The first round of the QSL Football Cup for the 2024-2025 season will kick off tomorrow, Friday.
Al Rayyan and Al Shahaniya teams will open the first round matches when they meet at 6:30 pm, at the Grand Hamad Stadium in Al Arabi Club, for Group One.
Al Rayyan seeks to correct its course after stumbling during the last two rounds in the Qatari league / Ooredoo Stars League /, and will try to test a number of its players in the tournament in order to prepare the team with a distinctive image for the upcoming competitions during the season. Its Swedish coach, Boya Espagi, will also focus on testing some tactical and technical plans and perhaps push some players who did not participate much during the past matches.
On the other hand, Al-Shahaniya team and its coach Alvaro Mejia seek to benefit from this tournament to test its players and correct the mistakes that occurred in the league championship matches, as the team occupies the eleventh place with two points from two draws and a loss.
Tomorrow, Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium will host a second match between Al Arabi and Al Ahli at 8:30 pm, as part of the matches of Group One.
Al Arabi, the runner-up of the last edition of the tournament, after losing in the final to Umm Salal, will seek with its coach Younis Ali to make the best use of the tournament in order to correct the team’s path and prepare the players in the required manner before returning from the international break.
The team has not known victory this season so far in the league championship, achieving two draws and one loss, and has two points, as it tied in the first round with Al-Shahaniya, then tied with Al-Wakra in the second round, and lost in the third and final round against Al-Sadd.
Al-Arabi succeeded in strengthening its ranks by contracting with the Jordanian striker Yazan Al-Naimat, but he will not be present with the team in this match because he is with his country’s national team, in addition to the other international players who have joined their countries’ national teams during this period in preparation for the upcoming international events.
For its part, Al-Ahly team, led by its Croatian coach Igor Biscan, has been presenting distinguished performances since the beginning of the season in the league championship, through which it succeeded in occupying the second place in the standings with 7 points behind the leader Al-Duhail, as it achieved victory in two matches and tied in one match.
Within the same group, Al Duhail and Qatar SC will meet at 8:30 pm at Thani bin Jassim Stadium.
Each team aims to prepare the players and reach the final rounds and compete to win the title. Each coach will also seek to identify the technical and tactical plans and achieve the greatest possible benefit.
Al Duhail, who are leading the Ooredoo Stars League with 9 points from 3 wins, will seek to continue their winning streak with their French coach Christophe Galtier.
On the other hand, the Qatari team occupies the ninth place in the standings with 3 points from one win and two losses.
The two teams met in the first week of the Ooredoo Stars League, during which Al Duhail won by six goals to one.
The first round matches will conclude the day after tomorrow, Saturday, as Al-Wakrah plays against Al-Khor at exactly 6:30 pm at Thani bin Jassim Stadium, as part of the second group matches.
Each team is looking forward to a strong start in the tournament by working to achieve victory and collect the three points that will give it motivation for the upcoming competitions during the upcoming rounds, with the aim of reaching the final rounds and winning the title.
Umm Salal and Al Shamal teams will conclude the matches of Group Two of the tournament when they meet at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium at 8:30 pm.
Each team will play with its best available players, especially since both of them have the ambitions that push them to win. The match will not be easy for both teams, and the clash between them will be strong, especially since Umm Salal had won against Al Shamal with a score of 3-2 in the second round of the league championship.
The participating teams were divided into two groups, based on the final ranking in the league championship for the last season 2023-2024.
The first group included the following clubs: (Al Rayyan – Al Arabi – Al Duhail – Qatar – Al Ahli – Al Shahaniya).
The second group included the following clubs: (Al Gharafa – Al Wakrah – Umm Salal – Al Shamal – Al Khor).
Noting that Al Sadd team apologized for not participating in the tournament.
It is worth noting that Umm Salal team won the title of the 12th edition of the tournament for the 2023-2024 season after defeating Al Arabi on penalties 3-1 after they tied with four goals each in regular time of the final match.
Al Duhail team won the 11th edition of the tournament after defeating Umm Salal in the final by one goal.
Al Gharafa is the team that has won the tournament the most times with three titles, followed by Al Sadd and Al Sailiya with two titles each, while Al Wakrah, Qatar, Al Duhail, Al Jaish and Umm Salal are tied with one title each.