Al Sadd to take on Muaither in last 16 of Amir Cup

A Qatar Football Association official conducts the Amir Cup draw.

Reigning champions Al Sadd will face Second Division side Muaither in the pre-quarter-finals of the 50th edition of Amir Cup, draw of the prestigious tournament revealed yesterday. The draw was conducted virtually by Qatar Football Association’s Competitions Committee member Hamad al-Hajri. Ali Hammoud al-Nuaimi, Head of the Competitions Department of QFA, gave a detailed explanation of the draw.   Al Sadd are the two-time defending champions and also the QNB Stars League winners. The Wolves have won the Amir Cup crown a record 18 times since the tournament’s inception in 1972. Should Al Sadd get past Muaither, they will face the winner of the pre-quarter-final clash between Al Ahli and Al Markhiya. The Wolves are then slated to face arch rivals Al Duhail in the semi-finals. Al Duhail, meanwhile, will open their campaign against Al Khor. The winner of that match will face the winner of the Al Arabi-Al Sailiya contest. Meanwhile, last season’s finalists Al Rayyan have a tough path to final. The Lions, who had lost to Sadd on penalties in the 2021 edition final, will take on high-flying Umm Salal in the pre-quarter-finals. If Al Rayyan come through that contest, then they will face either Al Wakrah or Al Shahaniya in the quarters. The other pre-quarter-final match-ups in Al Rayyan’s half of the draw are Al Shamal vs Qatar SC and Al Gharafa vs Al Kharaitiyat. The Round of 16 draw saw teams divided into two pools, the first of which consist of the eight teams who finished first to eighth in the last season of the QNB Stars League. As for the second pool, it has teams ranked ninth to 12th in the QNB Stars League last season, the top three ranked teams from last season’s Second Division League, and the preliminary round game winner between Markhiya.