Al Hilal stop Tunisia’s Sfaxien FC in Arab Club Cup qualifying round

Sudan Premier League reigning champions Al Hilal picked a 1-0 win against Sfaxien in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2023 Arab Club Cup.

Mohamed Abdel Rahman Yousif Yagoub netted the lone goal from the penalty spot in a match played on Tuesday night at the Stade Hammadi Agrebi in Tunis.

Al Hilal handled by Florent Ibenge can now afford a draw in the return leg to be played on July 7th to qualify for the group stage.

The 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, officially named the 2023 King Salman Club Cup attracted 37 teams with the CECAFA having Al Hilal, Al Merriekh (Sudan), Arta Solar 7 (Djibouti) and Horseed FC (Somalia).

Arta Solar were eliminated by Fahman FC (Yemen) at the preliminary round, while the same team ejected Somalia’s Horseed in the first round of the preliminary round. Al Merriekh were eliminated in the first round of the qualifying round by Syria’s Tishreen, while Al Hilal progressed after seeing off Manama Club (Bahrain).

Incase Al Hilal qualify they will play Esperance Tunis, Ittihad Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Al-Shorta (Iraq) in the group stage. Morocco’s Raja CA are the defending champions.

The organisers have $10 million prize money at stake with the winner to take $6,000,000. The runner-up will take $2,500,000, the semi finalists $200,000, the quarter finalists $150,000, teams that reach group stage $100,000 and those that stopped in the qualifying stage $20,000.