Alkass Digital
Doha, Qatar - The group stage of 2019 Workers’ Cup, the annual football tournament organised by the Qatar Stars League and sponsored by Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, concluded after Match day 3, with 16 teams booking their places in the knockout stage.
Defending champions Nakheel Landscapes will go into the Round of 16 as winners of Group A, having secured top spot with a stunning 11-0 win over Youth Club. Nakheel will be joined by Black Cat, who finished with the same number of points but ended up second in the group due to an inferior goal difference.
Black Cat confirmed their progression after a comfortable 4-0 victory over DicoTech Qatar.
In Group B, Medgulf Construction and Trags Engineering shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, with both teams having already qualified for the next round. Medgulf maintained their unbeaten start to finish as group leaders with seven points, while Trags are in second place with five. CRC Dora came from behind to snatch a 3-2 win over Trags & Agency Services in the other Group B game, but the result was not enough to see them progress.
Group C saw Spartan Ready Mix overcome Larsen & Toubro 3-2 in an end-to-end game to go through to the next round in first place.
Spartan finished with seven points, two ahead of Galfar Al Misnad, who clinched qualification with a 7-0 victory against HBK. Despite their loss to Spartan, Larsen & Toubro also went through to the Round of 16, after finishing as one of the two best third-placed teams.
NAAAS Group held Doha Pest Control to a 1-1 stalemate in Group D, but the point was not sufficient for them as they ended up in third place. On the other hand, the result confirmed Doha Pest Control’s finish on top of the group ahead of Delta Doha Corp who eased past CCC with a 6-0 result.
Mowasalat and Shapoorji Pallonji had both secured knockout stage spots on Matchday 2, but put up a great spectacle in their top-of-the-table clash in Group E. In the end, two penalties powered Mowasalat to a 2-1 win that saw them finish as group winners, three points ahead of runners-up Shapoorji. Teyseer Services registered their first three points of the tournament in the other game in Group E, after defeating Aktor 2-0.
In Group F, Petroserv and G4S finished on top with both sides equal on points and goal difference. Petroserv went through after dashing Teyseer Security’s hopes with a 4-1 win, while G4S confirmed their spot after a huge 7-0 result over AG Middle East.
Perhaps, the most thrilling game of the day came in Group G, where a fighting Al Asmakh FM side went down 1-2 to Taleb Group.
Taleb weathered the Al Asmakh onslaught and managed to get a 2-0 lead, despite several wasted chances from the opponents. Al Asmakh scored a late penalty, but it was to no avail.
Taleb thus finished on top of Group G with six points, while Al Asmakh also went through in second place despite their loss. The top two teams were joined by Power International, who qualified for the Round of 16 as one of the two best third-placed teams after they defeated Boom Construction 7-0.