Mitrovic claims two trophies with Al Rayyan: 'Qatar gave me back the goal in my bones'
Aleksandar Mitrovic with Al Rayyan won the Qatari League Cup in April and the Gulf Club Championship trophy in the same month. Key goals in the dying minutes throughout the season.
- Aleksandar Mitrovic with Al Rayyan won the Qatari League Cup on 15 April.
- The Serbian scored in the 53rd minute of the final against Muaither, final score 2-0.
- In the same month he won the Gulf Club Championship trophy, beating Al Shabab 3-0.
- Through the season, decisive late goals against Al Ahli, Qatar SC and Al Sadd.
At Education City Stadium in Doha, on 15 April 2026, Aleksandar Mitrovic climbed above the Muaither defence in the 53rd minute of the Qatari League Cup final. The header went under the crossbar, the ball ended in the far corner. That was the goal that decided the match.
The Serbian with Al Rayyan is having a season everyone is talking about. Two trophies, eleven goals in 22 appearances, entering Qatari folklore as the foreigner who in his first nine months delivered the club its first title in seven years.
Qatari League Cup in hand
The Qatari League Cup final was played at Education City. The Doha club, after Mitrovic’s 53rd-minute goal, gained the upper hand, leading to a second goal that sealed the match at 2-0.
It was the first trophy of Mitrovic’s career since moving from Al Hilal to Al Rayyan in the summer of 2025. The Serbian came to Qatar after two years in the Saudi league, where he had won no major trophy in Al Hilal’s shirt.
Qatar gave me back the goal in my bones. After two years without a title in the Saudi league, I feel like the same player who scored fifteen goals at Fulham in his first few months, Aleksandar Mitrovic said in his statement to Trial Football.
Mitrovic signed a three-year contract with Al Rayyan with wages above ten million euros per season.
Gulf trophy and key goals
In April the club also won a second trophy, the Gulf Club Championship, a competition bringing together clubs from the Gulf region. The final 3-0 win over Al Shabab lifted Al Rayyan to the top of the collective league.
Through the season, Mitrovic delivered several decisive late goals.
- February 2026, a goal in the 82nd minute against Al Ahli to equalise
- March 2026, a goal in the 90th plus 3rd minute against Qatar SC for 3-3
- February 2026, a goal in stoppage time against Al Sadd for 1-1
- in the Qatari League Cup final on 15 April, a goal for 1-0
- in the Gulf Club Championship final on 24 April, a goal for 2-0
Five of eleven goals this season came after the 80th minute. Mitrovic earned the nickname “king of the late hours” among the Qatari crowd.
National team duty
After the Qatari season ends, the Serbian returns to Belgrade to prepare for the national team’s June matches against Andorra and Latvia.
Manager Dragan Stojkovic sees him as the first-choice striker for the key fixtures of the September window, when Serbia travels to Albania for a match that could decide a playoff slot for the 2026 World Cup. After this kind of season at Al Rayyan, Mitrovic enters that calendar in top form.
What Mitrovic says about the future
The Serbian gave an interview to a Qatari sports TV channel in May, after the second trophy. The conversation produced plenty of headline material.
The market opened back in October for a possible return to England, but Al Rayyan firmly rejected every offer. A clause in the contract states that the player can only leave the club in 2028, and only via a release clause above 30 million euros.
Will Mitrovic with Al Rayyan also attack the Asian title in the AFC Champions League next season, or does another trophy in the Qatari calendar await him?
