History
Oceania and Club World Cup (2005)
Sydney FC participated in the 2005 OFC Club Championship after defeating Queensland Roar, Perth Glory, and Central Coast Mariners in a qualifying tournament. The Championship was held in Papeete, Tahiti. Sydney's first match was against New Zealand team Auckland City FC, Sydney won 2–1. Sydney would go on to defeat AS Pirae and Sobou FC in the group stages to book a place in the semi-final against Tafea FC. Sydney dispatched the side from Vanuatu 6–0 with Steve Corica scoring twice as a substitute. In the final against AS Magenta, Sydney won 2–0 with goals coming from Matthew Bingley and David Zdrillic.
In December 2005, Sydney FC competed in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship as the Oceania Football Confederation's entry to the tournament following their 2004–05 Oceania Club Championships success in June. On 12 December, in front of a crowd of over 28,000 at Japan's Toyota Stadium, Sydney FC narrowly lost to Costa Rican champions Deportivo Saprissa 1–0, denying the club a semi–final match against European champion Liverpool F.C. Four days later, Sydney FC defeated the African "Club of the Century" Al Ahly 2–1 to finish the competition in fifth place. This was to be any Australian football club's last year to qualify for the Club World Championship through the Oceania Club Championship. The FFA announced soon after Sydneys grand final win that Australia will depart from the Oceania Football Confederation to join the higher ranking Asian Football Confederation. The A-league now participates AFC's inter-city club tournaments such as the Asian Champions League held annually during the off-season of the A-league, and also the international cup tournaments such as the Asian Cup held every 4 years. Sydney FC went on to represent Australia in the Asian Champions league in 2007.
Match details
| 31 May 2005Group Stage | Sydney FC  | 3–2 |  Auckland City | Stade Pater, Tahiti |
Ceccoli  32'Packer 47'Corica 90+3' | report | Seaman 37' Smith 78' | Attendance: 4,000 |
| 2 June 2005Group Stage | Sobou FC  | 2–9 | Sydney FC | Stade Pater, Tahiti |
| Wate 57' Daniel 90' | report | Fyfe 5' Petrovski 14', 43', 71'Zdrilic 19', 40', 42'Brodie 79'Salazar 82' | Attendance: 3,000 |
| 4 June 2005Group Stage | Sydney FC | 6–0 |  AS Pirae | Stade Pater, Tahiti |
| Zdrilic 11', 25', 35', 39' Buonavoglia 43'Carney 85' | report | Attendance: 1,500 |
| 7 June 2005Semi-final | Sydney FC | 6–0 |  Tafea | Stade Pater, Tahiti |
| Petrovski 26' Zdrilic 39'Talay 44' (pen.)Corica 65', 90'Salazar 87' | report | Attendance: 4,000 |
| 10 June 2005Final | Sydney FC | 2–0 |  AS Magenta | Stade Pater, Tahiti |
| Bingley 16' Zdrilic 59' | report | Attendance: 4,000 |
| 12 December 2005Quarter-final | Sydney FC | 0–1 |  Deportivo Saprissa | Toyota Stadium, Nagoya |
| Attendance: 28,538 |
| 16 December 2005Fifth Place Play-Off | Al Ahly  | 1–2 | Sydney FC | Olympic Stadium, Tokyo |
| Attendance: 15,951 |
Move to Asia (2007–2011)
On 22 November 2006, Sydney FC and Adelaide United, as 2005–06 Champions and Premiers, were nominated as the first clubs to represent the Australia in the AFC Champions League 2007 to coincide with the FFA's inclusion into the AFC. Expectations were low for Sydney after a troubled season – many key players left the club at season's end and coach Terry Butcher was replaced by former NSL coach Branko Culina. Culina named a revamped 21-man squad and in their opening game on 7 March 2007 had 2–1 away win over Shanghai Shenhua with Ufuk Talay scoring a thunderous goal outside of the 18-yard box. That result was followed up with a 2–2 draw at home against Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds after being up 2–0 in front of 21,010 – a larger home crowd than any of the previous season's regular matches. In a game delayed by a day after near monsoonal rain, they struggled away against Indonesian side Persik Kediri, losing 2–1 and showing their lack of match fitness against a better than expected Persik side.
