Kuwait Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. Their football team has won Kuwait Premier League 19 times and has won over 50 trophies overall. The club plays in the Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium located in Kaifan, which is the 5th largest stadium in Kuwait. It is the first Kuwaiti club to ever win an Asian title, having won the 2009 AFC Cup, 2012 AFC Cup and 2013 AFC Cup.

Kuwait SC
Full nameKuwait Sports Club
Nickname(s)The Brigadiers (العميد)
Founded20 October 1960; 64 years ago (1960-10-20)
GroundAl Kuwait Sports Club Stadium
Kaifan
Capacity12,350
ChairmanKhalid Al-Ghanim
ManagerNebojša Jovović
LeagueKuwait Premier League
2023–24Kuwait Premier League, 1st of 6
Current season

History

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Kuwait SC is the oldest football club in Kuwait, the first to be founded after independence. The club is also called "Al Kuwait" and Al Ameed, which translates to "the oldest club in the nation". Members of the club during the 1980s formed a part of the Kuwaiti national team which reached the 1982 FIFA World Cup. The second golden age for the club was in the 2000s, as they have been winning most of the league titles and participating in AFC Cup. In 2009, Kuwait won the first AFC Cup winning against Al-Karamah from Syria with the victory of 2–1. In 2011, they reached the AFC Cup final, but they lost against Nasaf Qarshi from Uzbekistan. The club became champion of AFC Cup in 2012 and 2013 defeating Erbil SC from Iraq with 4-0 and Al-Qasdia from Kuwait.

Kuwait SC has been growing steadily over the last two decades from 2000 to 2020, over the two decades the team has won many domestic titles and Asian titles in the form of AFC CUP. Kuwait SC has been also among the teams to represent Kuwait in international tournaments including the Arab Champions Cup.

Kuwait SC is a team based in Kuwait City. There are two other teams in the capital of Kuwait: Al Arabi SC, and Kazma SC, who are naturally the team's rivals. The 2000s were a new era of dominance for Kuwait SC alongside Qadsia, which is based in Hawalli. The dominance of both sides for almost 10 years winning all local tournaments between them has created an important rivalry between both teams; Kuwait SC and Qadsia have met in more than 6 finals in the Emir Cup and Crown Prince Cup. They also met in the 2013 AFC Cup final, which was won by Kuwait SC.

Kuwait SC is the most traveled Kuwaiti team. Kuwait SC has played matches in the following countries: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Palestine, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Thailand, The Maldives, Tajikistan, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, and Egypt. Kuwait SC has an amazing record in Asian football winning across 20 different seasons at least once in their participation. They have taken part in the AFC Champions League, AFC Cup, and now defunct Asian Club Championship.

Honours

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Kuwait SC Achievements
Type Competition Title Holder Seasons Runners-Up Seasons
Domestic Kuwaiti Premier League 19 1964–65, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 2000-01, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 11 1969–70, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1984–85, 1987–88, 2004-05, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14
Kuwait Emir Cup 16S 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2002, 2009, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2022–23 10 1963, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1981, 1982, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2020
Kuwait Crown Prince Cup 9S 1993-1994, 2002-2003, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 9 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2021–22
Kuwait Super Cup 7 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023–24 7 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021
Kuwait Federation Cup 5 1977–78, 1991–92, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15 2 2008, 2015–16
Al Kurafi Cup (defunct) 1 2005 0
Kuwait Joint League (defunct) 2 1976–77, 1988–89 0
Asia AFC Cup / AFC Champions League Two 3S 2009, 2012, 2013[1] 1 2011[2]
Friendly Bani Yas International Tournament 1 2012 0
  •   record
  • S shared record

