Zakho Defeats Al-Ain to Qualify for GCC Champions League Semi-Finals

Welat TV – Erbil

Zakho SC secured a valuable victory over UAE club al-Ain, winning 1–0 in a match played on Tuesday evening as part of the fourth round of the 2025–2026 Gulf Clubs Cup (GCC Champions League).

The match took place at al-Ain Sports Stadium in the United Arab Emirates, with the first half ending in a goalless draw before Zakho scored the only goal of the match in the 53rd minute of the second half through Nasser Mohammed.

With this victory, Zakho officially qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament, raising their aggregate to 10 points. Meanwhile, al-Ain remained in second position with 6 points, followed by Bahrain’s Sitra with 2 points, and al-Qadisiya, Kuwait, with 1 point.

The first-leg match between the two teams, which was held in Zakho, ended with a 2-0 victory for the Zakho club. Zakho had previously defeated Kuwait's al-Qadisiya 3-1 and goalless draw against 0 Bahrain's Sitra, before continuing their positive results with another victory over al Ain in the final group-stage match.

Zakho continues to perform impressively in the tournament, confirming its strong presence in the competition for the Gulf title.

Best Fans

In a related development, FIFA announced this month that Zakho had won the award for best fans in the world.

Zakho's supporters received the highest number of votes worldwide after being nominated by FIFA for the 2025 award.

The International Federation of Association Football announced the results of the vote for the best fans of the year, with Zakho beating its Argentine and Spanish competitors to become the first fans in the Middle East to win this prestigious award.