Al-Taawoun FC () is a Saudi Arabian professional football and multi-sports club based in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia, that competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system.

The club plays its home matches at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, located in the city of Buraidah, which it shares with city rivals Al-Raed, with whom it contests the Qassim Derby. Additionally, the club uses the smaller Al-Taawoun Stadium for less prominent fixtures. The name "Al Taawoun" translates to "cooperation" in Arabic.

History Al-Taawoun were founded in 1956 under the name of "Al-Shabab" by their founder Saleh Al Wabili. Four years after the founding of the club, they were officially registered as a professional club in 1960.

On 25 May 1990, Al-Taawoun reached the 1990 king cup final to face Al-Nasser but eventually lost 0–2. By reaching the final, Al-Taawoun became the second Saudi First Division League side to reach the final after Al-Riyadh in 1978. In the 2009–10 season, Al-Taawoun won promotion to the Pro League for the first time in over thirteen years as runners-up in the first division. Their last appearance in the top flight was in the 1997-98 season. They have been playing consecutively in the Saudi Pro League since the 2010–2011 season. On 29 May 2016, Al-Taawoun qualified to their debut AFC Champions League campaign for the first time ever by finishing fourth in the league during the 2015–16 season.

Their best ever top-flight season came in the 2018–19 season when the club successfully challenged for the Asian Champions League spots, eventually finishing in third place in the Saudi Pro League, their highest ever league position to date. And to top off their season, Al-Taawoun reached the King Cup final by thrashing Al-Hilal 5–0 at the King Saud University Stadium in the semi-final, and went on to defeat Al-Ittihad 2–1 in the final to claim their first-ever top-flight trophy, with the winning goal coming in the 90th minute. Al-Taawoun also became the first club from Al-Qassim Province to win the King Cup.

In the following season 2019–20, Al-Taawoun's performances were one of their worst in their league history. Al-Taawoun booked their spot in the 2019 super cup by winning the King Cup title the previous season. Al-Taawoun lost to Al-Nassr 4–5 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time. The club were almost relegated and needed a win in the final matchday against relegation threatened Al-Fayha, the highly tense match continued as a draw until the 91st minute when Mohammad Al-Sahlawi converted a cross with a tap in to make it 1-0 and avoid relegation in the final moments of the season. In the 2020–21 season Al-Taawoun reached their 3rd King Cup final in the 2020–21 edition to face Al-Faisaly, in the end Al-Faisaly won their first title after a 3–2 win over Al-Taawoun in the final on 27 May 2021.

Al-Taawoun qualified to the 2020 AFC Champions League as 2019 King Cup winners. Al-Taawoun finished the group as runners-up with a record of (3W,3L) to qualify to the knockout stages for the first time in their history. Al-Taawoun faced Al-Nassr in the round of 16 but eventually lost 0–1.

Honours King's Cup Winners (1): 2019 Runners-up (2): 1990, 2020–21 Saudi Super Cup Runners-up (1): 2019 Saudi First Division League (tier 2) Winners (1): 1996–97 Runners-up (2): 1994–95, 2009–10 Saudi Second Division League (tier 3) Winners (1): 1977–78 Prince Faisal bin Fahd Cup for Division 1 and 2 Teams. Winners (4): 1996–97, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2008–09

Coaching staff PositionStaffHead coach Vuk RašovićAssistant coach Ljubiša Ranković Jehad Al-HussienGoalkeeper coachVacantFitness coachVacantPerformance coachVacantMatch analystVacantPerformance analystVacantDoctor Sinisa Petkovic Abdullah BahusaynPhysiotherapist Ljubomir RadekaSporting director Abdullah Al-Ahmed

Players

Out on loan

International competitions Overview

Competition Pld W D L GF GA AFC Champions League Elite 20 6 4 10 25 34 AFC Champions League Two 13 6 5 2 21 15 GCC Champions League 5 1 4 0 7 6 Total 38 13 13 12 53 55

