Al Duhail will face its Al Arabi counterpart tomorrow, Friday, in the final match of the QSL Cup, on the grounds of Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium.
Al Duhail reached the final after defeating Al Wakrah by three goals to one in the semi-finals, in a match that extended to extra time after regular time ended in a 1-1 draw, while Al Arabi qualified for the final by defeating Umm Salal by two goals to one.
Al-Duhail’s French coach, Christophe Galtier, is seeking to win his first title with his team, which he assumed technical responsibility in October 2023, succeeding Argentine Hernan Crespo.
Despite the absence of many international players from the ranks of the leaders of the Arid Stars League, led by Almoez Ali, Hammam Al Amin and Edmilson Junior, coach Galtier is relying on the experience of former Italian Lazio player Luis Alberto, Frenchman Benjamin Borrego, and Kenyan top scorer Michael Olunga.
The two teams met in the group stage of the fourth round at Al Khor Stadium, and Al Arabi won with a clean goal scored by its Spanish player Rodriguez Sanchez, so the match will be an opportunity for Al Duhail to compensate and win the first title of the season, which is the same goal of Al Arabi, which will work hard to continue the journey.
Al-Arabi, who enters the confrontation with his new technical director Barry Rodriguez, who took over the job after the dismissal of Englishman Anthony Hudson, also hopes to compensate for his loss of the title in the last edition to Umm Salal, after he had lost the final match on penalties.
Al-Arabi is suffering from the absence of a number of its international players, led by Qatari national team player Ahmed Fathi, which will push its Spanish coach Rodriguez to focus on alternative elements, in addition to the experience of Tunisian Youssef Msakni, Spanish midfielder Rodrigo Sanchez, and Hilal Mohamed.
It is worth noting that the Umm Salal team was crowned champion of the 12th edition of the tournament for the season (2023-2024) after defeating Al Arabi on penalties (3/1) after they tied with four goals each in regular time of the final match.
Al-Duhail, which was crowned champion of the 11th edition of the tournament after its victory over Umm Salal, had finished the group stage at the top of the first group with 10 points on goal difference from Al-Arabi (second in the group), before continuing its journey by winning the quarter-finals over Al-Khor (2-1), While Al-Arabi won the quarter-finals over Al-Shamal by three clean goals.
Al-Gharafa is the team that has won the most championship titles with three titles, followed by Al-Sadd and Al-Sailiya with two titles, while Al-Wakrah, Qatar, Al-Duhail, Al-Jaish and Umm Salal clubs are equal with one title each.
