The Al Shaab Sentinel
Match26 Oct 2026
Al Shaab refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 18 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Match24 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Al Shaab do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Hassan Al Junaibi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Walid Al Naqbi in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al Shaab this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Majed Al Suwaidi stands above it all
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.20 on the card, and the Al Shaab support went home talking about one name.
Match24 Oct 2026
Al Shaab and Al Nasr cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Al Nasr came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ahmed Khalfan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al Shaab will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A first senior shirt for Majed Al Naqbi
Every debut is a small story about the future: Majed Al Naqbi, 16 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Market26 Oct 2026
Al Shaab pick up Gustavo Torres for nothing
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Gustavo Torres arrives at Al Shaab with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
In brief
- Player ratings Nobody could get near Mahmoud Al Hammadi
- Player ratings Majed Hassan spends the afternoon fouling