The footballers of the Turkmen club «Arkadag» successfully opened the group stage of the AFC-2 Champions League for the 2026/27 season. In the first match of Group «B», which took place at the 10 thousand‑seat arena in the city of «Arkadag», the local club defeated the 16‑time champion of Bahrain, «Al‑Muharraq», with a score of 1–0. Mekan Saparov scored the winning goal in the 52nd minute.
For the match against «Arkadag», head coach of «Al‑Muharraq», Mohamed Adnan, brought 7 foreign players to Turkmenistan — from Brazil, Serbia, Portugal, Ghana, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Six of them started in the lineup.
The guests, following the whistle of referee from Deniya Palita from Sri Lanka, launched an attack and, as early as the 2nd minute, earned the right to a corner kick, after which Hassan Al‑Karani headed the ball over the crossbar.
Having withstood pressure of the opponent, the hosts moved the game away from their own goal and started launching attacks on the opposing team. First, Rahman Myratberdiyev shot slightly above the goal from outside the penalty area. Then, in the 18th minute, Altymyrat Annadurdyyev tested the strength of the goalkeeper, Vladan Džekić, with a powerful long‑range shot; the goalkeeper was on his toes.
Two minutes later, a dangerous moment arose right at the goal of Rustem Ahallyyev. The Bahrainis, with a perfect pass from deep in the field, put Ridjad Kobillar one‑on‑one with the goalkeeper. However, after his shot, the ball flew past the post.
In the first half, another dangerous moment occurred near the «Al‑Muharraq» goal. In the 33rd minute, Arzuvguly Sapargulyyev delivered a magnificent cross from the left flank into the penalty area for Altymyrat Annadurdyyev, but powerful header of the latter failed, and as a result, the ball became an easy catch for the goalkeeper.
At the beginning of the second half, the visitors once again stepped up their efforts, but they could not derive any benefit from it. The hosts, by contrast, proved to be more agile. In the 52nd minute, Arzuvguly Sapargulyyev successfully delivered a corner kick from the right flank, and Mekan Saparov, who was unmarked in the penalty area, opened the scoring with a header from close range.
Until the end of the game, «Al‑Muharraq» made considerable efforts to come back, but the Turkmenistan champion held on and secured the winning score.
For «Arkadag», this victory was a continuation of their success after the qualifying stage, where they defeated the Indian team «Goa» with a score of 3:0. The team is approaching international matches at the peak of its form, having accumulated 60 points out of a possible 60 after 20 rounds of the national championship. The opponent, by contrast, is off to a poor start in the Bahraini Premier League, currently sitting in 7th place out of 12 after three rounds.
Although «Al-Muharraq» is a title‑winning club with a 98‑year history (it won the AFC Cup twice, in 2008 and 2021), it failed to advance from the group in the previous season, which included «Al Wasl» (UAE), «Esteghlal» (Iran) and «Al Wehdat» (Jordan). «Arkadag», in competition with «Al-Ahli» (Qatar), «Al-Khaldiya» (Bahrain), and «Andijon» (Uzbekistan), advanced to the round of 16, where it lost twice to Saudi «Al-Nassr» with the same score of 0:1.
In a parallel match held on the neutral field of the Central Stadium in Gissar (Tajikistan), the tournament debutant, the Iranian «Gol Gohar», drew 0–0 with the Emirati «Al Jazira».
Based on the results of the first round, «Arkadağ» topped Group «B» with 3 points. The second and third places are shared by the Emirati «Al‑Jazira» and the Iranian «Gol Gohar», each having 1 point to their name. «Al‑Muharraq» rounds out the tournament table, remaining in last place with no points scored.
The matches of the second round will take place on the 14th of October. «Arkadag» will play away against «Al‑Jazira» on that day, and «Al‑Muharraq» will host «Gol Gohar».
The group stage of the tournament will conclude on the 9th of December, following which the two best teams from each of the eight groups will advance to the playoffs. The tournament final will be held on the 15th of May, 2027.
