2025–26 Al-Arabi SC season

Al-Arabi
2025–26 season
President	Abdulaziz Ashour
Head coach	Nasser Al-Shatti
Stadium	Sabah Al Salem Stadium ; Sulaibikhat Stadium (selected matches)
Premier League	TBD
Kuwait Emir Cup	TBD
AFC Challenge League	Group Stage
Kuwait Super Cup	Semi-final
Kuwait Crown Prince Cup	TBD
Kuwait Emir Cup 24-25	Finalist

The 2025–26 season is Al-Arabi's 64th consecutive season in the top flight of Kuwait football. The club participates in the Premier League, the Kuwait Emir Cup, the AFC Challenge League, the Super Cup and Kuwait Crown Prince Cup.

The season covers the period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.

Overview

The club signed with Portuguese manager Marco Alves after the departure of Nasser Al-Shatti, and alongside Ahmed Hayel former club striker as assistant coach. With the club Summer camp being in United Arab Emirates where the club played 6 Friendlies ahead of the season.

The club was initiated new contract extensions to multiple domestic players in pre season after the Hassan Al-Enezi incident with Jordanian club Al-Ahli.

Marco Alves and his crew were sacked after the first league loss to Al-Nasr, and resigned with Nasser Al-Shatti days later.

Players

First-team squad

As of 31 January 2025

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
3	DF	KUW	Abdullah Ammar
4	DF	KUW	Mohammed Khaled
5	DF	SYR	Jumma Abboud
7	MF	KUW	Bader Al-Fadhel
8	MF	KUW	Hussain Ashkanani
9	ST	KUW	Salman Al-Awadhi
10	MF	KUW	Bandar Al Salamah
11	FW	NGA	Christopher John
12	MF	KUW	Bader Al-Mutairi
14	MF	KUW	Khaled Al-Mershed
15	DF	KUW	Hamad Al-Qallaf
16	DF	KUW	Ali Abdul Rasul
17	MF	KUW	Ali Khalaf
19	FW	KUW	Abdulrahman Karam


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	MF	KUW	Nayef Al-Shemmari
21	MF	IRN	Ali Porusaniei
22	GK	KUW	Sulaiman Abdulghafour
25	DF	KUW	Abdulwahab Al-Awadi
26	GK	KUW	Ahmed Dashti
29	DF	KUW	Jassem Shammouh
30	MF	KUW	Yousef Majed
32	MF	KUW	Ahmed Awadh
42	DF	KUW	Abdullah Essa
77	FW	NGA	Anayo Iwuala
99	FW	KUW	Hussain Al-Aryan

Out on loan

Technical staff

Position	Name
Manager	Marco Alves
Assistant Manager	Ahmed Hayel
Assistant Manager	Blessing Lumueno
Analyist	Mahfoud Janad
Physiotherapist	Khalil AlJabable

Transfers and loans

Transfers in

Entry date	Position	No.	Player	From club	Fee	Ref.
12 July 2025	DF	12	Hamad Al-Harbi	Kazma	Free	^[1]
15 July 2025	MF	18	Hassimi Fadiga	Levski Sofia	Free	^[2]
15 July 2025	DF	28	Kenneth Semakula	Club Africain	Free	^[3]
21 July 2025	DF	2	Abdulaziz Nasari	Qadsia	Free	^[4]
29 July 2025	FW	20	Julien Ngoy	Mechelen	Free	^[5]
28 August 2025	DF	28	Nabil Marmouk	Wydad AC	Free	^[6]
12 September 2025	FW	90	Omar Al-Azmi		Free	^[7]
20 September 2025	FW	9	Zaid Qunbar	Al Ahly	Free	^[8]

Expenditure: $0

Loans in

Transfers out

Exit date	Position	No.	Player	To club	Fee	Ref.
16 June 2025	MF	98	Kamil Al-Aswad	Al-Khaldiya	End of loan	^[9]
16 June 2025	FW	23	Hamza Khabba	AS FAR	Free	^[10]
16 June 2025	DF	13	Sofiane Bouchar	Qadsia	Free	^[11]
20 June 2025	MF	78	Dhahi Al-Shammari	Al-Shabab	Free	^[12]^[13]
29 June 2025	MF	6	Sultan Al Enezi	Kazma	Free	^[14]
18 July 2025	DF	2	Hassan Al-Enezi	Al Ahli	$117,800	^[15]
24 August 2025	DF	28	Kenneth Semakula	Al-Adalah	Free	^[16]

Total income: $117,800

Loans out

Start date	End date	Position	No.	Player	To club	Fee	Ref.
8 August 2024	31 July 2026	GK	99	Hussain Kankouni	Kazma	None	^[17]
13 July 2025	31 July 2026	FW	91	Magdad Saffar	Burgan	None
25 July 2025	31 July 2026	GK	31	Abdulredha Shehab	Burgan	None

