Al zawraa: Al Sadd were held to a 1-1 draw by Iraq’s Al Shorta in their AFC Champions League Elite 2025/26 League Stage opener at the Al Zawraa Stadium on Monday. Al Shorta took the lead through Dominique Mendy in the first half, but Hassan Al Haydos equalised for the Qatari side in the second period as the sides walked away with a point each.

According to Qatar News Agency, Al Shorta controlled the narrative from the start with Mendy almost beating Al Sadd keeper Meshaal Barsham in the 16th minute when his shot from distance sailed just over the crossbar. Felix Sanchez’s Al Sadd almost found a way through eight minutes later when Al Haydos lobbed a neat pass to Rafa Mujica, only for the forward to miscue his volley from inside the box.

Al Shorta’s pressure was rewarded in the 28th minute with Mendy marking his debut with a memorable goal after latching onto a poor clearance to drive into the box and drilling the ball past Barsham. Former champions Al Sadd nearly responded 10 minutes later with Akram Afif f
iring wide from distance, while Mujica saw his effort come back off the right post after slipping past two Al Shorta defenders and keeper Ahmed Basil.

The Iraqi side stayed on top of things in the second half with Leonel Ateba threatening in the 56th minute before Al Sadd hit back six minutes later. Mujica’s effort was blocked before Boualem Khoukhi saw his header denied by the bar from the ensuing corner, which led to the Spaniard seeing his cross into the box deflected onto the path of Al Haydos, who struck with precision into the bottom left corner.

Al Shorta piled on the pressure in the closing stages with Mendy and Abdulrazzaq Qasim seeing their efforts from distance fall short while Mahmoud Al Mawas left Barsham off the hook through his free-kick. Afif had a chance to snatch victory in the third minute of stoppage time but skied his close-range effort as the sides settled for the share of the spoils.