Cairo Derby

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Lore & Background

Both teams are located in Greater Cairo and their matches are considered the highlight of the football season with a live broadcast to most of the Middle Eastern and North African countries since the 1970s. Usually the derby is played twice each season with 2 matches in the Egyptian Premier League, but it is not uncommon to find the teams meeting each other in the Egypt Cup, especially in the final, and in Africa's most prestigious club competition, the CAF Champions League. The best-attended football match between Al-Ahly and Zamalek in Cairo attracted a crowd of 120,000. On 9 February 1917, the first match between Zamalek and Al Ahly took place at Zamalek Stadium, ending with Al Ahly defeating Zamalek by a score of 1–0. They met again 21 days later, on 2 March 1917, at Al Ahly Stadium, and Zamalek defeated Al Ahly by a score of 1–0. In the first half of the 20th century, Al Ahly and Zamalek won almost the same amount of trophies in the Cairo League, with Al Ahly winning 15 titles and Zamalek winning 14 titles. In the newly launched Egyptian Premier League in 1948, Al Ahly won their first league title in the 1948–49 season and won 44 league titles after that. Zamalek managed to win the league 14 times. The largest winning margin in this derby was 6–0 for Zamalek, which has been achieved 2 times. The first time was the 1942 Cairo Derby on January 2, 1942, in the 1941–42 Cairo League, and the second time was on June 2, 1944, when Zamalek was known as Farouk back then, at the 1944 Egypt Cup Final. The longest unbeaten streak in the history of the derby was eleven years, Al Ahly didn't beat Zamalek in an official match from 20 April 1962 to 30 March 1973. Fans of both clubs can be violent when in anger, such as a match in the 1971–1972 season, which had crowd violence and caused the rest of the season to be called off. After Zamalek won the 1993 African Cup of Champions Clubs and Al Ahly won the 1993 African Cup Winners' Cup, the CAF Super Cup presented the first continental match between two Egyptian clubs. The match took place on 16 January 1994, at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. Zamalek won by a score of 1–0. On 5 November 2020, Zamalek overcame Raja Casablanca 4–1 in the second leg of the 2019–20 CAF Champions League semi-finals, and set up the historic final with Al-Ahly, marking the first time ever in their history that the two clubs faced

In Their Own Story

Ibrahimović signed his first contract with Malmö in 1996 and moved up to the senior side for the 1999 season of Allsvenskan. That season, Malmö finished 13th and were relegated, but returned to the top flight the next season. Arsène Wenger unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to join Arsenal. On 22 March 2001, a deal between Ajax and Malmö was announced, and in July, Ibrahimović officially joined Ajax for 80 million Swedish kronor (€8.7 million). At Ajax, he won the 2001–02 Eredivisie title under new coach Ronald Koeman. His profile rose when he scored an individual goal against NAC Breda on 22 August 2004 — a slaloming run past five opposition players — which was voted the Goal of the Year by Eurosport viewers. He moved to Juventus for €16 million, scoring 16 goals in his first season, and was named Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year. In November 2005, he was awarded the Guldbollen. After Juventus were relegated due to the Calciopoli scandal, Ibrahimović moved to Inter Milan for €24.8 million on 10 August 2006, signing a four-year deal. He said he had supported Inter when he was young. He made his debut on 26 August 2006 against Roma in the Supercoppa Italiana, playing the full 90 minutes as Inter won after extra time.

Reader's Guide

The Cairo derby is played primarily in the Egyptian Premier League, with two matches per season. It also occurs in the Egypt Cup, especially in the final, and in the CAF Champions League. Non-Egyptian referees are often flown in to officiate the derby to ensure impartiality.

Did You Know?

• The first match between Zamalek and Al Ahly took place on 9 February 1917, with Al Ahly winning 1–0.
• The largest winning margin in the derby is 6–0 for Zamalek, achieved twice: in 1942 and 1944.
• The best-attended match between the two clubs in Cairo attracted a crowd of 120,000.
• The first continental meeting between the two clubs was the 1994 CAF Super Cup, won by Zamalek 1–0.
• The 2020 CAF Champions League final was the first time the two clubs faced each other in an international competition final.