Al Shorta were invited to take part in the 2004 Republic International Tournament, which was to be hosted in Alexandria in Egypt in August 2004. Participating in this tournament were eight teams, meaning that the format of the tournament was two groups of four, with the winner of each group playing in the final and the second-placed team of each group facing off in a third-place playoff. Group A consisted of Al Zamalek, Al Shorta, Al Sharjah and Al Shabab, whilst Group B included Al Olymbiy, Al Ittihad Al Sakandary, Al Akhdhar and Al Ansar.
Al Shorta, donning a purple strip, kicked off their tournament against the favourites of the competition, Egyptian club Al Zamalek. Most people expected Al Shorta to lose the game, but they drew 1-1. Ahmad Saleh opened the scoring for Al Zamalek just two minutes into the tie and many expected more goals to come. But thirteen minutes later, Ammar Abdulhussein equalised with a great penalty that was won by Hashim Ridha. Al Shorta missed a one-on-one chance but were still controlling the midfield; their defence was very solid, especially with Maher Habeeb playing at his best. Maher and Al Shorta's 'keeper were saving their team with some fine tackles and saves. Up front, Tassyer Abdulhussein and Hashim Ridha were looking very deadly, but near the end of the match Al Shorta had to defend to keep the draw which they did very well. Most fans agreed that it was a great result for Al Shorta.
Al Shorta's next game was against the worst side in the tournament, Kuwaiti club Al Shabab. Because Al Zamalek drew their game against Al Sharjah, Al Shorta would go to the top of the group with a win here. And they did win very comfortably with a 4-0 demolition of Al Shabab. Legendary striker Hashim Ridha scored the first two goals of the game in the 12th and 40th minutes, with Haitham Kadhem making it 3-0 on 47 minutes. Forward Bashar Saad completed the rout with the fourth and final goal on 78 minutes to put Al Shorta top of Group A.
Al Shorta's final group game was against Al Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates. Al Zamalek had defeated Al Shabab 7-0, meaning that Al Shorta had to defeat Al Sharjah to reach the final. A loss would see them finish one point behind Al Zamalek, whereas a draw would see them finish behind Al Zamalek on goal difference, so they had to win. Al Sharjah took the lead against the Police and it was 1-0 to them at half-time. Al Shorta weren't playing too well at this point, but they gradually improved and equalised on 73 minutes through Ammar Abdulhussein's goal. Al Sharjah took the lead once more leaving Al Shorta with the difficult task of having to score two goals to reach the final. Al Shorta did score an equaliser in the 94th minute of the match through Ammar Ahmad, but it was too late to win the game and the result meant that Al Shorta were to play in the third-place playoff. Al Shorta's manager Younis Abid Ali was pictured crying on the pitch, which showed how much he cared about the club and how passionate he was.
Group A ended with Al Zamalek in first place with five points and +7 goal difference. Al Shorta were in second with five points and +4 goal difference, and Al Sharjah finished third with five points and +3 goal difference. Al Shabab were bottom with no goals scored and fourteen conceded. Group B finished with Egyptian team Al Olymbiy at the top with seven points, and Egyptian club Al Ittihad Al Sakandary in second with four points. Libyan club Al Akhdhar finished in third with three points and -2 goal difference, with Saudi Arabian side Al Ansar finishing bottom with three points and -3 goal difference.
This meant that Al Shorta were to face Al Ittihad Al Sakandary in the third-place playoff in what turned out to be an exhilarating match. After five minutes, Al Ittihad Al Sakandary won a penalty after a foul from Maher Habeeb, but Al Shorta 'keeper Ali Husain Jalil saved Cherno Mansaray's effort. Al Shorta took the lead in the 30th minute with a header from Ammar Ahmad, but Alwakeel Salama scored an equaliser for the Egyptians just four minutes later, and Rami Saeed made it 2-1 to Al Ittihad Al Sakandary just minutes before half-time by scoring off a lay off from a free-kick. The 53rd minute saw Al Shorta awarded a penalty which Bashar Saad took; his effort was saved but Ammar Abdulhussein scored the rebound to make it 2-2. Al Ittihad Al Sakandary went down to ten men on 66 minutes as Hamada Youssef was sent off for a foul on Bashar Saad. Al Shorta took the lead on 78 minutes as Ammar Abdulhussein won and scored a penalty kick, but with just minutes left of the game, Al Ittihad Al Sakandary were awarded another penalty which was scored by Mohammed Abdul-Sattar and so the game went to penalties. Cherno Mansaray, Ahmed Waheed and Youssef Taher scored for the Egyptians, while Adel Imam missed for them. For Al Shorta, Adel Al-Hassani scored but Haitham Kadhem, Hashim Ridha and Bashar Saad all failed to find the back of the net and therefore Al Ittihad Al Sakandary won the shootout 3-1 and clinched the bronze medal. The eventual winners of the tournament were Al Zamalek, who beat Al Olymbiy 3-2 in the final. The player of the tournament was Al Shorta's Iraqi player Haitham Kadhem, who most pundits and fans agreed deserved his award.
Al Shorta didn't win the tournament, but it certainly made Al Shorta and their players more recognised in Asia, and especially Egypt, who hosted the tournament. Egyptian clubs were reportedly interested in some Al Shorta players after the competition, with rumours at the time suggesting that Hashim Ridha was wanted by Al Ahly, Maher Habeeb was wanted by Al Terasanah and Tassyer Abdulhussein was wanted by ENPPI. It was a good tournament for Al Shorta overall, and a fourth place finish was very respectable.
Two months after their fourth place finish in Alexandria, Al Shorta entered the Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed Ramadan International Championship, a tournament hosted in Dubai, UAE, which consisted of ten teams split into two groups. Al Shorta were drawn into Group B with Al Merrikh of Sudan, Al Wehdat of Jordan and the Zambia and Yemen national teams. The Harps were defeated 3-1 by Al Merrikh in their opener, with Wissam Nasser scoring the Iraqis' consolation goal in the last minute. Al Shorta then drew 0-0 with Yemen before Mohammed Abdul-Rahman's goal in the first minute was enough to beat Al Wehdat 1-0. A win against Zambia in their final group game would have been enough for Al Shorta to qualify for the semi-finals but the tournament was abandoned after the death of Sheikh Zayed, the head of state and founder of the UAE.