Foundation and early years In the early 1860s, a group of young men learned the rules of the game by watching Russian soldiers playing football and formed their own team. The first pitch was very simple and small, taking the shape of a square sandy plot of land on the main street near the Clock Roundabout in Al Ain. In August 1968, the club was officially established, taking its name from the
city they lived. The founders thought it was necessary to have a permanent headquarters for the club and rented a house on the current Khalifa Road for club meetings. The club's founders took responsibility for all the club's affairs, from planning the stadium to cleaning the club headquarters and washing the
kit. Al Ain made a successful debut by beating a team made up of British soldiers and went on to play friendly matches against other Abu Dhabi clubs. In 1971, the team played their first match against international opposition when they were defeated 7–0 by the Egyptian club
Ismaily in a friendly match for the war effort. In 1971, a group members of the club (Hadher Khalaf Al Muhairi, Saleem Al Khudrawi, Mohammed Khalaf Al Muhairi and Mahmoud Fadhlullah) broke away and founded Al Tadhamun Club.
First titles and Entry to the Football League (1974–1997) On 2 February 1974, the club won its first title, the Abu Dhabi League. On 13 November 1974, Sheikh Khalifa was named honorary president of Al Ain, in recognition of his continuing support for the club. On 21 May 1975, Sheikh
Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan was elected Chairman of Board of Directors. In 1975, Al Ain won its second Abu Dhabi League. In the same year on 21 March 1975, the club played its first
UAE President Cup losing 4–5 on penalties in the Round of 16 against
Al Shaab after drawing 1–1 in normal time. In 1975–76 season, the team participated for the first time in the
UAE Football League, finishing runners-up behind
Al Ahli. Al Ain won its first League title in the
1976–77 season, after drawing 1–1 with
Al Sharjah in the last match. In the following season, they finished runners-up to
Al Nasr; Mohieddine Habita was the top scorer with 20 goals. In the 1978–79 season, Al Ain secure third place with 27 points in the league and defeated by Sharjah in the
President Cup final.
Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan became president of Al Ain on 19 January 1979. Al Ain won the League again in the
1980–81 season and lost the
President Cup final to
Al Shabab of Dubai. In 1983–84, the team won Joint League Cup and followed with its third League title, becoming the second with Al Ahli to have won the championship three times. The team had the strongest attack with 35 goals, and Ahmed Abdullah, with 20 goals was the joint-winner of the Arab League Golden Boot award for top scorer, alongside
Al Wasl striker
Fahad Khamees. This season was the first season in which foreign players were excluded from the UAE League, a restriction which was opposed by Al Ain. After winning the League title in
1983–84 season, Al Ain failed to win any trophies until 1989 when they won the
Federation Cup. In the following year they reached the final of the
President Cup, losing to Al Shabab. The 1992–93 season began with several new signings: Saif Sultan (
Ittihad Kalba), Salem Johar (
Ajman), Saeed Juma (
Emirates). Al Ain won their fourth League title with three games left to play, after a 5–0 win at
Al Khaleej. In the following season, they finished second in the
Football League and were runners-up the
1993 UAE Super Cup losing 2–1 against
Al Shaab. They also reached the
President Cup final but were beaten 1–0 by Al Shabab, failing for the fourth time to win the Cup. In 1994 and 1995, Al Ain lost two
President Cup finals, finished second in the
League, won the
1995 UAE Super Cup and lost out in the
Asian Cup Winners' Cup second round to the Kuwaiti team
Kazma. In the 1996–97 season, Al Ain were eliminated in the round of 16 of the
President Cup by
Hatta and finished fourth in the
Football League. {{football squad on pitch|width=160|align=right
The Golden Age (1997–2003) Before the start of the 1997–98 season, the honorary board was formed on 7 June 1997. After this initiative, Al Ain won the
league championship. In the following season, they won the
President Cup and finished runner-up in the league and secured the third place in their second appearance in
Asian Club Championship, after the
1985.
Ilie Balaci took charge in 1999. He led them to their sixth
League championship, while in the
Asian Cup Winners' Cup they were eliminated by
Al Jaish on the
away goals rule in the first round. In 2003, Al Ain contested the
AFC Champions League competition. In the Group stage they won all three matches, beating
Al Hilal of
Saudi Arabia,
Al Sadd of
Qatar and
Esteghlal of
Iran. In the semi-final they were matched against the Chinese side
Dalian Shide over two legs. In the first game, Al Ain won 4–2 at home, with
Boubacar Sanogo scoring twice. In the return match in China Al Ain went 4–2 down with six minutes to play but won 7–6 on aggregate after a late goal by
Farhad Majidi the Iranian legend. The final saw Al Ain face
BEC Tero Sasana of
Thailand. In the home leg, Al Ain prevailed 2–0 with goals from Salem Johar and
Mohammad Omar. At the
Rajamangala Stadium on 11 October, Al Ain were beaten 1–0 by Tero Sasana, but won 2–1 on aggregate to become the first Emirati club to win the Champions League.
New Era (2016–present) scored 35 goals for Al-Ain FC in the late 2010s In December 2018, Al Ain which celebrated the 50th anniversary participating in the
2018 FIFA Club World Cup, representing the host nation as the
reigning champions of the UAE Pro-League. Al Ain beat
Team Wellington from
New Zealand in the first round and
Espérance de Tunis of
2018 CAF Champions League champions to enter semifinal. On 18 December 2018, Al Ain defeated
Copa Libertadores champions
River Plate by penalties hosted in their home stadium
Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium to enter the final for the first time in team history and became the first Emirati club to reach the decisive match. On 22 December during the
2018 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Al Ain lost 4–1 to
UEFA Champions League winners
Real Madrid at the
Zayed Sports City Stadium in
Abu Dhabi with Japanese player
Tsukasa Shiotani scoring the only goal for the club. In the
2023–24 AFC Champions League campaign, Al Ain was drawn with Saudi Arabia club
Al Fayha, Uzbekistan side
Pakhtakor and Turkmenistan side
Ahal FK. Al Ain than finished the group as group leaders with 5 wins, 0 draws and 1 losses which saw the club qualified to the Round of 16. Al Ain then faced Uzbekistan club
Nasaf in which Al Ain won 3–0 on aggregate to qualify to the quarter-finals. Al Ain then faced Saudi Arabian giants
Al Nassr, containing multiplies world renowned superstars, like
Cristiano Ronaldo,
Sadio Mané,
Alex Telles,
David Ospina,
Aymeric Laporte,
Marcelo Brozović and
Talisca. Al Ain won the first leg 1–0 at home but suffered a 4–3 away defeat after extra time, which saw the game being tied 4–4 on aggregate leading to a penalty shootout. Al Ain managed to win 3–1 on penalties, thus seeing them qualified to the semi-finals against another Saudi Arabian giants,
Al Hilal. On 17 April 2024, Al Ain won Al Hilal 4–2 at home, with Moroccan
Soufiane Rahimi scoring a hat-trick in the match for the club. However, Al Ain suffered an 2–1 away defeat to Al Hilal but managed to qualify to the 2023–24 AFC Champions League final 5–4 on aggregate, thus seeing them face Japanese
Yokohama F. Marinos where they’d suffer a 2-1 defeat in the first leg. However, in the second leg they’d go on to win 5-1 and win 6-3 on aggregate making them champions of Asia. ==Club rivalries==