Arabian Gulf Cup

Organising body	Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation
Founded	1970
Number of teams	8
Current champions	Iraq (4th title)
Most successful team(s)	Kuwait (10 titles)
Website	agcff.com
25th Arabian Gulf Cup

The Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic: كأس الخليج العربي, Kaʾs al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī),^[1][2][3] often referred to simply as the Gulf Cup,^[4][5] is a biennial football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of the competition has also seen it held every three to four years due to political or organisational problems.^[6] The reigning champions are Iraq, having won their fourth title at the 25th edition, as hosts, held in 2023.

History

The idea for the tournament was established at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and the first Arabian Gulf Cup took place in 1970 which was won by Kuwait. Kuwait has been the most successful team in the tournament's history, winning 10 tournaments out of 25 in total, followed by Iraq with four titles, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar with three titles each. The current champions are Iraq, who defeated Oman in 2023 to win their fourth title.

Developments

A major point that helped Qatar improve the competition was the fact that Al Jazeera Sports, the leading sports channel in Western Asia, and North Africa is based in Doha. Al Jazeera Sports won broadcasting rights to the 2004, and exclusively in the 19th Arabian Gulf Cup in 2009^[7] after a deal ending in million,^[8] and dramatically reformed the Arabian Gulf Cup by hosting numerous talk shows and documentaries, on top of filming in HD and perfecting camerawork of matches.^[9]

The tournament marked the presence of some of the most influential personalities of the football world, including FIFA President, Sepp Blatter,^[10] and UEFA president, Michel Platini.^[11][12] The FIFA Executive Committee has also put on their October 4, 2013 meeting agenda to hear the proposal for the Arabian Gulf Cup to be included in the international match calendar.^[13]

Political and security issues

From 1990 to 2003, Iraq was banned due to the Gulf War. ^[14]

The 21st Arabian Gulf Cup in 2013 was originally scheduled to be hosted in the city of Basra, Iraq, but was moved to Bahrain in October 2011 to ensure that Iraq could suitably host the competition in the 22nd edition.^[15]

The 22nd Arabian Gulf Cup was also shifted after concerns of preparation and security. ^[16]

Likewise, the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup was also originally scheduled to be held in Basra, Iraq, with an official decision set to be made in February 2015. On 2 February 2015, the Iraqi Ministry of Youth announced that Iraq would not host the competition due to a financial crisis in Iraq.^[17][18]

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. In July 2019, the AGCFF announced that the 24th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup would be held in the Qatari capital of Doha. In October 2019, the three countries announced they would not participate in the competition.^[19] However, later in November 2019, the three countries agreed to take part and the draw for the tournament was re-made.^[20]

