Al Ahly of Egypt will host Al Ain on Tuesday, at Cairo Stadium in Egypt, at 9 pm UAE time, in a qualifier for the FIFA Cup for the Africa-Asia-Pacific region.
The winner of this match is expected to qualify to meet the winner of the third match in the tournament, which brings together Pachuca, the champion of the North, Central American and Caribbean Cup, with the champion of South America, on November 30, "the date of the Copa Libertadores final."
Al Ain is participating in the tournament as the champion of the last edition of the Asian Champions League, as well as Al Ahly of Egypt, the winner of the African Champions League.
According to the tournament regulations, Al Ain played its opening match against Auckland City of New Zealand, the champion of the Oceania Champions League, and defeated it 6-2 at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, while tomorrow's match will be Al Ahly's first in the current edition of the tournament.
Al Ain team arrived at Cairo Airport at dawn on Monday in preparation for the match, as the team will undergo its official training today at Cairo Stadium before playing tomorrow's match.
This is the first confrontation in history between the two teams, as they have never met in any official match before.
Al Ahly enters the match with high morale after winning the Egyptian Super Cup against Zamalek on penalties during the competitions that were held over 5 days in Abu Dhabi, and concluded last week with the participation of 4 teams.
The official website of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) said: "Al Ain's appearance in the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League was not ordinary, but rather presented itself exceptionally, and defied expectations in many important stages, as it outperformed Al Nassr led by Cristiano Ronaldo in the quarter-finals, then eliminated Al Hilal, the runner-up, in the semi-finals, in unforgettable historic matches, before defeating Yokohama F. Marinos, to snatch the qualification card for the 2024 Intercontinental Cup for Clubs, in addition to the tournament that everyone is anticipating; which is the 2025 Club World Cup."
As for Al Ain, it looks forward to maintaining the big win it achieved at the start of the tournament against New Zealand's Auckland City.
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