Pre-season and friendlies

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

31 July 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	1–2	Hatta	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
18:30 AST	Iwuala 68'		igbokwe 38' 43'	Stadium: Rashid Stadium Referee: Hamad Ali Yousef Abdulla

6 August 2025 2025 BIT	Al-Arabi	0–1	Baniyas	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
18:30 AST				Stadium: Baniyas Stadium Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan

8 August 2025 2025 BIT	Al-Arabi	0–2	Al-Wahda	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
18:30 AST			Rivera 36' 85'	Stadium: Al-Nahyan Stadium Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan

21 August 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	2-1	Dubai City	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
18:30 AST	Mohammed Khaled 19' Bader Al-Fadhel 57'			Stadium: Umm al Quwain Stadium Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan

24 August 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	1–1	Al-Arabi	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
18:30 AST	17' Bader Al-Fadhel			Stadium: Umm al Quwain Stadium Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan

28 August 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	2–2	Shabab Al-Ahli	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
18:30 AST	Iwuala 55' 80'			Stadium: Rashid Stadium Referee: Hamad Ali Yousef Abdulla

4 September 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	1-0	Al-Jahra	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 20:40	John 90'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

7 September 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	2-1	Al-Tadamon	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 20:40	Ngoy 10' John 32'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

8 October 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	1-1	Burgan	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 20:40	Ngoy 25'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

12 October 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	3-1	Al-Yarmouk	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 20:40	Ngoy 4' Yousef Majed 34' 66'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

27 November 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	4-0	Khaitan	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 20:40	Fadiga 4' Ngoy 7' John 32' Zain Al-Abdien Ma’rafi 74'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

4 December 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	1-0	Al-Yarmouk	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 20:40	Ngoy 84'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

10 December 2025 Friendly	Al-Arabi	3-2	Al-Salmiyah	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 20:40	Fadiga 20' Abdulrahman 66' Iwuala 76'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

Competitions

Overview

Competition	Record
Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Premier League	8	5	2	1	16	5	+11	062.50
Emir Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Emir Cup (24-25)	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
AFC Challenge League	4	2	2	0	9	4	+5	050.00
Super Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Crown Prince Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total	12	7	4	1	25	9	+16	058.33

Source: Competitions

Pro League

Results summary

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	N	N	N	N	N
Result	W	W	D	D	W		W	L	W
Position	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2

First match(es) will be played on 17 August 2025. Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

12 September 2025 1	Al-Arabi	2-0	Al-Shabab	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 20:40	Fadiga 30' Al-Awadhi 84'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium Attendance: 6,538

17 September 2025 2	Al-Fahaheel	0-3	Al-Arabi	Mangaf, Fahaheel
AST 20:35	Fadiga 43' Ngoy 56' Porusaniei 72'			Stadium: Fahaheel Stadium Attendance: 3,749

21 September 2025 3	Al-Arabi	1-1	Kuwait	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 19:30	Al-Awadhi 48'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium Attendance: 10,400

27 September 2025 4	Kazma	0-0	Al-Arabi	Adiliya, Kuwait City
AST 20:20				Stadium: Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium Attendance: 1,782

19 October 2025 5	Al-Arabi	3-1	Al-Salmiya	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 19:55	Zaid Qunbar 7' (pen.) Hassimi Fadiga 47' Hamad Al-Harbi 81'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium Attendance: 4,223

28 December 2025 6	Al-Tadamon	v	Al-Arabi	Al Farwaniyah
AST 21:00				Stadium: Farwaniya Stadium

4 November 2025 7	Al-Arabi	4-0	Al-Jahra	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 19:40	Hassimi Fadiga 18' Anayo Iuwala 24' 47' Christopher John 74'			Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

9 November 2025 8	Al-Nasr	2-1	Al-Arabi	Ardiya, Al Farwaniyah
AST 17:26			Anayo Iwuala 26'	Stadium: Ali Sabah Al-Salem Stadium

17 December 2025 9	Qadsia	1-2	Al-Arabi	Hawally, Kuwait
AST 21:00			Christopher John 41' Porusaniei 55'	Stadium: Mohammed Al-Hamad Stadium

30 December 2025 10	Al-Shabab	v	Al-Arabi	Al-Ahmadi, Kuwait
AST 21:00				Stadium: Al-Ahmadi Stadium

3 January 2026 11	Al-Arabi	v	Al-Fahaheel	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 21:00				Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