In the return match a fortnight later, Sydney FC revenged the loss at Parramatta Stadium in western Sydney, defeating Persik 3–0 with goals from Steve Corica and Alex Brosque. Sydney's final matches in the group finished in stalemates, first at home to Shanghai and then in Japan at Urawa Reds. Sydney was one point behind Urawa in their group ladder going into the final match, faced with needing to win in order to progress. Unable to capitalise on good ball possession, the match ended 0–0 and thus ended Sydney's Asian Champions League campaign as only the first-placed team progressed to the knockout phase of the competition.
The following season, Sydney FC was selected to represent Australia and the AFC in the Pan-Pacific Championship after being the highest placed A-League club in the 2007–08 A-League season not competing in the conclusion of that competition's finals series. On 20 February, Sydney were pitted against Houston Dynamo, who had won the previous season's MLS Championship. The match was played on artificial turf at Aloha Stadium. Sydney were never really settled in the unfamiliar conditions, and suffered a 3–0 loss. Sydney newcomer Ryan Walsh was dispossessed of the ball 8 metres from the 18-yard box by Brian Ching, and the Canadian International Dwayne De Rosario put the ball past keeper Clint Bolton. Then, straight after the restart by Sydney, Stuart Holden received a 'through-ball' pass from Dwayne De Rosario, and shot past a stunned Sydney defence from the edge of the 6-yard box. When Chris Wondolowski scored before half-time to make the score 3–0, Sydney FC had really lost hope of coming back.
An under-strength Sydney went into the 3/4 playoff against Los Angeles Galaxy fairly confident, as they had already beaten them during the November 2007 friendly match. However, Sydney fell behind only 3 minutes into the match when multimillion-dollar English signing David Beckham sent in a pin-point cross from the right wing to find striker Ely Allen, who volleyed the ball past Sydney keeper Ivan Necevski. Defender Brendan Renaud then scored with a powerful shot from 30 metres out in the top right corner, but the Los Angeles team regained the lead soon after, as David Beckham again sent in a cross that Necevski couldn't handle and palmed to the feet of Los Angeles midfielder Josh Tudela, who tapped the ball into the net. LA went on to win the match 2–1, and Sydney finished 4th in the inaugural tournament. Japanese side Gamba Osaka finished 1st, after a 6–1 thrashing of MLS Champions Houston Dynamo.
Despite a poor 2010–11 season and following several key players being released to other clubs, Sydney were expected to do well during the 2011 Asian Champions League campaign. Unfortunately, Sydney struggled against the superior East-Asian teams, however managed to gain 2 points from their opening 2 rounds against Kashima Antlers and Shanghai Shenhua.
The home leg against Shanghai was a frustrating match where Sydney missed several easy chances and being forced to settle for a 1–1 draw. In Sydney's final home match against Korean team Suwon Samsung Bluewings, Sydney were belted 3–0 by a dominant Bluewings outfit. However, the team regained some faith with a twice come-from-behind win against Shanghai Shenhua in Shanghai, China winning 3–2 with Brazilian striker Bruno Cazarine helping with a brace.
Sydney would go on to finish 3rd in the group stage after losing away to Kashima 2–1 in Tokyo. Sydney were unable to qualify for the Round of 16, winning 1 game, drawing 2 and losing 3.
