Machida Zelvia 1-0 Shabab Al‑Ahli Highlights, AFC Champions League: Japanese Debutants Seal Historic Final Spot

Good evening, football fans! This is the start of our live blog covering the AFC Champions League Elite semi-final match between Machida Zelvia and Shabab Al-Ahli in Jeddah. Stay tuned for pre-match updates and line-ups as they are released.

• Fixture: Machida Zelvia vs Shabab Al-Ahli

• Series: AFC Champions League Elite 2025-26

• Venue: Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium, Jeddah

• Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2026

• Time: 9:45 PM IST

Starting XI: Kosei Tani; Gen Shoji (c), Daihachi Okamura, Yuta Nakayama; Hotaka Nakamura, Hiroyuki Mae, Neta Lavi, Kotaro Hayashi; Erik, Yuki Soma; Tete Yengi.

Bench: Yoshiaki Arai (gk), Tatsuya Morita (gk), Ibrahim Dresevic, Shota Fujio, Kanji Kuwayama, Asahi Masuyama, Henry Mochizuki, Sang-Ho Na, Keiya Sento, Hokuto Shimoda, Ryohei Shirasaki, Futa Tokumura.

Starting XI: Hamad Al-Meqbaali; Kauan Santos, Bogdan Planimc, Renan, Igor Gomez; Saeid Ezatolahi, Breno Cascardo; Guilherme Bala, Federico Cartabia (c), Yuri Cesar; Sultan Adil.

Bench: Rakan Al-Menhali (gk), Walid Abbas, Mohammed Juma, Eid Khamis, Damian Garcia, Sebastian Gonzalez Baquero, Elian Irala, Joao Marcelo, Mateusao, Mateus Henrique, Mersad Seifi, Thiago.

The winner of tonight's match will face Al-Ahli Saudi in the final on April 25. Al-Ahli beat Japan's Vissel Kobe 2-1 in the semi-final on Monday to book their place in the final.

The players are out on the pitch in Jeddah for the semi-final. The referee blows the whistle, and Machida Zelvia takes the kick-off to get tonight's match underway.

An early moment of worry for Shabab Al-Ahli. A long throw from the left by Hayashi into the middle of the box is cleared, but the full-back floats in another ball that is gathered by Al-Meqbaali. Planic hurts himself in the process and looks to be a in a lot of pain. He continues for now, but he does not look comfortable on his feet.

Machida have made a very good start to the match, despite playing against the odds against a continental giant. A good through ball finds the run of a Machida player, but his cross towards Nakamura is a bit too strong.

Yuki Soma puts Machida Zelvia ahead!! It was a horrible mistake at the back by Bogdan, whose pass back to the goalkeeper is short. Soma wins the footrace and pokes it past Al-Meqbaali to put the debutants ahead.

Machida almost doubles their lead. A free-kick towards the edge of the box takes a deflection and falls to Yengi. He tries to get a shot away, but Al-Meqbaali does well to parry it away from the goal.

Machida's high press has prevented the Shabab Al-Ahli players from playing out from the back. The Japanese players overload their opposition's box again, with Nakamura playing a ball towards the far post. However, it goes over the head of his teammate.

Kauan hits the bar for Shabab Al-Ahli!! This is the closest that the Emirate side have managed to come to scoring all night, and it comes from a fast break by Cartabia. The ball is recycled towards the full-back, who shits onto his right before pulling the trigger, hitting the crossbar.

Penalty for Machida Zelvia!! Soma made a quick run into the box, and he goes down after behind held onto by Cartabia. The Shabab Al-Ahli players are angry about the decision, but

VAR asks the referee to come to the pitchside monitor tor review the incident, and the penalty is overturned. On replays, it looks like a clear penalty as Cartabia made no attempt to win the ball and it looked like a foul, but the referee disagrees.

The five minutes of stoppage time flies by, and the referee blows his whistle to bring the first half to an end. Machida Zelvia have been, by far, the better side in the opening 45 minutes, and should have had a penalty towards the end. However, as things stand, Shabab Al-Ahli trail by just one goal. A big second half awaits us.

The players are out on the pitch for the second half. The referee blows his whistle, and Shabab Al-Ahli get the ball rolling. No changes at the break for either side.

Shabab Al-Ahli are pushing hard for the equaliser. Bala shifts the ball on his right and then floats in a cross into the middle of the box. Adil gets a head on it, but it glances over the bar.

We are at the hour mark in the semi-final. Shabab Al-Ahli have enjoyed a bit more of the ball in the last five minutes or so, but the Machida defence has been solid so far, neutralising Shabab's pace on the wings. Meanwhile, Machida make a change, as Sang-Ho Na replaces Erik. Matheus Henrique replaces Planic for Shabab Al-Ahli.

Bala thought he had put Shabab Al-Ahli ahead after heading the ball into the back of the net, but the offside flag goes up. The corner from the left is not cleared fully by Machida, and the resulting cross in the box is headed past Tani by Bala. However, VAR confirms the offside call.

Mohammed Juma puts it wide frmo point blank range!! Machida fail to clear their lines properly, and Bala finds a teammate down the right. The ball into the box takes a couple of deflections and falls to Juma, but he puts it wide from five yards away.

10 minutes of normal time remain for Shabab Al-Ahli to find their way back into the game. The Emirati side has dominated the ball in the last few minutes, but Mateusao puts the ball behind for a goalkick with a wayward cross.

Shabab Al-Ahli are certainly giving it their all, but they are up against a Machida defence yet to concede in the Champions League knockouts. The fourth official holds up his board to indicate a minimum of seven minutes to be added on. Seven minutes for Machida to hold on to for a historic upset in Asian football.

Guilherme Bala breaks Machida hearts by scoring in stoppage time! And it's a stunning goal as well. Bala, given all the time in the world, cut inside on his ride and went past a couple of defenders before taking a hopeful shot. It beats Tani and finds the corner.

Bala's goal has been overturned!! Igor Santos took the throw-in even before substitute Henry Mochizuki could enter the pitch. Amid complaints by Machida players, the referee checks the incident on the monitor, and overturns the goal. Amid the chaos, Shabab Al-Ahli's head coach is sent off.

The final whistle goes, and it's all over in Jeddah! What an end to the match it was, with Bala's goal being controversially ruled out, almost cancelling out Machida's overturned penalty in the first half. Nevertheless, it's a monumental effort from the debutants, who have sealed a place in the final, where they will face Al-Ahli Saudi.