Brighton & Hove Albion face HKFC Standard Chartered Soccer Sevens
Champions Brighton and Hove Albion will take on seven- times winners Aston Villa in a blockbuster quarter-final clash at the 2025 HKFC Standard Chartered Soccer Sevens on Sunday after last year's winners lost 1-0 to Yokohama F. Marinos on Saturday in Group C.
The Japanese side's win completed a clean sweep of group victories for the J1 League outfit after earlier successes against Yau Yee League Select and Singapore Football Club to set up a last eight clash against Australia's Western United, the Group A runners-up.
"We're really happy that we won all three games today, but we've come here to win the tournament," said Yokohama F. Marinos captain Kaede Hosokawa. "Our tournament starts tomorrow. "We're not a team normally, we play in different teams at home but we all used to play in the academy together so we have good chemistry and we believed we could win all three games today."
Aston Villa finished on top of Group A with nine points having completed their commitments in the opening phase with a 4-0 win over Western United at Sports Road, and the all- Premier League club clash will kick off a tantalising quarter-final line-up on Sunday. Brighton & Hove Albion face HKFC Standard Chartered Soccer Sevens quarterfinal with Aston Villas as Yokohama F.
Marinos target title
Tournament newcomers Larne FC and AZ Alkmaar from the Netherlands will face off after the pair progressed through their respective groups, with the Northern Irish outfit claiming top spot in Group D ahead of West Ham United.
Wins over BC Rangers and Singapore Cricket Club before a draw with the Premier League club secured the event debutants their spot in the last eight.
"We've come over here and we're unknown, teams don't know what to expect from us and we've come here with no expectations," said Larne captain Josh Kee.
"We've really given it a good go. "It's quite different when you're playing seven-a-side and you're trying to find out stuff, but I think our raw Northern Irish mentality and determination had us running around a lot when other teams would have been more passive.
"We were getting after teams and we got two wins, and Benji Magee was fantastic with the two goals in the first two games." Alkmaar took second place in Group B behind surprise package Hong Kong Football Club as former champions Leicester City crashed out with a third-place finish, meaning the event hosts will take on West Ham United in the last eight.
In the Women's Tournament, last year's runners-up Kitchee SC will play Wrexham AFC Women in the final after the Hong Kong-based club finished on top of the group stage standings. Wrexham took second in the league phase while defending champions TSL FC will play Thailand's Chonburi FC in the Shield Final following third and fourth place finishes in the group respectively. In the Masters Tournament, Kowloon Cricket Club Masters topped Group A with seven points ahead of last year's runners-up, Singapore Football Club Masters.
KCC Masters will play Group B runners-up Wallsend Boys Club HK in the semi-finals while SFC Masters meet former champions Ampcontrol Discovery Bay, who won Group B with a perfect record.
Tickets are available on zicket.co. Free entry for children under 5 years old all weekend. Single day tickets cost $180 for adults, $50 for juniors (5-18 years old) per day, and weekend passes are $300.
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