Match details
Group Stage
| 7 March 2007 | Shanghai Shenhua | 1–2 | Sydney FC | Yuanshen Stadium, Shanghai, China |
| Xie Hui 78' | (Report) | Steve Corica 8' Ufuk Talay 23' | Attendance: 12,000 Referee:  Lee Gi-Young |
| 21 March 2007 | Sydney FC | 2–2 | Urawa Red Diamonds | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia |
| David Carney 1' Ufuk Talay 23' (pen) | (Report) | Robson Ponte 30' Yuichiro Nagai 55' | Attendance: 21,010 Referee:  Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh |
| 12 April 2007 | Persik Kediri | 2–1 | Sydney FC | Manahan Stadium, Surakarta, Indonesia |
| Aris Budi Prasetyo 25' Budi Sudarsono 70' | (Report) | Steve Corica 8' | Attendance: 15,000 Referee:  Abdullah Balideh |
| 25 April 2007 | Sydney FC | 3–0 | Persik Kediri | Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia |
| Steve Corica 54', 90' Alex Brosque 73' | (Report) | Attendance: 10,075 Referee:  Minh Tri Vo |
| 9 May 2007 | Sydney FC | 0–0 | Shanghai Shenhua | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia |
| (Report 1 2) | Attendance: 14,786 Referee:  Abdul Bashir |
| 23 May 2007 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 0–0 | Sydney FC | Saitama Stadium, Saitama, Japan |
| (Report) | Attendance: 44,793 Referee:  Fareed Al-Marzouqi |
| 20 February 2008Semi-final | Houston Dynamo | 3–0 | Sydney FC | Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, USA |
| Dwayne De Rosario 28' Stuart Holden 29'Chris Wondolowski 43' | Report | Brendon Santalab  49'Ryan Walsh 57' | Attendance: 15,128 Referee: Alex Prus |
| 23 February 2008Third Place Final | Los Angeles Galaxy | 2–1 | Sydney FC | Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, USA |
| Ely Allen 3' Josh Tudela 45'Michael Gavin 72' | Report | Brendan Renaud 43' Terry McFlynn 49'Mark Robertson 51' | Attendance: 23,087 Referee: Brian Hall |
Group Stage
| 2 March 2011 | Sydney FC | 0–0 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Sydney Football Stadium |
| 20:00 UTC+10 | McFlynn  32' | Report | Attendance: 7095 Referee: Abdul Mailk Abdul Bashir (Singapore) |
| 6 April 2011 | Sydney FC | 1–1 |  Shanghai Shenhua | Sydney Football Stadium |
| 20:00 UTC+10 | Carle 13' | Report | Riascos 6' | Attendance: 7,007 Referee: Abdullah Balideh (Qatar) |
| 13 April 2011 1 | Sydney FC | 0–3 |  Kashima Antlers | Sydney Football Stadium |
| 20:00 UTC+10 | Report | Nozawa 41' Gabriel 61'Koroki 90+3' | Attendance: 7,320 Referee: Ali Hamad Madhad Saif Albawawi (United Arab Emirates) |
| 19 April 2011 | Shanghai Shenhua | 2–3 | Sydney FC | Hongkou Stadium |
| 20:00 UTC+8 | Jiajun 8' | Report | Cazarine 45+1', 59' Bridge 90+1' | Attendance: 10,215 Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia) |
| 3 May 2011 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 3–1 | Sydney FC | Suwon World Cup Stadium |
| 19:30 UTC+9 | Ha Tae-Gyun 34' Neretljak 50'Yeom Ki-Hoon 80' | Report | Cazarine 51' | Attendance: 9,495 Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan) |
| 10 May 2011 1 | Kashima Antlers | 2–1 | Sydney FC | National Olympic Stadium 2 |
| 15:00 UTC+9 | Osako 64' Nozawa 84' | Report | Jurman 26' | Attendance: 3,164 Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia) |
- Notes
- Note 2: The Kashima Antlers v Sydney FC match was postponed from 16 March 2011 to 10 May 2011 due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. [1] The return match, Sydney FC v Kashima Antlers, was brought forward from 10 May 2011 to 13 April 2011. [2] All home matches of the Kashima Antlers were moved to the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo as the Kashima Soccer Stadium in Kashima was damaged in the earthquake.
Return to Asia (2016–present)
After many lean seasons domestically, Sydney qualified to compete in the AFC Champions League for the first time after a four-year hiatus when they came second in the 2014–15 A-League season. Despite a poor 2015–16 season and following several key players being released to other clubs, Sydney were expected to do well during the 2016 Asian Champions League. They were placed in group of "death" stage. However, one of the surprising results was that they were able to defeat defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande 2–1 in a home leg at Allianz Stadium. Sydney would go on to finish 1st out of 4 teams：winning 3 games, drawing 1 and losing 2. This meant Sydney progressed to the knockout stages for the first time in the Champions League.
After a strong result away in the first leg, drawing 1–1 with Chinese side Shandong Luneng it seemed that Sydney might progress to the quarter-finals. Leading 2–1 at home in the second leg, Hao Junmin scored a 90th-minute equaliser to draw Shandong level 3–3 on aggregate. This effectively finished the Sky Blues continental hopes as Shandong progressed to the next stage on away goals.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2019) |
Despite a strong 2017–18 season, Sydney were expected to do well during the 2018 Asian Champions League. Ironically, they were placed in the same group as they did in 2011 campaign. Despite Sydney FC beating Suwon Bluewings away from home and having not scoring a goal at home, they finished their disappointing 2018 campaign in 3rd place, unable to progress to the knockout stage for the second time.