Record by country Country Pld W D L GF GA GD Win% Total

International record Matches Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate 2015 GCC Champions League Group A Al-Suwaiq 1–0 2−2 2nd Al-Rayyan 1–1 2–2 Quarter-finals Al-Nasr – 1−1 (p) 1–1 (p) 2017 AFC Champions League Group A Lokomotiv Tashkent 1–0 4−4 3rd Esteghlal 1–2 0−3 Al-Ahli 1–3 0−0 2020 AFC Champions League Group C Sharjah 0–6 1–0 2nd Al-Duhail 2–0 1–0 Persepolis 0–1 0–1 Round of 16 Al-Nassr 0–1 0–1 2022 AFC Champions League Play-off round Al-Jaish 1–1 –1–1 Group D Al-Duhail 3–4 2–1 2nd Pakhtakor 0–1 4–5 Sepahan 3–0 1–1 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two Group B Al-Khaldiya 2–1 3–2 1st Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–2 1–0 Altyn Asyr 2–1 4–0 Round of 16 Al-Wakrah 2–2 2–2 4–4 Quarter-finals Tractor 2–2 0–0 2–2 Semi-finals Sharjah 1–0 0–2 1–2 2026–27 AFC Champions League Two Group C Al-Faisaly Al-Nahda 1–1 Al-Rayyan

Past seasons Season League Position 1985–86 3rd 1986–87 5th 1987–88 7th 1988–89 4th 1989–90 ? 1990–91 3rd 1991–92 7th 1992–93 5th 1993–94 4th 1994–95 2nd 1995–96 Saudi Premier League 11th 1996–97 1st 1997–98 Saudi Premier League 12th 1998–99 8th 1999–00 2000–01 7th 2001–02 6th 2002–03 7th 2003–04 2004–05 5th 2005–06 10th 2006–07 6th 2007–08 7th 2008–09 2009–10 2nd 2010–11 Saudi Pro League 8th 2011–12 12th 2012–13 2013–14 5th 2014–15 9th 2015–16 4th 2016–17 7th 2017–18 2018–19 3rd 2019–20 12th 2020–21 4th 2021–22 12th 2022–23 5th 2023–24 4th

Managers

Eoin Hand (5 October 1986 – 1987) Antal Szentmihályi (1991–92) Marco Cunha (2004) Tohid Sebravî (2008–09) Celso Fernandes (2008–09) Abderrazek Chebbi (31 May 2009 – 1 January 2010) Grigore Sichitiu (10 January 2010 – 9 May 2010) Gheorghe Mulțescu (3 July 2010 – 20 December 2010) Florin Motroc (22 December 2010 – 29 December 2011) Srećko Juričić (1 January 2012 – 20 January 2012) Grigore Sichitiu (20 January 2012 – 1 April 2012) Khalid Kamal (caretaker) (1 April 2012 – 24 June 2012) Gjoko Hadžievski (1 July 2012 – 20 February 2013) Taoufik Rouabah (February 2013 – September 2014) José Gomes (September 2014 – 29 May 2016) Darije Kalezić (2 June 2016 – 16 October 2016) Constantin Gâlcă (18 October 2016 – 20 March 2017) José Gomes (21 March 2017 – 2 May 2018) Pedro Emanuel (7 May 2018 – May 2019) Paulo Sérgio (21 May 2019 – 29 December 2019) Abdullah Asiri (caretaker) (29 December 2019 – 15 January 2020) Vítor Campelos (15 January 2020 – 30 August 2020) Abdullah Asiri (caretaker) (30 August 2020 – 16 September 2020) Patrice Carteron (16 September 2020 – 12 March 2021) Nestor El Maestro (13 March 2021 – 22 August 2021) José Gomes (22 August 2021 – 20 March 2022) John van den Brom (31 March 2022 – 7 May 2022) Mohammed Al-Abdali (caretaker) (7 May 2022 – 28 June 2022) Péricles Chamusca (29 June 2022 – 1 June 2024) Rodolfo Arruabarrena (6 July 2024 – 9 February 2025) Mohammed Al-Abdali (caretaker) (10 February 2025 – 20 July 2025) Péricles Chamusca (20 July 2025 – 30 June 2026)

See also List of football clubs in Saudi Arabia

References

External links

Al-Taawoun page at goalzz.com Al-Taawoun page at slstat.com