When you think of the great teams in world soccer, your mind is likely drawn to the European elite. In fact, if you were on a game show and someone asked you who the most successful team in the world is, most people would probably say Real Madrid.
But the reality is that the world’s most successful soccer team plies its trade some 2,800 miles south-east of Madrid, in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Let me introduce you to Al Ahly SC, the world’s most successful soccer team.
Who is Al Ahly?
Al Ahly Sporting Club was established on April 24, 1907, by a group of students in Cairo. By a mere trophy count, Al Ahly is the most successful soccer team in the world. They have won:
- 115 domestic titles (42 Egyptian Premier League titles, 37 Egyptian Cups, 18 domestic cups, 16 Cairo League Titles, and 1 Egyptian Confederation Cup).
- 23 African titles (10 CAF Champions League titles, 4 African Cup Winners’ Cups, 1 CAF Confederation Cup, 8 CAF Super Cups).
- 4 regional titles (1 Arab Club Champions Cup, 1 Arab Cup Winners’ Cup, 2 Arab Super Cups).
- 1 world title (Afro-Asian Club. It’s worth noting they’ve finished in third place at the FIFA Club World Cup on three occasions, too).
This trophy haul is nothing short of staggering. Say what you like about the standard of Egyptian soccer, but Al Ahly has won the domestic league crown 42 times since the league was launched in 1948.
Numbers aside, let’s take a look at the rich history of Al Ahly and what has contributed to their dominance of African soccer.
A student club that resisted the British occupation of Egypt
Cairo native Omar Lofty is the man credited with laying the foundations for what would become Al Ahly SC. In 1905, he floated the idea of launching the club at the High School Students Club in Cairo, of which he was the president.
Two years later, he launched Al Ahly with a group of friends, and the club was initially headed by a British man named Alfred Mitchell-Innes. Mitchell-Innes was tasked with securing financial support for the newly formed club, and Omar Sultan, Idris Ragheb, and Talaat Harb all contributed funds to help establish the club.
Ironically – given that the club was initially headed by a Brit – the club initially served the students and graduates of high schools that were staunchly against the British occupation of Egypt at the time.
It wasn’t long before Aziz Ezzat took over from Mitchell-Innes, and Al Ahly was well and truly formed in Cairo in 1908.
Domestic domination soon followed
After featuring in local and trans-Arabian fixtures in the early years, it wasn’t until 1929 that Al Ahly arranged a soccer tour to Europe. They played the likes of Fenerbache, Galatasaray, and 1860 Munich, before traveling to Bulgaria to compete in Sofia.
Domestically, the Cairo League was the primary competition of the time, and Al Ahly established a fierce rivalry with Zamalek, who they compete with to this day.
By the establishment of the Egyptian Premier League in 1948, Al Ahly was already the dominant force in Egypt. Soon to follow was what became known in the club’s history as The Golden Fifties, such was their domination under the control of Saleh Selim.
The golden era
Fast forward to 2005, and another golden era is underway at Egypt’s premier club. In spite of their exceptional success throughout the years leading up to the new Millennium, 2005 saw Al Ahly go undefeated for an entire season for the first time in their history.
That season, they won the league by 31 points from their nearest challenges – Enppi – and they became the first team in Egypt to win all of their matches in the first half of the season.
2005 kick-started Al Ahly’s golden era and introduced many of us outside of North Africa to this passionate and extraordinarily successful team for the first time. In 2006, Al Ahly claimed a domestic treble and many commentators believe it to be the most talented Egyptian squad in the history of the game.
They would go on to lose narrowly to Internacional in the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup, but they defeated Club America in the third-place play-off, which cemented their place as the third-best soccer team in the world in 2006.
Al Ahly’s domination domestically and continentally has continued to the present day, and they have earned their place at the pinnacle of the African game. Given their record and the incredible number of trophies they have won, I think Al Ahly deserves a lot more respect in the global game!
Now that we’ve run through an extremely brief history of Al Ahly, we want to lay on some easy-to-digest facts that will help you learn more about the world’s most successful soccer team.
Rivalries & supporters
The Cairo Derby – Al Ahly vs. Zamalek – is Egypt’s premier fixture. There’s no love lost between the two, and sparks nearly always fly on the field and on the terraces.
Al Ahly is the best-supported team in Egypt. Their ultras are known as Ultras Ahlaway – sometimes known as UA07 – and regularly arrange tifos and pyrotechnic displays.
Stadium
Al Ahly played their home fixtures for many years at the Mokhtar El-Tetsh Stadium, named after one of the club’s legends.
However, when the 74,000-seater Cairo International Stadium opened, Al Ahly relocated so they could house more of their fans on matchday.
In an interesting turn of events, Al Ahly purchased the 30,000-seater Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, which they will use for some fixtures until their brand-new stadium is complete.
Club legends
It’s difficult to select just five players from a club like Al Ahly, but here are a handful of the most successful soccer team’s best players:
- Ahmed Hassan – The most capped male soccer player of all time is also an Al Ahly legend, representing the reds between 2008 and 2011.
- Mohamed Aboutrika – Sometimes regarded as the greatest player never to have played in Europe, Aboutrika had it all and performed at the top of his game during Al Ahly’s golden era.
- Mahmoud El-Khatib – A stalwart of Al Ahly’s dominant teams of the 1970s and 1980s, El Khatib won ten Egyptian titles and is adored by the Red Devils’ support.
- Hany Ramzy – A cultured, ball-playing defender, Ramzy played more than 100 times for the Pharaohs and came through the ranks at Al Ahly before enjoying a successful career in Europe.
- Hossam Hassan – Egypt’s top goalscorer, won two CAF Champions League titles with Al Ahly. And while his international career bettered his club form, he is still a legend among the Red Devils’ support.
Keep in touch with the world’s most successful soccer team
While American soccer fans don’t have the opportunity to watch Egyptian Premier League matches, you might want to keep in touch with Al Ahly in other ways to monitor their progress. After all, it’s fun to support a team from abroad!
Follow the reds on Twitter and keep up with their latest developments. After all, there’s something special about Al Ahly’s achievements, and it’s worth celebrating the most successful soccer team in the world. Unless you support Zamalek, that is.