Qatar Cup 2020- Key Matches and Results

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Updated: January 18, 2020
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Just like FIFA and LA Liga, Qatar Cup is also one of the popular and renowned tournaments in men’s football. This is actually played by the top 4 teams of Qatar National First Division after each season. El Jaish won the Heir Apparent Cup 2014. In 2013, the tournament was actually renamed as Qatar Cup. The current champion of Qatar cup is Al-Duhail SC.

An overview of Qatar Cup 2020

Qatar Cup has gained a massive popularity amongst people over the years as the championship has been quite famous. Eventually, if you are a football lover, then this is one tournament worth watching. The four teams in the tournament were Al Duhail, Al Sailiya, Al Sadd and Al Rayyan. The Qatar Cup is certainly one of the biggest footballing landmarks in the country.

History of the Qatar Cup

The Qatar Cup has a very chequered history, being founded in the year 1964. The first ever tournament was mainly held in the 1994-95 season, named as the Heir Apparent Cup, in a tribute to Qatar’s rulers. In the 2013-14 season, the name got changed to the Qatar Cup and that is now considered as one of the major feathers in the cap for the Qatar Stars League. The tournament has been played in the knock-out format and is one of the most prestigious footballing events in the season. The top four teams of the Qatar Stars League play this tournament every season.

First Semifinal of Qatar Cup 2020

Al Duhail vs. Al Sailiya

The match took place on Friday, the 10^th of January at 7.30 PM. It was held at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium (Al Sadd Club). Al Duhail actually had a fabulous season in 2018 which saw them sealing the domestic treble by winning the Qatar Cup, Amir Cup and QNB Stars League trophy. They were certainly the team to beat when they took on Al Sailiya in the first semi-final of the 2020 Qatar Cup. Rui Faria-coached Al Duhail were entering into the Qatar Cup on a rich vein of form after a gap of one year for the tournament and had an unbeaten run in the Qatar Stars League to boot, with 9 wins and 3 draws. Eventually Al Duhail won 2-0 as expected as Al Sailiya couldn’t get past their tough opponent. The star attraction for the match was Al Duhail’s new recruit, star striker Mario Mandzukic who had an impressive outing, opening his account for his team in this game itself.

Second Semifinal of Qatar Cup 2020

Al Sadd vs. Al Rayyan

The second semi-final took place on the 11^th of January, 2020 (Saturday) at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium (Al Sadd Club). Al Sadd made it to the 2020 Qatar Club by topping the 2018-19 QNB Stars League Table with a handsome 57 points. Both teams had the most number of wins (18) and highest number of goals (100) in the last season. The Wolves also had the least number of defeats (only a loss to Al Ahli in the first leg) and conceded the lowest number of goals (22) after runners-up Al Duhail (17). Al Sadd strolled to a comfortable victory in this game by a 4-1 margin.

The team played extremely well in what was one of their best performances till date. Al Rayyan had qualified for the 2020 Qatar Cup for the fourth successive time after finishing fourth in the 2018-19 league table with 37 points. However, they could only net a single goal in their match against Al Sadd who romped home in style in this match.

Final of Qatar Cup 2020

Al Sadd vs. Al Duhail

The clash of the titans took place on the 17^th of January, 2020 (Friday) and was a spectacularly awaited contest. Sadly, it proved to be a forgettable outing for Al Duhail who were beaten 4-0 by Al Sadd, marking a major triumph for their present coach and former Barcelona and Spain legend Xavi Hernandez, who was dominating headlines for having rejected a coaching offer to replace Ernesto Valverde at his former club Barcelona. The scoring was opened by Nam Tae-hee early on and Baghdad Bounedjah doubled this after a slip up by the Al Duhail goalkeeper. He also scored a second goal prior to half-time with a penalty from Akram Afif completing a spectacular win for Al Sadd.