Statistics in Asian football

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2002–03: Qualifying West – 2nd round
2005: Group stage
2007: Group stage
2008: Group stage
2014: 3rd round qualifying
2019: 2nd qualifying round
2020: 2nd qualifying round
2009: Winners
2010: Round of 16
2011: Runners-up
2012: Winners
2013: Winners
2014: Quarter-finals
2015: Semi-finals
2019: Group stage
2020: Canceled
2021: Semi-finals (final zone-west)
2022 : Group stage
2023–24 : Group Stage
2024-25 : Group Stage
2002: Group stage (Top 8)
Season Competition Round Club Home Away
2001–02 Asian Club Championship 1st round   Jableh 2–0 0–0
2nd round   Al-Quds Club 3–2 6–1
Group stage   Nasaf Qarshi 1–1
  Al-Wahda 2–2
  Esteghlal 0–3
2002–03 AFC Champions League 2nd round   Al-Ahli 3–1 0–2
2005 AFC Champions League Group stage   Neftchi 1–0 0–1
  Al-Sadd 0–1 0–2
  Al-Ahli 1–0 3–3
2007 AFC Champions League Group stage   Al-Hilal 0–0 1–1
  Pakhtakor 0–1 1–2
2008 AFC Champions League Group stage   Saipa 1–1 0–1
  Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–2 0–0
  Al-Wasl 2–1 0–1
2009 AFC Cup Group stage   Al-Wahdat 1–0 1–1
  Al-Karamah 2–1 1–2
  Mohun Bagan 6–0 1–0
Round of 16   Dempo 3–1
Quarter-final   Arbil 1–1 1–0
Semi-final   South China 2–1 1–0
Final   Al-Karamah 2–1
2010 AFC Cup Group stage   Al Hilal 2–2 2–0
  Churchill Brothers 7–1 2–2
Round of 16   Al-Ittihad 1–1(aet)
4–5(pso)
2011 AFC Cup Group stage   Al-Wahdat 1–3 0–1
  Al-Suwaiq 0–0 3–1
  Al Talaba 1–0 2–1
Round of 16   Qadsia 2–2(aet)
3–2(pso)
Quarter-final   Muangthong United 1–0 0–0
Semi-final   Arbil 3–3 2–0
Final   Nasaf Qarshi 1–2
2012 AFC Cup Group stage   Al-Ettifaq 1–5 2–2
  VB Sports Club 7–1 2–2
  Al Ahed 1–0 4–0
Round of 16   Qadsia 1–1(aet)
3–1(pso)
Quarter-final   Al-Wehdat 0–0 3–0
Semi-final   Al-Ettifaq 4–1 2–0
Final   Arbil 4–0
2013 AFC Cup Group stage   Regar-TadAZ 5–0 3–1
  Al-Safa 3–1 0–1
  Riffa SC 2–3 2–0
Round of 16   Dohuk 1–1(aet)
4–1(pso)
Quarter-final   New Radiant 5–0 7–2
Semi-final   East Bengal 4–2 3–0
Final   Al-Qadsia 2–0
2014 AFC Champions League 1st round   Al-Shorta 1–0
2nd round   Lokomotiv Tashkent 3–1
3rd round   Lekhwiya SC 1–4
AFC Cup Group   Nejmeh SC 2–1 0–0
Group stage   Fanja 4–0 1–3
Group stage   Al-Jaish 2–0 2–0
Round of 16   Al Riffa 2–0
Quarter-final   Persipura Jayapura 3–2 1–6
2015 AFC Cup Group   Nejmeh SC 4–1 2–1
Group stage   Riffa S.C. 2–1 1–2
Group stage   Al-Jaish 0–1 0–0
Round of 16   Al Shorta SC 2–0
Quarter-final   Kitchee SC 6–0 1–1
Semi-final   FC Istiklol 4–0 w/o
2019 AFC Champions League Preliminary round 1   Al-Wehdat SC 3–2
Preliminary round 2   Zob Ahan SC 0–1
AFC Cup Group stage   Al-Jazeera Club 1–2 0–1
Group stage   Al-Najma 2–1 1–0
Group stage   Al-Ittihad 0–0 2–0
2020 AFC Champions League Preliminary round 1   Al-Faisaly 2–1
Preliminary round 2   Esteghlal 0–3
AFC Cup Group stage   Al-Ansar 1–0 -
Group stage   Al-Wathba - 0–0
Group stage   Al-Faisaly -
2021 AFC Cup Group Stage   Markaz Shabab 4–1
Group stage   Tishreen SC 3–3
Group stage   Al-Faisaly 1–0
Quarter-final   Al-Salt SC 2–0
West Asia Zone Final   Al-Muharraq SC 0–2
2022 AFC Cup Group   Al-Ansar 1–1
Group   Al-Seeb 2–1
Group   Jableh 0–0
2023-24 AFC Cup Group   Al-Kahrabaa 0-1 0–0
Group   Al-Wehdat 2–1 1–1
Group   Al Ittihad 1–1 1–1
2024-25 AFC Champions League Two Group   FC Nasaf 0–0 2–1
Group   Al-Hussein 2-2 1–2
Group   Shabab AlAhli 3-3 1–4