Results

Edition	Year	Hosts		Final				Third place match or losing semi-finalists
				Champions	Score	Runners-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place
1st Details	1970	Bahrain		Kuwait	round-robin	Bahrain		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	Qatar
2nd Details	1972	Saudi Arabia		Kuwait	round-robin	Saudi Arabia		United Arab Emirates	round-robin	Qatar
3rd Details	1974	Kuwait		Kuwait	4–0	Saudi Arabia		Qatar	1–1 (3–0 p.)	United Arab Emirates
4th Details	1976	Qatar		Kuwait	4–2	Iraq		Qatar	round-robin	Bahrain
5th Details	1979	Iraq		Iraq	round-robin	Kuwait		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	Bahrain
6th Details	1982	United Arab Emirates		Kuwait	round-robin	Bahrain		United Arab Emirates	round-robin	Saudi Arabia
7th Details	1984	Oman		Iraq	1–1 (3–2 p.)	Qatar		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	United Arab Emirates
8th Details	1986	Bahrain		Kuwait	round-robin	United Arab Emirates		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	Qatar
9th Details	1988	Saudi Arabia		Iraq	round-robin	United Arab Emirates		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	Bahrain
10th Details	1990	Kuwait		Kuwait	round-robin	Qatar		Bahrain	round-robin	Oman
11th Details	1992	Qatar		Qatar	round-robin	Bahrain		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	United Arab Emirates
12th Details	1994	United Arab Emirates		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	United Arab Emirates		Bahrain	round-robin	Qatar
13th Details	1996	Oman		Kuwait	round-robin	Qatar		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	United Arab Emirates
14th Details	1998	Bahrain		Kuwait	round-robin	Saudi Arabia		United Arab Emirates	round-robin	Oman
15th Details	2002	Saudi Arabia		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	Qatar		Kuwait	round-robin	Bahrain
16th Details	2003–04	Kuwait		Saudi Arabia	round-robin	Bahrain		Qatar	round-robin	Oman
17th Details	2004	Qatar		Qatar	1–1 (6–5 p.)	Oman		Bahrain	3–1	Kuwait
18th Details	2007	United Arab Emirates		United Arab Emirates	1–0	Oman		Bahrain and  Saudi Arabia
19th Details	2009	Oman		Oman	0–0 (6–5 p.)	Saudi Arabia		Kuwait and  Qatar
20th Details	2010	Yemen		Kuwait	1–0	Saudi Arabia		Iraq and  United Arab Emirates
21st Details	2013	Bahrain		United Arab Emirates	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Iraq		Kuwait	6–1	Bahrain
22nd Details	2014	Saudi Arabia		Qatar	2–1	Saudi Arabia		United Arab Emirates	1–0	Oman
23rd Details	2017–18	Kuwait		Oman	0–0 (5–4 p.)	United Arab Emirates		Bahrain and  Iraq
24th Details	2019	Qatar		Bahrain	1–0	Saudi Arabia		Iraq and  Qatar
25th Details	2023	Iraq		Iraq	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Oman		Bahrain and  Qatar
26th Details	2024	Kuwait
27th Details	2025	Oman

Winners summary

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Semi-finalists (no 3rd Place Match)
Kuwait	10 (1970, 1972, 1974*, 1976, 1982, 1986, 1990*, 1996, 1998, 2010)	1 (1979)	2 (2002, 2013)	1 (2004)	1 (2009)
Iraq	4 (1979*, 1984, 1988, 2023*)	2 (1976, 2013)	–	–	3 (2010, 2017–18, 2019)
Saudi Arabia	3 (1994, 2002*, 2003–04)	7 (1972*, 1974, 1998, 2009, 2010, 2014*, 2019)	7 (1970, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1988*, 1992, 1996)	1 (1982)	1 (2007)
Qatar	3 (1992*, 2004*, 2014)	4 (1984, 1990, 1996, 2002)	2 (1976*, 2003–04)	5 (1970, 1972, 1974, 1986, 1994)	3 (2009, 2019*,2023)
United Arab Emirates	2 (2007*, 2013)	4 (1986, 1988, 1994*, 2017–18)	5 (1972, 1974, 1982*, 1998, 2014)	3 (1984, 1992, 1996)	1 (2010)
Oman	2 (2009*, 2017–18)	3 (2004, 2007, 2023)	–	4 (1990, 1998, 2003–04, 2014)	–
Bahrain	1 (2019)	4 (1970*, 1982, 1992, 2003–04)	3 (1990, 1994, 2004)	5 (1976, 1979, 1988, 2002, 2013*)	3 (2007, 2017–18, 2023)
Yemen	–	–	–	–	–

Note:

• An asterisk (*) beside the year in the above table means that country hosted the tournament.

