Jaish

Al-Jaish and Al-Wahda have shared Damascus and traded titles for decades, and their meetings still stop the city, even now that Al-Jaish plays them from a distance. That rivalry runs deepest in 2004, when the two Damascus sides met again in the final of the AFC Cup and Al-Jaish came through on aggregate, 3–2, to become the only Syrian club to win the competition.

The club began life as the sports arm of the Syrian Armed Forces, and until 1980 it carried that identity in its name — the Central Sports Club of the Army — before settling into the one it keeps, Al-Jaish.

The Syrian Cup has followed a similar pattern, nine times over between 1967 and 2018, and three Super Cups joined the list from 2013 onward. Beyond Syria, the club reached finals in the Arab Club Champions Cup and the Arab Cup Winners' Cup without adding the trophy.

None of it has been played out at home lately. Al-Abbasien Stadium, red and white seats for 30,000 in Damascus, has stood empty of football since 2012, turned over to military use once the war reached the city. The ground that once housed the derby against Al-Wahda waits, still standing, still the club's own, just not open.