Late on Thursday evening, Abu Dhabi time, Al Ain will discover where and against whom they start what could be the greatest adventure in the club’s history.
Matching the standards they set in seizing the last Asian Champions League may have proved difficult over the last few months, but Al Ain are about to be reminded of the major bonus that historic triumph earned them.
That’s their place at the most globally-inclusive elite club tournament ever staged, the 32-team Club World Cup in the USA next summer, the draw for which takes place in Miami (10pm UAE).
Al Ain will be one of the later names drawn from the pot, but manager Leonardo Jardim will have seven months to plot a route through a group whose top two finishers will go to the knockout phase.
The 2025 Club World Cup, with its 63 games, is an entirely different beast from the more slimline, all-knockout version of an event that, in the last two decades, whizzed in and out of the UAE five times, thrillingly so when in 2018 Al Ain made the final against Real Madrid.
In the new, month-long expanded format, it will take seven games to get that far. There will be five clubs from the Mena region dreaming of a long run: Al Ain; Al Hilal of Riyadh; and, by dint of their successes in the African Champions League over the past four years, Cairo’s Al Ahly, Esperance of Tunis and Wydad Casablanca, WAC.
The seedings, released by Fifa this week after Brazil’s Botafogo filled the last available slot by winning the Copa Libertadores – the South American equivalent of the Champions League – have Al Ain in Pot 4, among the lowest ranked contenders.
That means they will not share a group with Esperance, nor with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, who have been granted entry via the host nation’s invitation slot.
Nor will they be able to target soft points against the weakest of the 32 teams, the semi-professionals of New Zealand’s Auckland City, whom Al Ain defeated 6-2 in September in the opening round of the 2024 version of the competition, the last of the small-scale Club World Cups, now rebranded as the Intercontinental Cup.
The calibre of teams in Pot 3 is varied enough for Jardim to hope Al Ain have the beating of some of them, although, given Al Ahly’s 3-0 victory over the Asian champions in the Intercontinental Cup in October, he might be pleased to avoid the Egyptian giants.
Botafogo – who won the Copa Libertadores for the first time on Saturday, beating Atletico Mineiro in the final despite having midfielder Gregore sent off in the opening minute – are also among the third seeds, along with Mexican clubs Leon and Monterrey and Argentina’s Boca Juniors, whose squad includes a number of worldly veterans, such as Edinson Cavani, Marcos Rojo and goalkeeper Sergio Romero.
All 12 European qualifiers are distributed between Pots 1 and 2. Four of the eight groups will have two European clubs in them, although there is a mechanism in the draw to ensure no club from the same country will be grouped together.
So if Al Ain were to draw Manchester City from Pot 1 – a fixture sure to generate great interest in Abu Dhabi, given the ownership links to the Premier League champions – they would not face Chelsea in the first phase; if they draw Bayern Munich, they will not also meet Borussia Dortmund.
Also among the Pot 1 teams are River Plate, whom Al Ain beat in the 2018 semi-final, and Real Madrid, along with Bayern, Paris Saint-Germain, Palmeiras and Flamengo. The other Pot 1 Brazilian club, Fluminense, would appear on a current form – they sit a lowly 16th in Brazil’s Serie A – by far the most frail.
From a Pot 2 that includes Inter Milan, the Italian champions, Chelsea, Juventus, Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Porto and Benfica, RB Salzburg might look the most beatable. The Austrians have lost four of their five Uefa Champions League games this season.
But much can change in the next six months. With the elite European clubs all anxious about the fatigue they will be carrying from long seasons – Real Madrid could have played 65 club games by mid-June – it’s a tournament genuinely open to a strong run from a supposed outsider.
For Jardim, one of many critics of the previous format and the way it was structured to give byes into the semi-final for the respective champions of Europe and South America, the new format is a welcome reform.
“There should be better care with the match schedule,” Jardim complained when he was in charge of Al Hilal at the 2021-22 Club World Cup. “I’d warn Fifa that it’s unfair when some teams have to play four matches in eight days and others, better teams, only have to play two and are better rested.
“Teams from Asia [and by implication Africa and North and Central America] should be able to have the ambition to win this Cup.”
His warning has been heard. By the end of proceedings on Thursday, his Al Ain will see how high they must set their ambitions if they are to make their summer trip to America last for more than three games.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Company%C2%A0profile
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
More coverage from the Future Forum
MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
SPECS
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Company profile
Company: Eighty6
Date started: October 2021
Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Hospitality
Size: 25 employees
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investment: $1 million
Investors: Seed funding, angel investors
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UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Brief scores:
Toss: Australia, chose to bat
Australia: 272-9 (50 ov)
Khawaja 100, Handscomb 52; Bhuvneshwar 3-48
India: 237 (50 ov)
Rohit 56, Bhuvneshwar 46; Zampa 3-46
Player of the Match: Usman Khawaja (Australia)
Player of the Series: Usman Khawaja (Australia)
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