10 January 2026 12	Kuwait	v	Al-Arabi	Sulaibikhat, Kuwait
AST 21:00				Stadium: Sulaibikhat Stadium

17 January 2026 13	Al-Arabi	v	Kazma	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 21:00				Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

24 January 2026 14	Al-Salmiya	v	Al-Arabi	Al Salmiya, Kuwait
AST 21:00				Stadium: Thamir Stadium

31 January 2026 15	Al-Arabi	v	Al-Tadamon	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 21:00				Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

7 February 2026 16	Al-Jahra	v	Al-Arabi	Jahra, Kuwait
AST 21:00				Stadium: Mubarak Al-Aiar Stadium

14 February 2026 17	Al-Arabi	v	Al-Nasr	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 21:00				Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

21 February 2026 18	Al-Arabi	v	Qadsia	Mansuriyah, Kuwait City
AST 21:00				Stadium: Sabah Al Salem Stadium

March 2026 19	Al-Arabi	v	TBD
AST 21:00

March 2026 20	Al-Arabi	v	TBD
AST 21:00

April 2026 21	TBD	v	Al-Arabi
AST 21:00

April 2026 22	Al-Arabi	v	TBD
AST 21:00

April 2026 23	Al-Arabi	v	TBD
AST 21:00

Emir Cup

2024-25 Final

this is the postponed Final from the 2024-25 season

23 December 2025 (2025-12-23)	Al-Arabi	–	Kuwait
--:-- UTC+3

AFC Challenge League

Preliminary stage

12 August 2025 West Q1	Maziya	0-4	Al-Arabi	Maldives
AST 13:00			Iwuala 3' Ngoy 41' John 55' Ashkanani 87'	Stadium: National Football Stadium Attendance: 328 Referee: Ahmad Faisal

Group Stage

25 October 2025 1	Safa	2-2	Al-Arabi	Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
AST 13:00			Anayo Iwuala 50' (pen.) Hayek 68' (o.g.)	Stadium: Dolen Omurzakov Stadium Referee: Morteza Mansourian

28 October 2025 2	Al-Arabi	2-1	Regar-TadAZ	Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
AST 13:00	Abdulaziz Nasari 40' Yousef Majed 70'			Stadium: Dolen Omurzakov Stadium Referee: Axrol Riskullayev

31 October 2025 3	Muras United	1-1	Al-Arabi	Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
AST 13:00			Anayo Iwuala 21'	Stadium: Dolen Omurzakov Stadium Attendance: 23,000 Referee: Ahmed Kadhim

Super Cup

Crown Prince Cup

Statistics

Appearances

Last updated on 17 December 2025.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		Emir Cup		ACL		Super Cup		Crown Prince Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
22	GK	KUW	Sulaiman Abdulghafour	11	0	7	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
26	GK	KUW	Ahmed Dashti	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	GK	KUW	Abdulredha Shehab	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
25	DF	UGA	Kenneth Semakula	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF	SYR	Jumma Abboud	11	0	6+1	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	KUW	Abdullah Ammar	6	0	1+2	0	0	0	0+3	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF	KUW	Mohammed Khaled	9	0	4+2	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
12	DF	KUW	Hamad Al-Harbi	10	1	3+4	1	0	0	2+1	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	KUW	Hamad Al-Qallaf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	DF	KUW	Ali Abdul Rasul	8	0	1+3	0	0	0	1+3	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF	KUW	Abdulwahab Al-Awadi	11	0	7	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
21	DF	IRN	Abdulaziz Nasari	10	1	5+2	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	0
27	DF	MAR	Nabil Marmouk	10	0	8	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
29	DF	KUW	Jassem Shammouh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	DF	KUW	Abdullah Essa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF	KUW	Nasser Saeed	2	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
7	MF	KUW	Bader Al-Fadhel	7	0	2+4	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	KUW	Hussain Ashkanani	1	1	0	0	0	0	0+1	1	0	0	0	0
10	MF	KUW	Bandar Al Salamah	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	MF	KUW	Bader Al-Mutairi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
97	MF	FRA	Hassimi Fadiga	12	4	8	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	KUW	Khaled Al-Mershed	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF	KUW	Ali Khalaf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	MF	KUW	Nayef Al-Shemmari	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	IRN	Ali Porusaniei	12	2	8	2	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF	KUW	Yousef Majed	10	1	3+3	0	0	0	3+1	1	0	0	0	0
32	MF	KUW	Ahmed Awadh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
88	MF	KUW	Abdullah Al-Garzaie	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
90	MF	KUW	Saleh Mohammed	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Strikers
9	FW	KUW	Salman Al-Awadhi	10	2	2+4	2	0	0	0+4	0	0	0	0	0
11	FW	NGA	Christopher John	12	3	5+3	2	0	0	2+2	1	0	0	0	0
77	FW	NGA	Anayo Iwuala	10	6	6	3	0	0	4	3	0	0	0	0
99	FW	KUW	Hussain Al-Aryan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
71	FW	KUW	Abdulrahman Karam	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW	BEL	Julien Ngoy	3	2	2	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
98	FW	PLE	Zaid Qunbar	9	1	4+2	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

