AFC - Islamic Republic of Iran’s Tractor FC and UAE’s Al Wahda FC played out an entertaining goalless draw in their AFC Champions League Elite™ 2025/26 tie on Monday.
Both sides came close to breaking the deadlock numerous times but ultimately had to settle for a share of the points at the Yadegar-E-Imam Stadium.
The visitors took possession from the first blow of the whistle but Tractor slowly found their rhythm, with Tomislav Strkalj threatening in front of goal in the 11th minute and Al Wahda keeper Mohamed Alshamsi diving to collect a cross from Danial Esmaelifar two minutes later.
At the other end, Al Wahda’s Lucas Pimenta failed to connect properly with a free-kick whipped into the box by Dusan Tadic in the 21st minute while Facundo Kruspzky found space in the centre 10 minutes later but headed straight to keeper Alireza Beiranvand.
Tractor midfielder Mahdi Hashemnejad had the fans ready to celebrate in the 36th minute but failed to head in from a tight angle on the left off a floating cross by Esmaeilifar.
His teammate Shoja Khalilzadeh closed the first half by making an acrobatic clearance in the 44th minute to prevent the ball going in after Beiranvand had clumsily swatted away Pimenta’s close-range header.
Both sides came close to an opening goal in the opening minutes of the second half but Hashemnejad missed with his header while Al Wahda’s Caio Canedo booted the ball out from a cut-back by Brahima Diarra.
Al Wahda proved the more aggressive side, with Mohammad Ghorbani’s 35-yard attempt tipped over the bar by Beiranvand in the 56th minute and the keeper diving to the left to keep out Krupszky's header nine minutes later.
Tractor’s Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh failed to find the finishing touch when the ball landed in front of him after Alshamsi had fumbled Esmaeilifar’s shot in the 84th minute before Strkalj rattled the bar from close range four minutes later to close the match.
Matchday Three will see Al Wahda take on Qatar’s Al Duhail SC on October 20 while Tractor will look for their first win against Sharjah FC of the UAE on the same day.
