Frenchman Karim Benzema led Al-Ittihad to a convincing 4-1 victory over Al-Shabab, securing a spot in the semifinals of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup after a strong offensive performance at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah.

Al-Ittihad began their match under the leadership of Portuguese coach Sergio Conceição with a lineup including Rajkovic, Fabinho, Hassan Kadash, Danilo Pereira, Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti, N’Golo Kanté, Mamadou Doumbia, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Roger Fernandes, Karim Benzema, and Steven Bergwijn, aiming for an early decision.

Al-Shabab opened the scoring through Moroccan Abdelrazak Hamdallah in the 14th minute following a pass from Hammam Al-Hamami, but Al-Ittihad responded quickly when Mamadou Doumbia equalized in the 20th minute after a successful follow-up on the attack.

Benzema added Al-Ittihad’s second goal in the 30th minute, capitalizing on a precise pass inside the penalty area to end the first half leading 2-1 amid clear dominance by the Tigers.

The match referee disallowed an Al-Shabab goal in the 60th minute after video assistant referee (VAR) review revealed an offside on Hammam Al-Hamami, allowing Al-Ittihad to maintain their lead and push forward to strengthen their advantage.

Benzema shone again six minutes before the end of the match, scoring Al-Ittihad’s third goal following an impressive individual effort, then added a fourth goal just two minutes later, completing a brilliant hat-trick that completely ended Al-Shabab’s hopes.

With this significant victory, Al-Ittihad joins Al-Hilal, Al-Kholood, and Al-Ahli in the King’s Cup semifinals, having previously eliminated Al-Nassr in the round of 16. Meanwhile, Al-Shabab had reached the quarterfinals after defeating Al-Zulfi by a single goal.