Al Ahly return to the Club World Cup with more trophies than any other club on Earth, yet still chasing a first-ever final on the global stage. As they prepare to face Inter Miami, Palmeiras and Porto, can Africa’s most decorated team finally cement their legacy beyond the continent?
1) Who will Al Ahly face at the Club World Cup?
Al Ahly have been drawn into Group A and these are their group stage fixtures:
14 June: vs Inter Miami. Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
19 June: vs Palmeiras. MetLife Stadium, New Jersey.
23 June: vs Porto. MetLife Stadium, New Jersey.
2) Al Ahly: the world's most successful football club
Al Ahly are officially the world's most successful football club having, to date, won 126 major trophies, which leaves them five ahead of Scottish champions Celtic by this meassure.
3) Domestic domination
As part of this, the Red Devils have collected a massive 45 Egyptian Premier League titles, a remarkable tally considering this season was the competition's 66th edition, while fierce rivals Zamalek boast the second-most with 14.
4) The kings of Africa
To date, Al Ahly have featured in 17 CAF Champions League Finals, winning 12 of them. For context, the aforementioned Zamalek and TP Mazembe boast the second-most titles with five apiece.
Since 2017, the Red Devils have contested seven of the nine African Champions League Finals, including five on the spin prior to this season, winning four of them. Their most-recent triumph came in May 2024, defeating Espérance de Tunis 1-0 on aggregate, prevailing in the second leg in Cairo.
5) A season of mixed success
As alluded to, this year was the first time since 2019 that Al Ahly have failed to reach the CAF Champions League Final, their hopes of a first-ever three-peat, something no one has ever managed to achieve, dashed by Mamelodi Sundowns, ousted on away goals in the semi-finals.
Nevertheless, the Red Devils did, just about, retain a third successive Egyptian Premier League title. Despite only losing one match all season, and even this was spuriously forfeited against Zamalek in March, the race went to the final day, but they ultimately pipped emerging force Pyramids FC by two points, demolishing Pharco 6-0 at home, with Wessam Abou Ali scoring four of them.
6) Past Club World Cup expirence
Given their CAF Champions League domination, Al Ahly have plenty of Club World Cup expirence. This will actually be their tenth participation in the competition, only Auckland City (12) have more.
However, despite having had nine attempts at it, the Red Devils have never reached a Club World Cup Final, defeated in three quarter-finals and six semi-finals. The did get the semis at each of the last four editions at which they've featured, but were beaten by Bayern Munich, Palmeiras, Real Madrid and most-recently Fluminense.
In total, Al Ahly have won only nine of their 23 Club World Cup fixtures, losing all five previous meetings with Brazilian clubs, as well as both encounters with European opposition to date, two facts they'll be hoping to change in June.
It was a similar story at last year's inaugural FIFA Intercontinental Cup, demolishing Al Ain 3-0 in Cario, before a heartbreaking 6-5 penalty shootout defeat in the semi-finals against Pachuca in Doha.
7) Al Ahly players to watch: Emam Ashour
The Red Devils' top-scorer this season was attacking midfielder Emam Ashour, who netted 18 times across all competitions.
Since arriving from Midtjylland two years ago, two 27 year old instantaneously established himself as a key figure in this team, so is likely to remain their most-dangerous attacking player.
8) Al Ahly players to watch: Trézéguet
One player who's not represented Al Ahly since 2015, but will be returning soon, is Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan, more commonly known by his nickname Trézéguet.
Since leaving Cairo as a 20 year old, the winger has bounced around various European clubs, including Anderlecht, Kasımpaşa, Aston Villa, İstanbul Başakşehir and most-recently Trabzonspor, spending this season on loan at Al-Rayyan in Qatar. Back in January, it was announced that, a decade after leaving his boyhood club, Trézéguet will return to Al Ahly just in time for the Club World Cup.
9) Manager José Riveiro: just getting started
Following their CAF Champions League exit in April, manager Marcel Koller was sacked, with Emad El Nahhas in interim charge for the remaining weeks of the season.
Then, on 29 May, a day after their final fixture, José Riveiro was unveiled as the new head coach. The 49 year old Spaniard has previously been in charge of Finnish side Inter Turku as well as Orlando Pirates in South Africa, with whom he won five domestic cups. The pressure to deliver success at Al Ahly is extremely high, so Riveiro will be hoping to get off to a flying start this summer.
10) Are Al Ahly dark horses?
Al Ahly will be involved in the tournament's opening match this summer, facing Inter Miami in South Florida, before taking on both Palmeiras and then Porto up in East Rutherford.
In the absence of a true European heavyweight, the fact Porto finished third in this season's Primeira Liga underlining this point, Group A is wide-open, and the Red Devils should fancy their chances of reaching the knockout stages. Even if the bookmakers disagree, Al Ahly certainly have a great chance of defeating a generally dysfunctional Inter Miami on opening night.