Hat-trick hero Benzema wants King's Cup to spark Al Ittihad's season | OneFootball

With a hat-trick to fire Al Ittihad into the King’s Cup semi-finals, and long break now until their next match, Karim Benzema has vowed that the Roshn Saudi League champions will be ready to hit the ground running upon their return to action.

The King’s Cup holders defeated Al Shabab 4-1 in Jeddah on Saturday night to keep alive their chances of retaining the trophy they captured as part of a brilliant double last season.

It made it back-to-back domestic wins for Al Ittihad, who last week signed off for the RSL’s latest break with a 2-1 victory against Al Riyadh - their first league triumph in six matches. Nine rounds into the 2025-26 RSL, Al Ittihad sit seventh, 13 points off Al Nassr at the top.

Speaking after firing his side into the King's Cup semis, club captain Benzema said: “It was a good victory. From the first minute, we felt that we had to do more to win this game, because [Al] Shabab is a good team.

“And today was a moment of character, because in the last games we weren't doing well. But with hard work, in the end, we played a good game.”

The hat-trick marked Benzema’s second treble of the season following his three goals at Al Okhdood in the RSL’s opening round back in August.

It also lifted the former Real Madrid captain’s recent tally to six goals in his past three matches: in the space of six days, Benzema netted against Al Riyadh and scored twice in midweek in the AFC Champions League Elite.

Asked if he believed before the Al Shabab tie that he would notch a hat-trick, he said: "Three? No, but I knew I was going to score goals. I was talking to my teammates, because whenever I score goals, it's thanks to them.”

On Al Ittihad using the King’s Cup result to spark their campaign, Benzema added: "Football is very complicated. Every time, every three days, we have to be at our best.

“We have a very, very good group [of players]. We train hard. Now we have holidays and then, when we come back, we're going to be ready.”

Al Ittihad, who defeated Al Qadsiah in the final in May, will face Al Kholood in the last four after the Ar Rass side defeated Al Khaleej 4-3 on Friday.

In the other semi-final, Asian champions Al Ahli were rewarded for their penalty-shootout win against Al Qadsiah - the match finished 3-3 in normal time - with a clash against Al Hilal, who saw off Al Fateh 4-1.