The ninth and final round of the group stage in the first "Split 1" of the "Kings League" for the Middle East and North Africa region "Kings League MENA" concluded on Friday at the Kol Arena in Riyadh. Teams 3BS and Turbo seized the last two tickets to the quarter-finals, finishing above ABO FC and Rising Peaks in the overall standings.
DR7, RA2, and Red Zone officially confirmed their presence in the quarter-finals, where matches will be played next Monday. Red Zone will face RA2, Turbo will face Ultra Chmicha, and DR7 will clash with 3BS. It is worth noting that team FWZ, led by Fawaz, secured its spot directly in the semi-finals by finishing the group stage at the top of the overall standings.
The Saudi team RA2, led by Raed, secured its place in the quarter-finals with a crushing 7-2 victory over the Qatari team ABO FC, officially eliminating Abu Fala from the tournament. RA2 continued its winning streak dating back to the sixth round, sending an early warning message when its goalkeeper, Eloi Amuido, opened the scoring in the second minute.
RA2 extended its lead with three brilliant goals signed by Hussam Taha, David Reyes, and Nawaf Saleh, widening the gap in the middle of the match. In the decisive moments, Marc Suroche, the team's top scorer and winner of the "MVP" award twice, finished the match by scoring a penalty and then scoring the decisive goal during the "Matchball Mode" phase.
In another match, the Egyptian team Turbo, led by Tarboun, the team president and content creator, secured its qualification to the quarter-finals after defeating the Moroccan team Bakhira FC 4-2. The Moroccan team, led by co-presidents Ashraf Sabiri and Younes Zarou, suffered a catastrophic start when its player Louis "Bolt" Henrique was sent off in the first seconds after a foul against his opponent in a "1 vs 1" challenge.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Bakhira FC held on and remained in the competition thanks to the brilliance of Mehdi Qasim, who scored a penalty and a goal in the "Shoot-out" penalties. The match also saw Tarboun execute and score his special team president penalty. The teams entered the "Matchball Mode" stage with Turbo leading 3-2, raising the excitement level in search of the golden goal, which came from team star Youssef Al-Nibrawi, who had scored in the 23rd minute, returning to score the winning goal in the 41st minute.
For his part, the Jordanian team 3BS, led by Abasi, defeated team DR7 (which had already secured its qualification) in penalty kicks after a breathless match that ended 4-4 in regular time at the 36th minute. The match started at a frantic pace, with three goals scored in the first minute alone, giving 3BS a 2-1 lead. The second half saw both presidents, Darbaha and Abasi, miss their team president penalty kicks.
French star Moussa Saw, striker for team 3BS, stole the spotlight in the penalty kicks by scoring the decisive winning goal, giving his team a chance to fight for quarter-final qualification. However, 3BS's victory was not enough to guarantee direct qualification, as a victory for Rising Peaks over the Jordanian team Red Zone in the following match would have been enough to hand the ticket to the Al-Shahri team.
But Red Zone broke the hearts of Rising Peaks fans by defeating the Al-Shahri team, simultaneously securing the qualification of its Jordanian compatriot, team 3BS, to the quarter-finals. Both teams succeeded in scoring their team president penalties, with Abdullah Al-Darais scoring for Peaks, while Ali Musa scored his seventh team president penalty of the tournament for Red Zone in the second half.
Team Maharko launched a crushing attack in the second half, scoring four consecutive unanswered goals, asserting complete control and entering the "Matchball Mode" stage leading 7-4. In another match, despite both teams having already secured qualification, Ultra Chmicha and FWZ exchanged the lead several times before the Moroccan team, led by Elias Al-Maliki, secured the result in its favor.
Ultra Chmicha managed to take the lead by scoring a "double goal" in the 33rd minute and another goal that allowed it to enter the "Matchball Mode" stage leading 7-4. Despite FWZ's attempts to close the gap with two goals, Walid Jaadi finished the match with a decisive goal in the 41st minute. This elevated Ultra Chmicha to third place, while FWZ remained at the top.
The quarter-final matches on Monday pave the way toward the decisive final scene of the season, where the "Final Four" on October 30 will crown the champion of the first "Split 1". Tickets for the content creators' exhibition match and the quarter-final matches are available via the Weboq platform.
Fans across the region can also follow all matches for free via the personal broadcast channels of the presidents of the Kings League MENA teams, as well as the official channels of the tournament on Kick, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch. The tournament is covered live in the Middle East and North Africa region through official media partner MBC Group via MBC Action channel and Shahid platform.
Source: Arriyadiyah newspaper
Comments (0)