The 2023 King Cup Final was the 48th final of the King Cup, Saudi Arabia's main football knock-out competition since its inception in 1957.

2023 King Cup Final
Event2022–23 King Cup
After extra time
Al-Hilal won 7–6 on penalties
Date12 May 2023 (2023-05-12)
VenueKing Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah
Man of the MatchAbdullah Al-Mayouf (Al-Hilal)[1]
RefereeSzymon Marciniak (Poland)[2]
Attendance52,320
WeatherClear
31.4 °C (88.5 °F)
36% humidity[3]
2022
2024

The final was played at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, on 12 May 2023.[4] The match was contested by Al-Hilal and Al-Wehda.[5] It was Al-Hilal's 18th King Cup final and Al-Wehda's 8th.

Al-Hilal defeated Al-Wehda on penalties in the final following a 1–1 draw after extra time to win their 10th title.[6]

Teams edit

Team Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Al-Hilal 17 (1961, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2022)
Al-Wehda 7 (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1966, 1970)

Venue edit

 
The King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah hosted the final

The King Abdullah Sports City, also known as the Jewel Stadium, was announced as the venue of the final on 27 April 2023.[7] This was the seventh time the King Abdullah Sports City hosted the final following those in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2022 and was the fifteenth time it was hosted in Jeddah.

The King Abdullah Sports City was built in 2012, and opened in 2014 as the home of Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and the Saudi Arabia national team. Its current capacity is 62,345, and the record attendance was the opening match which was the 2014 King Cup final. The stadium also hosted many other finals including the 2019 Saudi Super Cup, the 2018 Supercoppa Italiana and the 2019–20 Supercopa de España.

Background edit

Al-Hilal reached their record-tying 18th final after a 1–0 win against Al-Ittihad.[8] This was Al-Hilal's second consecutive final, third final in four years, and sixth final since the tournament was reintroduced. Al-Hilal lost last season's final on penalties after a 1–1 draw against Al-Fayha.[9]

Al-Wehda reached their eighth final after a 1–0 win against Al-Nassr.[10] This was Al-Wehda's first final since the tournament was reintroduced in 2008. It was also Al-Wehda's first final since 1970, setting the record for the longest gap between final appearances at 53 years.

The two teams met twice earlier in the season with the first fixture ending in a 3–0 victory for Al-Hilal and the second ending in a 3–3 draw. This will be the second King Cup final between these two sides after the 1961 final which ended in a 3–2 win for Al-Hilal.[11] This was the eighth meeting between these two sides in the King Cup with Al-Hilal winning six times and one draw between them. In the clubs' 103 previous meetings, Al-Hilal won 75, Al-Wehda won 8 and the remaining 20 were drawn.[12]

Road to the final edit

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Al-Hilal Round Al-Wehda
Opponent Result 2022–23 King Cup Opponent Result
Al-Ettifaq (H) 4–0 Round of 16 Damac (A) 1–0
Al-Fateh (H) 3–1 Quarter-finals Al-Batin (H) 2–1
Al-Ittihad (A) 1–0 (a.e.t.) Semi-finals Al-Nassr (A) 1–0

Match edit

Details edit

Al-Hilal1–1 (a.e.t.)Al-Wehda
  • Al-Bulaihi   90+9'
Report
Penalties
7–6
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Al-Hilal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Al-Wehda
GK 1   Abdullah Al-Mayouf (c)
RB 2   Mohammed Al-Breik   42'   46'
CB 20   Jang Hyun-soo   112'
CB 5   Ali Al-Bulaihi
LB 12   Yasser Al-Shahrani   83'
DM 8   Abdullah Otayf   46'
CM 19   André Carrillo
CM 28   Mohamed Kanno   46'
RF 17   Moussa Marega   114'
CF 10   Luciano Vietto   83'
LF 96   Michael
Substitutes:
GK 21   Mohammed Al-Owais
DF 4   Khalifah Al-Dawsari
DF 66   Saud Abdulhamid   46'
DF 70   Mohammed Jahfali
MF 16   Nasser Al-Dawsari   71'   46'
MF 43   Musab Al-Juwayr   83'
FW 9   Odion Ighalo   80'   46'
FW 11   Saleh Al-Shehri   114'
FW 14   Abdullah Al-Hamdan   83'
Manager:
  Ramón Díaz
GK 1   Munir Mohamedi
RB 28   Hamad Al-Jayzani   94'   105'
CB 2   Ali Makki
CB 6   Óscar Duarte
LB 27   Islam Hawsawi   90'
DM 4   Waleed Bakshween (c)   71'
CM 76   Fayçal Fajr
CM 88   Alaa Al Hejji   51'
RF 24   Abdulaziz Noor   31'   55'
CF 74   Karim Yoda   90'
LF 87   Anselmo
Substitutes:
GK 13   Abdulquddus Atiah
DF 3   Abdulelah Bukhari   90'
DF 23   Amiri Kurdi   90'
MF 12   Abdulkareem Al-Qahtani
MF 29   Sultan Al-Akouz
MF 49   Sultan Al-Sawadi
MF 80   Yahya Al-Naji   55'
MF 90   Hazzaa Al-Ghamdi   105'
FW 9   Jean-David Beauguel   71'
Manager:
  José Luis Sierra

Man of the Match:
Abdullah Al-Mayouf (Al-Hilal)[1]

Assistant referees:[2]
Paweł Sokolnicki (Poland)
Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland)
Fourth official:[2]
Faisal Al-Blwi
Video assistant referee:[2]
Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)
Assistant video assistant referee:[2]
Omar Al-Jamal

Match rules

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Nine named substitutes
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.

Statistics edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "المعيوف يحصل على جائزة أفضل لاعب في النهائي".
  2. ^ a b c d e "صافرة بولندية تضبط نهائي كأس الملك.. بين الهلال والوحدة".
  3. ^ "Weather in Jeddah - 12 May 2023".
  4. ^ "موعد نهائي كأس الملك 2023 بين الهلال والوحدة والقنوات الناقلة".
  5. ^ "في نهائي أغلى الكؤوس.. اللقب العاشر لـ"الهلال" أم الثالث لـ"الوحدة"؟".
  6. ^ "نيابة عن خادم الحرمين الشريفين .. سمو ولي العهد يتوج فريق الهلال بكأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين للموسم الرياضي 2022 - 2023".
  7. ^ "ولي العهد يحضر نهائي كأس الملك الجمعة 22 شوال في جدة".
  8. ^ "«نيران صديقة» تصعد بالهلال إلى نهائي كأس الملك".
  9. ^ "ولي العهد يتوج الفيحاء بكأس الملك".
  10. ^ "بـ10 لاعبين.. الوحدة يقصي النصر ويلحق بالهلال".
  11. ^ "أول فرحة لجماهير الهلال في الصايغ".
  12. ^ "تاريخ لقاءات".

External links edit