ain are to cause an upset.
Getty Images SportRealistic expectations
Expectations aren't high, but emotions sure will be if they do find a way to get a result. Al Ain will head into the tournament knowing they aren't one of the favorites, but they do have enough recent tournament history to have the crucial thought: why not?
Al Ain were given a tough draw, for sure, particularly with Juve and Manchester City being their first two games of the tournament but, if they can somehow get a result out of one of those two games, Al Ain will be dreaming. Still, they'll need just about every break to go their way to get out of the group so, with that in mind, the more likely approach is to just be happy to be here and enjoy this chance to lead your club into matches against the world's best.
