The Saudi Super Cup competitions, which will be held with the participation of 4 teams, will begin on Monday in Abu Dhabi for the first time, bringing together Al-Ittihad, Al-Nasr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Wahda.
Sharjah 24:
Tomorrow, the capital, Abu Dhabi, will host the Saudi Super Cup for football, which will be held in its new version with the participation of 4 teams for the first time outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The first edition of this system was held last year in the Kingdom, and the Al-Ittihad team was crowned at the expense of Al-Fayhaa.
The championship competitions will be held with the participation of Al-Ittihad, Al-Nasr, Al-Hilal and Al-Wahda teams, with Abu Dhabi hosting the event for the first time in an Arab destination under a partnership agreement between the Saudi Football Federation and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
The Super Cup teams completed their arrival yesterday evening, Saturday, to Abu Dhabi, in preparation for the two semi-final matches, where Al-Ittihad will meet Al-Wahda, at 8 pm at Al Nahyan Stadium, and Al-Hilal will meet Al-Nasr at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium at 10:30 pm at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, while The final match, which brings together the winners of the two matches, will be held at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium next Thursday.
The Saudi Super Cup was launched for the first time in 2013, when Al-Fateh, champions of the professional league, met with Al-Ittihad, champions of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, in Mecca. At that time, Al-Fateh won 3-2, crowning them the title of the first edition.
In the following year, 2014, Al-Nasr, the league champion, met Al-Shabab, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup champion, at King Fahd Sports City Stadium in Riyadh, and Al-Shabab won the title on penalties.
The Saudi Super Cup was on a date with a new event for Saudi football, with the match being held outside the borders of the Kingdom, as it was held at Loftus Road Stadium in the British capital, London, and brought together Al-Nasr, the league champion, with Al-Hilal, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup champions, and Al-Hilal won 1-0 to win its first title in the tournament. Super.
The Super Cup returned to the British capital again the following year, 2016, when Craven Cottage Stadium in London hosted the match that brought together Al-Ahly, the league champion, with Al-Hilal, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup champions. Al-Ahly won its first title in the tournament after winning on penalties.
In 2018, the Saudi Super Cup tournament returned after stopping for a year, and in this edition, Loftus Road Stadium in London hosted the match for the second time, which brought together Al-Hilal, the league champion, with Al-Ittihad, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup champions, and Al-Hilal won 2-1 to win its second title.
The Saudi Super Cup returned to the Kingdom, where the 2019 edition was held in Jeddah, specifically at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, “the Radiant Jewel”, and brought together Al-Nassr, the league champion, with Al-Taawoun, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup champions, and Al-Nasr won on penalties to win its first Super Cup title.
Al-Nasr returned to win its second title in the next edition, “2020”, after defeating Al-Hilal 3-0 at the King Fahd Sports City Stadium in Riyadh, before Al-Hilal returned to win its third title in the 2021 edition, which was held in Riyadh and brought it together with Al-Faisaly, where Al-Hilal decided the match by winning with kicks. Penalty shootout in the last edition is held according to the old system of one match, with the participation of the champions of the league and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup.
Starting from the 2022 edition, the new system was introduced for the Saudi Super Cup with the participation of 4 clubs, which are the champions of the league and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, and the runner-up in both tournaments. The first edition of the Saudi Super Cup was held with its new system last year with the participation of 4 clubs, which are Al-Hilal, the league champion, and Al-Fayhaa, the King’s Cup champion. Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr are second and third in the league, given Al-Hilal’s repeated presence in the two tournaments, where it was runner-up to the King’s Cup champion.
Al-Ittihad won the title last year by defeating Al-Nasr in the semi-finals 3-1 before defeating Al-Fayhaa in the final match 2-0 to win its first title in the Saudi Super Cup.
In general, Al Hilal is the team that has won the Saudi Super Cup title “multiple times” in the 2015, 2018, and 2021 editions, followed by Al-Nasr twice in the 2019 and 2020 editions, then once each for Al-Fateh 2013, Al-Shabab 2014, Al-Ahly 2016, and Al-Ittihad 2022.