DOHA: The Qatar Football Association (QFA) has announced the date of the preliminary round match for the Amir Cup 2022, the 50th edition of the tournament, which will see a clash between Mesaimeer and Al Markhiya, the teams that finished fourth and fifth, respectively in the last season of the Second Division League in 2020-21.

The match will kick off at 5:45 PM on Saturday, January 14th, at Hamad Bin Khalifa Stadium. The QFA has announced that the game will move to a penalty shootout if normal time ends in a draw.

The matchwinner will enter the draw for the Round of 16 of the tournament according to the new format implemented by the QFA since the 48th edition in the 2019-20 season.

The Round of 16 draw will see the teams divided into two pools, the first of which will consist of the eight teams who finished first to eighth in the last season of the QNB Stars League in 2020-21. As for the second pool, it will have the teams ranked ninth to 12th in the QNB Stars League last season, the top three ranked teams from last season’s Second Division League, and the preliminary round game-winner between Mesaimeer and Al Markhiya.