Tractor FC 0-3 Shabab Al-Ahli Highlights, AFC Champions League: The Red Knights Knock Out Iranian Champs

Good evening, football fans! This is the start of our live blog covering Tractor FC’s match against Shabab Al-Ahli in Jeddah. Stay tuned for pre-match updates and line-ups as they are released.

• Fixture: Tractor FC vs Shabab Al-Ahli

• Series: AFC Champions League Elite 2025-26

• Venue: Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

• Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2026

• Time: 8:15 PM IST

Starting XI: Alireza Beiranvand; Danial Esmaeilifar, Aleksandar Seldar, Shoja Khalilzadeh (c), Mohammad Naderi; Odildzhon Khamrobekov, Tibor Halilovic; Mehdi Hashemnejad, Mehdi Torabi, Domagoj Drozdek; Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh.

Bench: Marko Johansson (gk), Farshad Faraji, Mehdi Hosseini, Saeid Karimazar, Masood Kazemayni, Amirali Khorrami, Milad Kor, Regi Lushkja, Mehrdad Mohammadi, Sadegh Moharrami, Mehdi Shiri, Tomislav Strkalj.

Starting XI: Hamad Al Meqebaali; Kauan Santos, Bogdan Planic, Renan (c), Rikelme; Breno Cascardo, Saeid Ezatolahi; Guilherme Bala, Yuri Cesar, Sultan Adil; Sardar Azmoun.

Bench: Rakan Waleed (gk), Walid Abbas, Mohammed Al Mansouri, Eid Al Nuaimi, Federico Cartabia, Damian Garcia, Igor Gomes, Sebastian Gonzalez Baquero, Joao Marcelo, Mateusao, Mersad Seifi, Thiago.

It's a sunny day in Jeddah, and the players are out on the pitch. There's a change in the line-ups as Igor Gomes replaces Rikelme for Shabab Al-Ahli after suffering a knock during the warm-up. Referee Yusuke Araki blows his whistle, and it's Tractor who take the kick off!

A very good start to the game for Shabab Al-Ahli, with Kauan Santos having a stab at goal early on that is easily gathered by the goalkeeper. The Emirati side have continued to control the tempo in the early stages.

An early chance for Shabab Al-Ahli, with a lovely through ball finding the run of Yuri Cesar. The Brazilian was through on goal, but Beiranvand rushes out of his line and gets a crucial touch before the defence clears the danger.

Tractor are barely able to keep the ball at the moment, with Shabab continuing with their forward runs. A decent ball from the right almost finds the head of Adil, but he can't make anything of the chance.

Beiranvand almost shoots himself in the foot, spilling a shot from distance by Yuri Cesar. However, luckily for the Tractor goalkeeper, no Shabab player is nearby to capitalise on the chance, and he grabs on the ball on the second attempt.

End-to-end stuff going on here! A shot from Naderi hits the foot of a Shabab defender. Drozdek is right in front of the goal to take a shot that hits the post. However, the flag goes up for off-side against the Croatian forward.

Bala gets the ball and is ready to turn on the afterburners when Sedlar comes sliding in two-footed. Luckily for the defender, he barely catches Bala, but the Brazilian goes tumbling down due to his pace. The referee shows the Tractor player a yellow card.

A decent move at by Tractor as Drozdek plays the ball back towards a striker, who forces a save from Al Meqebaali. The flag goes up for offside, but it's much more positive from the Iranian side.

After just a solitary minute of stoppage time, the referee blows his whistle for half-time. For all the attacking intent shown by both teams, we are still waiting for our opening goal.

The players are out of the tunnel and take their positions on the pitch. Shabab Al-Ahli take the kick off to get the second half underway. No changes at the break as far as I can see.

Shabab Al-Ahli continue to attack the Tractor goal in the second half. Ezatolahi receives the ball on the right and cuts it back across to his Iranian teammate Adil, but his shot doesn't worry Beiranvand.

It's a straight red card for Beiranvand, and Tractor are down to 20 men!! A brilliant through ball sends Azmoun through. The goalkeeper comes rushing out and swipes the feet of the Iranian forward, and the referee immediately sends him off.

After VAR confirms the red card, Tractor are forced into a double change. Faraji replaces Sedlar and backup goalkeeper Johansson comes on in place of Drozdek. Meanwhile, Yuri Cesar takes the free-kick, but it fizzes past the post.

Penalty for Shabab Al-Ahli!! Khalilzadeh gets his arm across the face for Adil while jumping to clear the ball. VAR calls the referee to take a look at the incident on the pitch-side monitor. After a long look, he points to the spot and shows Khalilzadeh a yellow card.

Yuri Cesar scores from the spot!! The Brazilian takes a long run-up and then walks the ball into the bottom corner, sending the substitute goalkeeper the wrong way.

A golden chance for Shabab Al-Ahli goes to waste! After the ball is lost by Torabi near the Shabab penalty area, substitute Matheus Lima takes the ball and runs with it. It's a two-on-one situtation as Lima has Yuri Cesar to his right, but instead of cutting it across, he continues his run. Johansson rushing out and takes the ball off his feet.

Ezatolahi doubles the lead for Shabab Al-Ahli!! A long ball from their own half finds the run of Bala, but the Brazilain's cross is way too far from Lima. However, Juma keeps the move alive and cuts it back for Ezatolahi, who shoots first time to find the back of the net.

Shabab Al-Ahli are millimetres away from a third goal as Bala hits the post with a fine finish. The Brazilian does well to cut out a lofted pass before taking a shot towards the bottom corner, but it ricochetes against the bar. Tractor FC players look really out of the game at the moment.

Courtesy of the two big VAR checks we had in this half, the fourth official holds up his board to indicate a minimum of 10 minutes to be added on. Time enough for Tractor FC to pull off a consolation goal, perhaps.

Matheus Lima with the third goal for Shabab Al-Ahli!! It is another rapid counter-attacking move from the Red Knights, with Bala winning a 50-50 and then laynig it off for Lima. The Brazilian wins the battle against Faraji and then tucks it into the bottom corner past Johansson.

The referee blows the full-time whistle, and it's Shabab Al-Ahli who move on to the quarter-finals, where they will face Thailand's Buriram United. Credit to Tractor, who gave a proper fight despite their lack of match practice, but Alireza Beiranvand's second half red card swung the match in favour of the Red Knights.