(Note: Statistics do not include preliminary and qualifying rounds)
International football competition
The 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, officially named the 2023 King Salman Club Cup (Arabic: كأس الملك سلمان للأندية 2023) after Salman of Saudi Arabia, where the final tournament was hosted, was the 30th season[note 1] of the Arab Club Champions Cup, the Arab world's club football tournament organised by UAFA.[3]
A total of 37 teams participated in the tournament, which started with preliminary and qualifying rounds, before the final tournament was held in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023 across four cities: Abha, Al Bahah, Khamis Mushait and Taif. A total of $10 million of prize money was awarded.[4]
Moroccan side Raja CA were the defending champions, having won their second title in the previous edition,[5] but they lost 3–1 in the quarter-finals to Saudi team Al-Nassr. In the final, Al-Nassr defeated local rivals Al-Hilal 2–1 after extra time to win their first title.
4 teams played the preliminary rounds starting with the first round then a play-off round in a one-leg knockout format. 1 team from the preliminary round advanced to the qualifying rounds.
Preliminary rounds teams
The following teams entered the preliminary rounds as lowest FIFA ranking associations.
24 teams were drawn into two-leg knockout stage format. 23 teams entered directly to the first qualifying round, plus one team advanced from the preliminary round. 12 teams advanced to the second qualifying round playing a two-leg knockout stage format. 6 teams only advanced from the second qualifying round to the group stage.[12]
Seeding
The following 24 teams were divided based on their football association's FIFA Ranking.
Al-Nahda won 5–0 on aggregate. Al-Nahda were awarded a 3–0 walkover victory for the second leg after Shabab Al-Khalil refused to change the home ground from Dura International Stadium, in Dura, Hebron to Petra Stadium in Amman, Jordan.
Location of teams of the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup group stage. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Black: Multiple teams from same city, shown detailed in the bottom left corner.
The final tournament was held in Saudi Arabia from 27 July to 12 August 2023, across four cities: Abha, Al Bahah, Khamis Mushait and Taif. 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. Ten teams already entered the group stage directly as league champions from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. In addition the previous edition holders and runners-up, and one invitee selected by UAFA from the host nation enters directly to the group stage. Six teams advanced from the qualifying rounds to complete the 16-teams group stage. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.[16]
Qualified teams
All of the qualified teams for the group stage were as follows:
10 teams were directly qualified to the final tournament divided in pot 1, pot 2, and pot 3 based on their football association's FIFA Ranking. The other 6 teams' slots who qualified from the quaifying rounds were drawn in pot 3 and pot 4 prior to this stage.
16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.
Tiebreakers
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations IV. 8):
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
Yellow card: −1 point;
Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
The knockout phase involved the 8 teams which qualified as winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage. The quarter-finals were followed by semi-finals, and the final played in a single leg knockout format. In the case of a draw after 90 minutes, extra time would be played only in the final.
^"توج لاعب فريق الهلال السعودي ، سيرجي سافيتش بجائزة أفضل لاعب في بطولة كأس الملك سلمان للأندية 2023" (in Arabic). Union of Arab Football Associations. 12 August 2023.
^"توج حارس فريق النصر السعودي، نواف العقيدي بجائزة أفضل حارس في بطولة كأس الملك سلمان للأندية 2023" (in Arabic). Union of Arab Football Associations. 12 August 2023.
^"عبدالعزيز بن تركي الفيصل يشكر خادم الحرمين الشريفين.. "الاتحاد العربي": إطلاق مسمى "كأس الملك سلمان" على بطولة الأندية" (in Arabic). Union of Arab Football Associations. 13 February 2023.
^"الكشف عن تفاصيل كأس الملك سلمان للأندية العربية" (in Arabic). Kooora. 13 February 2023.
^"Raja Casablanca Wins Final, Takes Home Mohammed VI Arab Cup". Morocco World News. 22 August 2021.
^"تفاصيل الجوائز المالية لمسابقة كأس الملك سلمان للأندية العربية" [Details of the financial prizes for the King Salman Cup for Arab clubs]. nessma.tv (in Arabic). Nessma TV. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
^"Emirates signs football partnership in Saudi Arabia becoming main sponsor of King Salman Cup 2023". Emirates. Jeddah. 16 July 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
^ ab""اللجنة المنظمة بالاتحاد العربي" تعلن الأندية المشاركة في كأس الملك سلمان 2023" [The “Organizing Committee of the Arab Federation” announces the clubs participating in the King Salman Cup 2023]. uafaac.com (in Arabic). UAFA. 5 March 2023.
^"OFFICIAL: Al Ahly announce withdrawal from Arab Champions Cup". 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
^"الرياض تحتضن القرعة الاثنين.. انطلاق الدور التمهيدي لبطولة كأس الملك سلمان للأندية العربية 2023" [Riyadh will host the draw on Monday. The start of the preliminary round of the King Salman Cup for Arab Clubs 2023]. uafaac.com (in Arabic). UAFA. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
^"بحضور عبدالعزيز بن تركي الفيصل.. سحب قرعة الدورين الأول والثاني لبطولة كأس الملك سلمان للأندية 2023" [In the presence of Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal.. the draw for the first and second rounds of the King Salman Cup for Clubs 2023 was drawn]. uafaac.com (in Arabic). UAFA. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
^"نتائج قرعة الدور الأول من البطولة" [The results of the draw for the first round of the tournament]. twitter.com/UAFAAC (in Arabic). UAFA. 6 March 2023.
^"مواعيد مباريات الدور الأول" [First round dates]. twitter.com/UAFAAC (in Arabic). UAFA. 9 March 2023.
^"شباب الخليل ينفذ وعده ويمنح النهضة بطاقة التأهل بالبطولة العربية" (in Arabic). kooora.com. 11 April 2023.
^"مواعيد الدور التآهيلي الثاني" [Second qualifying round dates]. kooora.com (in Arabic). Kooora.com. 22 March 2023.
^"نتائج قرعة الدور الثاني (المجموعات) من البطولة" [The results of the draw for the second round (groups) of the tournament]. twitter.com/UAFAAC (in Arabic). UAFA. 6 March 2023.
^"ما هي القنوات الناقلة لبطولة كأس الملك سلمان للأندية 2023؟" (in Arabic). goal.com/ar. 14 March 2023.
^"كأس الملك سلمان للأندية الأبطال حصريا على SSC" [King Salman Cup for Champions Clubs exclusively on SSC] (in Arabic). kooora.com. 13 July 2023.
^Niccolò Anfosso (10 August 2023). "Champions League araba, sabato live su Sportitalia la sfida tra CR7 e Milinkovic-Savic" (in Italian). Retrieved 12 August 2023.