Sydney qualified for the AFC Champions League for a second consecutive year and the third time in four years when they competed in the 2019 AFC Champions League. However, they were pitted against very strong opposition in 2018 Chinese Super League champions Shanghai SIPG, 2018 J1 League Champions Kawasaki Frontale and Korean qualifiers Ulsan Hyundai. It was the first time that Sydney had met any of these teams in the Champions League. Shanghai SIPG were considered particularly strong, boasting world-class players like Oscar, Hulk, Elkeson and Odil Akhmedov for the tournament.
In Sydney's first match, they were scheduled to host Ulsan at Jubilee Stadium. In a very windy match, Sydney asserted early dominance with striker Adam Le Fondre creating three good chances in the opening 12 minutes. As the wind continued to pick-up in the second half Sydney continued to control ball possession but could not find the goal to break the stalemate despite repeated incursions into the Korean final third. The score ended 0–0. [3]
Sydney traveled to Japan for their second game against Kawasaki. The hosts had the better of possession and opportunities in both halves, however Sydney defended well for large periods of the game. Sydney's goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne made some fine saves to keep his team in the contest. It took until the 83-minute for Manabu Saito to give Kawasaki the lead in front of an 11,000 strong crowd. The match ended 1–0, handing Sydney FC their first defeat for the campaign as Kawasaki picked up their first points for the tournament. [4]
Sydney returned home for their third game of the campaign among a busy schedule for the side in their domestic league, playing the match in between a Big Blue and a Sydney derby against their two fiercest rivals. The Big Blue in particular had significant importance as the winner would most likely finish in the all-important second place for the end of season standings. Despite this, Sydney largely put out a full-strength team as Johnny Warren Medalist Milos Ninkovic the main notable exception in the starting squad. Billed as a David and Goliath battle against Shanghai SIPG, the Sydney community were encouraged to attend the game to watch the likes of Oscar, Hulk and Elkeson in their own city. To the surprise of many, Sydney took an early lead with loan marquee Siem de Jong scoring in the third minute. A cushioned header from Lu Wenjun for Shanghai drew the scores level before Le Fondre took back the lead for Sydney, converting a penalty for a hand-ball in the box by a Shanghai defender. Yu Hai once again brought the scores level nodding home a cross from Hulk. Sydney continued to search for a go-ahead goal throughout much of the second half controlling much of the possession in Shanghai's half. Alex Brosque finally broke the deadlock in the 84th minute, one minute after being substituted into the game. Shanghai once again denied Sydney from taking the three points when Elkeson blasted home the equaliser in the 89th minute capitalising on a swift counter-attack after Josh Brillante lost possession for Sydney in midfield. The cruel end to the game left Sydney in last place of the group standings at the mid-way point of the group stage on 2 points, having already played two of three home games. Sydney failed to win in any of their three remaining games only picking up 1 point, leaving them at the bottom of the group standings.
Match details
Group Stage
| 24 February 2016 1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 2–0 | Sydney FC | Saitama, Japan |
| 19:30 JST | Muto 8' Koroki 65' (pen.) | Report | Stadium: Saitama Stadium Attendance: 19,500 Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq) |
| 2 March 2016 2 | Sydney FC | 2–1 | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | Sydney, Australia |
| 20:00 AEDT | Stambolziev 18' Dimitrijević 89' | Report | Calver 25' (o.g.) | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 18,149 Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran) |
| 16 March 2016 3 | Pohang Steelers | 0–1 | Sydney FC | Pohang, South Korea |
| 19:30 KST | Report | Naumoff 41' | Stadium: Pohang Steel Yard Attendance: 4,247 Referee: Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia) |
| 5 April 2016 4 | Sydney FC | 1–0 | Pohang Steelers | Sydney, Australia |
| 20:00 AEST | Ninković 51' | Report | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 5,642 Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran) |
| 20 April 2016 5 | Sydney FC | 0–0 | Urawa Red Diamonds | Sydney, Australia |
| 20:00 AEST | Report | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 8,803 Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore) |
