As the fluid green mosh-pit flowed down the stairwells and through the concourses at the back of King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, more than one Al Ahli Saudi supporter appeared to be overcome by it all. Noise was bouncing off the walls and off the roof, and fans were hanging from rafters, or wherever they could get a vantage of the party. It was limbs, Jeddah style. And it was too much for some. One young supporter was sat propped up next to a wall near a concession stand, with his friends trying to help him get cool. An old man in a crisp white thobe leaned down and gave him the blue fizzy drink he had in his hand as he walked past. The kid uttered a grateful “shukran” and did his best to get back in the game. The best he could manage was to sit up straight, raise his smartphone, and start recording the action as it waved its way past. No Al Ahli fans wanted to miss this. “I came 1,000 kilometres from the north of Saudi Arabia, and have just one flight,” said Mohammed Ahmed, an Ahli fan who has been exiled to Neom. “I don’t have a ticket back. I will go back with the cup.” It is what they are all hoping for. On Saturday night, at the same stadium – their 63,000-capacity home ground – they will get the chance to play to be champions of Asia for the first time. They have already downed one of the two Saudi clubs to have achieved that feat before. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2025/04/30/firmino-toney-and-albrikan-fire-al-ahli-into-afc-champions-league-final/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2025/04/30/firmino-toney-and-albrikan-fire-al-ahli-into-afc-champions-league-final/">The 3-1 win against Riyadh giants Al Hilal</a> on Tuesday night was what prompted all this mania. Al Ittihad, their city rivals, and the side who seem likely to win the Saudi Pro League this season, are the other. Ahli themselves have twice fallen at the final hurdle, having lost finals in 1986 and 2012. The last great season the club had was in 2016, when they claimed a treble of domestic titles under the management of Christian Gross. Now they are craving continental glory, and their fans are going wild for it. “The saying ‘the 12th man got us over the line’, which is the fans, comes into play,” <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2025/03/04/ivan-toney-in-running-for-england-recall-after-hot-scoring-streak-for-al-ahli-in-saudi-pro-league/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2025/03/04/ivan-toney-in-running-for-england-recall-after-hot-scoring-streak-for-al-ahli-in-saudi-pro-league/">Ivan Toney, Ahli’s English striker</a>, said. “When you hear them there, it’s crazy.” Ahead of the semi-final against Hilal, the players undertook their custom of lining up on the 18-yard line, arms across each other’s shoulder, and stared into their massed fans. The blocks immediately behind the goal are set aside for the most fervent, and admission is tightly monitored. The section has a heavy police presence – even though outward aggression is basically nil. Hilal fans, for instance, could pass through the Ahli section of the ground unhindered. Although one side of the ground was green, and the other blue, there was no segregation in the concourses. To enter the ultras section, fans had to pass through a checkpoint monitored by security guards, and use an airport-style, thumbprint scanner. Presumably the scan reveals whether they are suitably hardcore, and that their blood is green. Matthias Jaissle, the manager who has masterminded Ahli’s march to the final, rarely fails to reference the fans. They are, it seems, as much part of his team as the players. “I’m so, so proud of the performance from each player, how we were doing as a team, as a unit, together,” Jaissle said after the semi-final. “Also, the fans here in the stadium totally deserved a win. We knew it was going to be a really hard fight against Al Hilal, but I'm really happy how we dealt with that. “Now we have to focus on the final. We made it and there’s still a step to go. We had the approach to take it step by step. “Now we are there, at home in Jeddah, and the focus needs to be that we make that final step successfully.” If Ahli reproduce the form they did in dispatching Hilal when they play the final, it is difficult to see them being stopped. In fact, the game was only settled late into injury time, when substitute Feras Al Buraikan made it 3-1. At that point, the Hilal end emptied, to the amusement of the Ahli fans. In truth, it should have been done and dusted far earlier, such was their dominance. Roberto Firmino and Toney gave them a two-goal cushion early. Toney had the ball in the net three times, but the latter two were chalked off for offside. Franck Kessie had a penalty saved. They hit the post a number of times. They were irresistible. “It shows the quality we have,” Toney said. “We are all excited, we are all happy, but there is obviously one more step that we need to make, and I think we can do that. “Hopefully we can make that step and win but obviously it is a big task. We will go into it with a good frame of mind.”
