Sheikh Jassim Cup: history and every winner
Qatar's season opener. Founded in 1977, played every year at the start of the season, and since 2014 a one-off final between the league champions and the Amir Cup winners.
The Sheikh Jassim Cup (كأس الشيخ جاسم, also spelt Sheikh Jassem Cup) was founded in 1977 and takes place every year at the beginning of the Qatari season, before the first round of the Stars League.
Until 2013 every Qatari club entered: four groups, the group winners into the semi-finals, then a final. Since 2014 it has been a super cup, one match between the previous season's league champions and the Amir Cup winners. Al Sadd have won it 15 times, more than twice as often as any other club.
How the cup works
Until 2013 the cup was a small tournament of its own. With 18 clubs entered, the draw made four groups, each group winner went through to a semi-final, and the two semi-final winners met in the final.
From 2014 the format shrank to a single match, the same shape as a super cup elsewhere. The league champions play the Amir Cup winners. The 2015 final was pushed back to January 2016, because both finalists were still playing in the AFC Champions League.
Most titles
| Club | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Al Sadd | 15 | 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2014, 2017, 2019 |
| Al-Arabi | 6 | 1980, 1982, 1994, 2008, 2010, 2011 |
| Al-Rayyan | 5 | 1992, 2000, 2012, 2013, 2018 |
| Qatar SC | 4 | 1983, 1984, 1987, 1995 |
| Al-Wakrah | 4 | 1989, 1991, 1998, 2004 |
| Al-Gharafa | 2 | 2005, 2007 |
| Al Duhail | 2 | 2015, 2016 |
| Al-Shamal | 1 | 1996 |
| Al-Khor | 1 | 2002 |
| Al Shabab | 1 | 2003 |
| Umm Salal | 1 | 2009 |
Every final
42 editions between 1977 and 2019. The cup was not played in 1993. For most of the 1980s and 1990s the record keeps the winner and nothing else, so the runner-up and score columns stay empty there rather than being guessed.
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Al Sadd | Al Duhail | 1-0 |
| 2018 | Al-Rayyan | Al Duhail | 1-1, 5-3 pens |
| 2017 | Al Sadd | Al Duhail | 4-2 |
| 2016 | Lekhwiya | Al-Rayyan | 2-0 |
| 2015 | Lekhwiya | Al Sadd | 4-1 |
| 2014 | Al Sadd | Lekhwiya | 3-2 |
| 2013 | Al-Rayyan | Al Kharaitiyat | 2-0 |
| 2012 | Al-Rayyan | Al Sadd | 1-0 |
| 2011 | Al-Arabi | Umm Salal | 3-2 |
| 2010 | Al-Arabi | Lekhwiya | 1-0 |
| 2009 | Umm Salal | Al-Khor | 2-0 |
| 2008 | Al-Arabi | Al-Rayyan | 3-0 |
| 2007 | Al-Gharafa | Al-Sailiya | 4-2 aet |
| 2006 | Al Sadd | Al-Rayyan | 2-0 |
| 2005 | Al-Gharafa | Al Ahli | 2-1 |
| 2004 | Al-Wakrah | Qatar SC | 1-1 aet, 3-1 pens |
| 2003 | Al Shabab | Al-Wakrah | 2-1 aet |
| 2002 | Al-Khor | Qatar SC | 1-0 asdet |
| 2001 | Al Sadd | ||
| 2000 | Al-Rayyan | Al-Taawun | 2-0 |
| 1999 | Al Sadd | Al-Taawun | 3-2 |
| 1998 | Al-Wakrah | Al Ahli | 2-0 |
| 1997 | Al Sadd | ||
| 1996 | Al-Shamal | ||
| 1995 | Qatar SC | ||
| 1994 | Al-Arabi | ||
| 1993 | Not held | ||
| 1992 | Al-Rayyan | ||
| 1991 | Al-Wakrah | ||
| 1990 | Al Sadd | ||
| 1989 | Al-Wakrah | ||
| 1988 | Al Sadd | ||
| 1987 | Qatar SC | ||
| 1986 | Al Sadd | ||
| 1985 | Al Sadd | ||
| 1984 | Qatar SC | ||
| 1983 | Qatar SC | ||
| 1982 | Al-Arabi | ||
| 1981 | Al Sadd | ||
| 1980 | Al-Arabi | Al Ahli | 2-1 |
| 1979 | Al Sadd | Al Ahli | 1-0 |
| 1978 | Al Sadd | Qatar SC | 2-1 |
| 1977 | Al Sadd | Al-Rayyan | pens |
Source: Wikipedia, Sheikh Jassim Cup, which takes the early winners from the Gulf Times and the format from the Qatar Football Association. "asdet" means a silver goal in extra time. Editions after 2019 are not listed here yet: we have not found a primary record of them we are willing to put our name to.
Where it fits
The cup is one of five domestic competitions around the league, and the only one decided before the league table means anything. How the league and its cups fit together. The clubs that keep turning up in this list are, unsurprisingly, the ones at the top of the current table.