| 3 May 2016 6 | Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao | 1–0 | Sydney FC | Guangzhou, China |
| 18:30 CST | Gao Lin 2' | Report | Stadium: Tianhe Stadium Attendance: 33,517 Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain) |
Round of 16
| 18 May 2016 First leg | Shandong Luneng Taishan | 1–1 | Sydney FC | Jinan, China |
| 19:30 CST | Tardelli 57' | Report | Carney 15' | Stadium: Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium Attendance: 16,917 Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar) |
| 25 May 2016 Second leg | Sydney FC | 2–2 (3–3 agg.) | Shandong Luneng Taishan | Sydney, Australia |
| 20:00 AEST | O'Neill 2' Grant 46'Anderson 76' | Report | Montillo 12' Hao 90' | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 9,451 Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan) |
Group Stage
| 14 February 2018 1 | Sydney FC | 0–2 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Sydney, Australia |
| 19:30 AEDT | Report | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 6,349 Referee: Mohammed Abdulla (United Arab Emirates) |
| 21 February 2018 2 | Shanghai Shenhua | 2–2 | Sydney FC | Shanghai, China |
| 20:00 CST | Report | Stadium: Hongkou Football Stadium Attendance: 22,918 Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan) |
| 7 March 2018 3 | Sydney FC | 0–2 | Kashima Antlers | Sydney, Australia |
| 19:30 AEDT | Report | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 6,442 Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman) |
| 13 March 2018 4 | Kashima Antlers | 1–1 | Sydney FC | Kashima, Japan |
| 19:00 JST |
| Report |
| Stadium: Kashima Soccer Stadium Attendance: 8,593 Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar) |
| 3 April 2018 5 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1–4 | Sydney FC | Suwon, South Korea |
| 19:30 KST |
| Report |
| Stadium: Suwon World Cup Stadium Attendance: 3,756 Referee: Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia) |
| 17 April 2018 6 | Sydney FC | 0–0 | Shanghai Shenhua | Sydney, Australia |
| 20:00 AEST | Report | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 9,855 Referee: Mohanad Qassim (Iraq) |
Group Stage
| 6 March 2019 1 | Sydney FC | 0–0 | Ulsan Hyundai | Sydney, Australia |
| 20:00 AEDT | Report | Stadium: Jubilee Oval Attendance: 4,039 Referee: Khamis Al-Kuwari (Qatar) |
| 13 March 2019 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 1–0 | Sydney FC | Kawasaki, Japan |
| 19:00 JST |
| Report | Stadium: Todoroki Athletics Stadium Attendance: 11,278 Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan) |
| 10 April 2019 3 | Sydney FC | 3–3 | Shanghai SIPG | Sydney, Australia |
| 19:30 AEST | Report | Stadium: Jubilee Oval Attendance: 7,154 Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran) |
| 23 April 2019 4 | Shanghai SIPG | 2–2 | Sydney FC | Shanghai, China |
| 19:30 CST | Report | Stadium: Shanghai Stadium Attendance: 21,989 Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar) |
| 7 May 2019 5 | Ulsan Hyundai | 1–0 | Sydney FC | Ulsan, South Korea |
| 19:00 KST |
| Report | Stadium: Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium Attendance: 1,520 Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq) |
| 21 May 2019 6 | Sydney FC | 0–4 | Kawasaki Frontale | Sydney, Australia |
| 20:00 AEST | Report |
| Stadium: Jubilee Oval Attendance: 3,813 Referee: Mohanad Qasim Sarray (Iraq) |
Group Stage
| 19 February 2020 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 4–0 | Sydney FC | Nissan Stadium, Yokohama |
| 19:30 UTC+9 | Live Report Stats Report | Attendance: 11,863 Referee: Mooud Bonyadifar (Iran) |
| 4 March 2020 2 | Sydney FC | 2–2 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Jubilee Oval, Sydney |
| 19:30 UTC+11 | Live Report Stats Report |
| Attendance: 3,255 Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman) |
| 19 November 2020 3 | Sydney FC | 1–2 | Shanghai SIPG | Khalifa International Stadium, Doha |
| 13:00 UTC+3 |
| Live Report Stats Report |
| Attendance: 0 Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar) |
| 25 November 2020 4 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 1–0 | Sydney FC | Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah |
| 13:00 UTC+3 |
| Live Report Stats Report | Attendance: 0 Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka) |
| 1 December 2020 5 | Shanghai SIPG | 0–4 | Sydney FC | Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah |
| 16:00 UTC+3 | Live Report Stats Report | Attendance: 0 Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia) |
| 4 December 2020 6 | Sydney FC | 1–1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah |
| 13:00 UTC+3 |
| Live Report Stats Report |
| Attendance: 0 Referee: Saoud Al-Athbah (Qatar) |
