What happened when 2 Arab teams participated in World Cup?

CAIRO – 2 December 2017: For the sixth time in the history of the FIFA Club World Cup, the Arabs are represented by two teams – Morocco’s Wydad and UAE’s Al Jazira – in the new edition that starts on Wednesday.

In five previous editions, there were two Arab teams at the Club World Cup, which had a history of success and failure.

2000 FIFA Club World Championship:

The first edition of the tournament saw the participation of Raja of Morocco and Al Nasr of Saudi Arabia, where they were in a group with Real Madrid and Corinthians.

The two teams failed to pass the first round. Al Nasr lost in the opening match against Real Madrid 3-1, before beating Raja 4-3 and then losing against Corinthians 2-0 to be ranked third in the group.

Raja failed to gain any points. They were defeated by two goals by Corinthians and then lost to Al Nasr, before falling 3-2 against Real Madrid.

2005 FIFA Club World Championship:

The opening match was between Al-Ahly of Egypt and Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, which saw the victory of Al Ittihad 1-0, which then faced Sao Paulo in the semi-final and lost 3-2. Al-Ahly played against Sydney to determine the fifth and sixth place, losing 2-1.

2011 FIFA Club World Cup:

This tournament witnessed the third and last Arab clash in the history of the World Cup, when Qatar’s Al Saad SC defeated Tunisia's Esperance 2-1, before meeting Barcelona in the semi-finals. They lost 4-0 to face Japan's Kashiwa Reysol in the third and fourth place match.

Esperance failed again, losing to Monterrey 3-2 in the fifth and sixth place match.

2013 FIFA Club World Cup:

Raja won over Auckland City 2-1 in the opening match, before defeating Monterrey with the same result and qualifying to face Atlético Mineiro. Raja defeated Atlético Mineiro 3-1 to qualify to the final, which they lost 2-0 against Bayern Munich.

Egypt’s Al-Ahly failed to overcome the first obstacle, losing 2-1 to Guangzhou Evergrande, before suffering a heavy 5-1 defeat by Monterrey in the match to determine the fifth and sixth place.

2014 FIFA Club World Cup:

The two Arab teams playing were knocked out and lost to the same opponent, Auckland City, which defeated Moghreb Tétouan in the penalty shootout before defeating ES Sétif with a single goal.

In the fifth and sixth place match, ES Setif beat Australia's Western Sydney on penalties after a 2-2 draw.