Al-Ittihad Club has officially qualified for the league stage of the AFC Champions League Elite 2026-2027, after achieving a major victory over Al-Jazira, UAE, with a score of 4-1, in the match that brought them together on Tuesday evening in the qualifying round of the competition.
Al-Ittihad started the match strongly, and succeeded in opening the scoring early through Steven Bergwijn in the 12th minute, after he took advantage of a cross ball coming from the right side, and turned it directly into the team’s net. The Emirati team.
Al-Jazira tried to quickly return to the atmosphere of the match, and Milson almost scored the equalizer in the 18th minute, after he fired a powerful shot from outside the area, but it passed over Al-Ittihad’s goal.
Bergoyne returned to confirm his brilliance, after he was able to add the second goal for Al-Ittihad in the 38th minute, through a powerful shot from outside the penalty area that the Al-Jazira goalkeeper was unable to stop, so the first half ended with the Saudi team leading by two unanswered goals.
And with At the beginning of the second half, Al-Ittihad continued its control and succeeded in widening the gap, after Houssem Aouar scored the third goal in the 54th minute, taking advantage of a cross that reached him from the left side to put it into the goal.
Coach Jens Festing made his first change in the 65th minute, by introducing Marwan Al-Sahafi instead of Moussa Diaby, and the substitute only needed a few minutes to leave his mark on the match.
In the 69th minute, Marwan Al-Sahafi added Al-Ittihad’s fourth goal, after He took advantage of a ground cross from Youssef En-Nesyri, and succeeded in putting the ball into Al-Jazira's net, confirming his team's superiority.
Despite trailing by three goals, Al-Jazira managed to reduce the score in the 80th minute through Simon Panza, who scored the first goal for his team, but that did not change the shape of the match or the identity of the qualifier.
Al-Ittihad maintained its advantage until the final whistle, achieving a well-deserved 4-1 victory, thereby officially ensuring its passage to the league stage From the AFC Champions League to the elite 2026-2027, in a strong start to his continental career.