Qatari clubs in the AFC Champions League
Two Asian titles, both for Al Sadd, one more final for Al-Arabi, and a record of semi-finals and golden boots since. What Qatar's clubs have done in Asia, and who is in it this season.
One Qatari club has been champion of Asia, and it has done it twice. Al Sadd won the Asian Club Championship in 1989 and the AFC Champions League in 2011, and the second title took them to the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, where they finished third.
Only one other Qatari side has reached a final: Al-Arabi, beaten 1-0 by Thai Farmers Bank in Bangkok in 1995. In 2026-27 three clubs carry Qatar's flag in the AFC Champions League Elite: Al Sadd, Al-Gharafa and, for the first time, Al-Shamal.
Which Qatari club has won the AFC Champions League?
Al Sadd, on both occasions. Wikipedia's list of Asian champions shows no other Qatari winner across the Asian Club Championship years and the Champions League that replaced it in 2002-03.
| Season | Club | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Al Sadd | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Won, 2-2 aet, 4-2 pens, in Jeonju |
| 1994-95 | Al-Arabi | Thai Farmers Bank | Lost 1-0 in Bangkok |
| 1988-89 | Al Sadd | Al-Rasheed | Won on away goals, 3-3 on aggregate |
Finals from Wikipedia, List of Asian Club Championship and AFC Champions League Elite finals, with the 2011 knockout ties checked against RSSSF's 2011 Asian Champions League page.
When did Al Sadd first win the Asian title?
In the 1988-89 Asian Club Championship, the competition's name before 2002. The final was played over two legs against Al-Rasheed of Iraq, the club now called Al-Karkh. Al Sadd lost the first leg 3-2 at the Al-Shaab Stadium in Baghdad, then won the return 1-0 at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. With the aggregate at 3-3, the two goals scored in Baghdad gave them the cup, the first continental title won by a Qatari club.
Al Sadd's 2011 Champions League run
The 2011 title had an unusual route. In the quarter-final against Sepahan of Iran, Al Sadd lost the first leg 1-0 in Isfahan. The AFC then awarded that match to them 3-0 because Sepahan had fielded an ineligible player. That was enough to see them through even after Sepahan won 2-1 in Doha. In the semi-final, a 2-0 win away to Suwon Samsung Bluewings carried them past a 1-0 home defeat.
The final was a single match on 5 November 2011 at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium, home of their opponents Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, in front of 41,805 people. It finished 2-2 after extra time. Al Sadd won the shoot-out 4-2, and Nadir Belhadj scored the deciding penalty.
At the Club World Cup in Japan that December, they beat Espérance de Tunis 2-1, lost 4-0 to Barcelona in the semi-final in Yokohama, and took third place by beating Kashiwa Reysol 5-3 on penalties after a goalless draw.
Semi-finals, Club World Cups and golden boots
Al Sadd came close twice more. In 2018 Persepolis knocked them out of the semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate. A year later they lost the first leg of the semi-final 4-1 at home to Al-Hilal, won 4-2 in Riyadh and went out 6-5.
Qatar hosted the Club World Cup in 2019 and in February 2021, and in both a Qatari club played as the host's entry. Al Sadd beat Hienghène Sport of New Caledonia 3-1 after extra time in 2019, then lost 3-2 to Monterrey and 6-2 to Espérance in the match for fifth. Al-Duhail went into the 2020 edition, played in 2021, with a 3-0 win awarded after Auckland City withdrew. They lost 1-0 to Al Ahly of Egypt and then beat Ulsan Hyundai 3-1 to finish fifth.
Four times the competition's top scorer has played for a Qatari club:
| Season | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | Rafa Mújica | Al Sadd | 8 |
| 2022 | Edmilson Junior | Al-Duhail | 8 |
| 2021 | Michael Olunga | Al-Duhail | 9 |
| 2018 | Baghdad Bounedjah | Al Sadd | 13 |
Club World Cup results from Wikipedia's articles on the 2011, 2019 and 2020 tournaments. Semi-finals from RSSSF, 2018 and 2019. Top scorers from Wikipedia, AFC Champions League Elite.
Bounedjah and Olunga are both still in the Stars League this season, at Al-Shamal and Al-Arabi, going by the league's own match sheets. Bounedjah's 39 league goals in 2018-19 remain the single-season record, and the rest of that list is on the top scorers page.
How far did Qatari clubs get last season?
Qatar had two direct places in the 2025-26 Champions League Elite and one in the play-offs. Al-Duhail won their play-off against Sepahan 3-2 and joined Al Sadd and Al-Gharafa in the league phase. The AFC later moved the West region's round of 16 to single matches, and the quarter-finals onwards were played in Jeddah. Al-Duhail went out in the round of 16, beaten 1-0 in Jeddah by Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia, who went on to retain the trophy.
Al Sadd went further. They drew 3-3 with Al-Hilal after extra time on 13 April 2026 and won the shoot-out 4-2. Three days later the quarter-final against Vissel Kobe also ended 3-3 after extra time, and this time the shoot-out went 5-4 to Kobe. Rafa Mújica scored twice in that quarter-final and finished as the competition's top scorer.
Who plays in Asia this season
Qatar has three direct places in 2026-27 and no play-off entry. They went to Al Sadd as league champions, to Al-Shamal as runners-up, and to Al-Gharafa as Amir Cup winners. For Al Sadd it is a 21st appearance in Asia's top club competition, by Wikipedia's count. Al-Shamal have never played in it before.
The league table also decides Qatar's entries in the AFC Champions League Two and the Gulf Club Champions League; the league page lists who holds which place this season.