Rank	No.	Pos.	Player	League	ACL	Total
1	77	FW	Anayo Iwuala	3	3	6
2	97	MF	Hassimi Fadiga	4	0	4
1	9	FW	Julien Ngoy	1	1	2
2	11	FW	Christopher John	2	1	3
2	39	FW	Salman Al-Awadhi	2	0	2
3	8	MF	Hussain Ashkanani	0	1	1
3	6	MF	Ali Porusaniei	2	0	2
3	98	MF	Zaid Qunbar	1	0	1
3	12	MF	Hamad Al-Harbi	1	0	1
3	30	MF	Yousef Majed	0	1	1
3	21	DF	Abdulaziz Nasari	0	1	1
Own goal				0	1	1
Total				15	9	24

Last Updated: 31 October 2025

Assists

Rank	No.	Pos.	Player	League	ACL	Total
1	4	DF	Mohammed Khaled	0	1	1
1	97	MF	Hassimi Fadiga	2	1	3
1	6	MF	Ali Porusaniei	0	2	2
1	30	MF	Yousef Majed	1	1	2
1	9	FW	Julien Ngoy	1	0	1
1	98	FW	Zaid Qunbar	2	2	4
1	11	FW	Christopher John	1	0	1
1	12	MF	Hamad Al-Harbi	1	0	1
1	14	MF	Khaled Al-Mershed	1	0	1
1	21	DF	Abdulaziz Nasari	2	0	2
1	27	DF	Nabil Marmouk	1	0	1
1	11	FW	Anayo Iwuala	2	0	2
Total				14	7	20

Last Updated: 31 October 2025

Clean sheets

Rank	No.	Pos.	Player	League	ACL	Total
1	22	GK	Sulaiman Abdulghafour	3	1	4
2	26	GK	Ahmed Dashti	1	0	1
3	31	GK	Abdullah Al-Ayoub	0	0	0
Total				4	1	5

Last Updated: 12 August 2025

References

^ "Al-Arabi Sports Club includes player Hamad Al-Harbi in the first football team".
^ "Al-Arabi Club includes French professional Hasimi Fadiga to the first football team".
^ "Biography of Ugandan Kenneth Semakula, the new Al-Akhdar professional".
^ "Al-Arabi Club includes player Abdulaziz Nassari in the first football team".
^ "Meet Julian Ngouy, Al Arabi's new Belgian striker".
^ "Moroccan Nabil Marmouk officially joins Al-Arabi to strengthen the defense line".
^ "Al-Azmi joins".
^ "Qunbar officially joins Al-Arabi to Spark the Forward line".
^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
^ "Officially signed with Al-Shabab Sports Club".
^ "Sultan Al-Anzi Kazmawi".
^ "الأهلي يعلن تعاقده مع الكويتي حسن حمدان..." alghad.com (in Arabic). Al-Ghad. 16 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
^ "Biography of Ugandan Kenneth Semakula, the new Al-Akhdar professional".
^ "Al-Arabi goalkeeper Hussein Shehab Kankouni moves to Kazma Club for two seasons on loan".

[1] "Al-Arabi Sports Club includes player Hamad Al-Harbi in the first football team".

[2] "Al-Arabi Club includes French professional Hasimi Fadiga to the first football team".

[3] "Biography of Ugandan Kenneth Semakula, the new Al-Akhdar professional".

[4] "Al-Arabi Club includes player Abdulaziz Nassari in the first football team".

[5] "Meet Julian Ngouy, Al Arabi's new Belgian striker".

[6] "Moroccan Nabil Marmouk officially joins Al-Arabi to strengthen the defense line".

[7] "Al-Azmi joins".

[8] "Qunbar officially joins Al-Arabi to Spark the Forward line".

[9] "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.

[10] "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.

[11] "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.

[12] "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-12.

[13] "Officially signed with Al-Shabab Sports Club".

[14] "Sultan Al-Anzi Kazmawi".

[15] "الأهلي يعلن تعاقده مع الكويتي حسن حمدان..." alghad.com (in Arabic). Al-Ghad. 16 July 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.

[16] "Biography of Ugandan Kenneth Semakula, the new Al-Akhdar professional".

[17] "Al-Arabi goalkeeper Hussein Shehab Kankouni moves to Kazma Club for two seasons on loan".

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