Players

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First team squad

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   KUW Fawaz Al-Fadhli
2 DF   KUW Sami Al-Sanea
3 DF   KUW Meshari Al-Enezi
4 MF   KUW Redha Abujabarah
5 DF   KUW Fahed Al Hajri
6 DF   KUW Yousif Al-Khebizi
7 FW   KUW Yassine Amri
8 MF   KUW Ahmed Al-Dhefiri
9 MF   KUW Faisal Zayid
10 MF   KUW Talal Al Fadhel
11 FW   KUW Yousef Nasser
12 MF   KUW Mohsen Gharee
13 DF   KUW Fahad Hamoud
14 DF   KUW Mohammad Frieh
15 MF   KUW Sheridah Al-Sheridah
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF   KUW Mohammad Daham
17 MF   KUW Talal Jaza’a
18 MF   KUW Abdulmohsen Al-Turkmani
19 DF   TUN Bilel Ifa
21 DF   IRN Ali Hussain
23 MF   EGY Amro Abdelfatah
27 FW   TUN Taha Yassine Khenissi
29 MF   KUW Ahmad Zanki
33 GK   KUW Saud Al Hoshan
34 GK   KUW Dhari Al-Otaibi
40 GK   KUW Abdulrahman Kameel
50 FW   KUW Ibrahim Kameel
52 DF   KUW Sultan Al-Faraj
60 DF   KUW Abdulaziz Naji
DF   ARG Sergio Vittor

Presidents and managers

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List of presidents

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Years Chairman
1961–63 Mohamed Al Khaled Al Zayed
1963–65 Fahad Al Marzoq
1965–72 Khidair Al Mashaan
1972–74 Mubarak Al Asfoor
1974–81 Khidair Al Mashaan
1981–92 Ali Thunyan Al Ghanim
1992–94 Ghassan Al Nesf
1994–00 Mohammed Al-Sager
2000–02 Jassim Al Mahri
2002 Issam Al Sager
2002 Youssuf Al Munais
2002–08 Marzouq Al-Ghanim
2008–18 Abdulaziz Al Marzouq
2018– Khalid Al-Ghanim

List of managers

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Kuwait SC also played the final of the Arab Cup Championship

Final

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Zamalek  2 – 1  Kuwait SC
Saleh   23'
Mahmoud   58'
Oliveira   88'

Handball

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Kuwait SC Handball team is among the most successful teams in the list of different teams which are part of Kuwait SC

Kuwait SC has one of the strongest Handball teams in Kuwait, furthermore they are the only Kuwaiti team to win three international tournaments.

In August 2023, Kuwait SC won the Arab Handball championship tournament defeating El Zamalek of Egypt in the final that was held in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Other sports

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Besides football, the club has teams for handball, basketball, volleyball, water polo, squash, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, boxing, judo, and weightlifting. The club has also maintained a monthly magazine since 2007.[citation needed]

Club sponsors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Kuwait SC retain AFC Cup title". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 3 November 2013. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Nasaf win 2011 AFC Cup Archived 16 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine. the-afc.com, 29 October 2011.
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