Participating nations

Team	1970	1972	1974	1976	1979	1982	1984	1986	1988	1990	1992	1994	1996	1998	2002	2003–04	2004	2007	2009	2010	2013	2014	2017–18	2019	2023	Total
Bahrain	2nd	WD	GS	4th	4th	2nd	GS	GS	4th	3rd	2nd	3rd	GS	GS	GS	2nd	3rd	SF	GS	GS	4th	GS	SF	1st	SF	25
Emirates		3rd	4th	GS	GS	3rd	4th	2nd	2nd	GS	4th	2nd	4th	3rd	GS	GS	GS	1st	GS	SF	1st	3rd	2nd	GS	GS	24
Iraq				2nd	1st	WD	1st	GS	1st	WD							GS	GS	GS	SF	2nd	GS	SF	SF	1st	16
Kuwait	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	GS	1st	GS	1st	GS	GS	1st	1st	3rd	GS	4th	GS	SF	1st	3rd	GS	GS	GS	GS	25
Oman			GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	4th	GS	GS	GS	4th	GS	4th	2nd	2nd	1st	GS	GS	4th	1st	GS	2nd	23
Qatar	4th	4th	3rd	3rd	GS	GS	2nd	4th	GS	2nd	1st	4th	2nd	GS	2nd	3rd	1st	GS	SF	GS	GS	1st	GS	SF	SF	25
Saudi Arabia	3rd	2nd	2nd	GS	3rd	4th	3rd	3rd	3rd		3rd	1st	3rd	2nd	1st	1st	GS	SF	2nd	2nd	GS	2nd	GS	2nd	GS	24
Yemen																GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	10
Total	4	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8

Legend:

• #: Invitee
• Red border: Host nation
• Blank: Did not enter
• TBD: To be determined
• GS: Group stage
• SF: Semi-finalists (No third place match)
• WD: Withdrew

Note:

•  Iraq was banned from the competition from 1992 to 2003.
•  Yemen have not yet won the championship nor even won a single competitive game.
• There were no third place play-offs for the Arabian Gulf Cup from 2007 to 2010 and from 2017–18 onwards.

Summary

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Saudi Arabia	24	112	57	25	30	166	106	+60	196
2	Kuwait	25	115	57	24	34	200	115	+85	195
3	Qatar	25	114	43	29	42	140	136	+4	158
4	United Arab Emirates	24	114	41	29	41	119	139	−20	152
5	Iraq	14	73	37	25	11	132	64	+68	136
6	Bahrain	24	107	32	34	41	113	135	−22	130
7	Oman	22	111	23	29	59	91	180	−89	98
8	Yemen	10	33	0	6	27	12	84	−72	6

Source:^[21]

Note:

1. 1972 (Bahrain were ejected from the competition)
2. 1982 (Iraq withdrew from the competition)
3. 1990 to 2004 (Iraq withdrew from the competition)

All-time goal records

All-time goal records by Tournaments:^[22]

•  Kuwait reached 100 goals on 3 March 1988 vs  Qatar
•  Kuwait reached 200 goals on 13 January 2023 vs  Bahrain
•  Saudi Arabia reached 100 goals on 19 October 1996 vs  Qatar
•  Qatar reached 100 goals on 16 December 2004 vs  Oman
•  Iraq reached 100 goals on 2 December 2010 vs  Kuwait
•  Bahrain reached 100 goals on 11 January 2013 vs  Qatar
•  United Arab Emirates reached 100 goals on 11 January 2013 vs  Oman

Does not include goals from annulled or abandoned games (1972 –  Bahrain games, 1982 & 1990  Iraq games)

Includes 1974 preliminary round games

Does not include penalty shoot-out goals

All-time top scorers

Updated on 4 December 2019.

Rank	Player	Country	Goals
1	Jasem Yaqoub	Kuwait	18
2	Majed Abdullah	Saudi Arabia	17
	Hussein Saeed	Iraq	17
4	Jasem Al Huwaidi	Kuwait	14
	Faisal Al-Dakhil	Kuwait	14
6	Ali Mabkhout	United Arab Emirates	13
	Mansour Muftah	Qatar	13
8	Bader Al-Mutawa	Kuwait	12
	Yussef Al-Suwayed	Kuwait	12
10	Fahad Khamees	United Arab Emirates	10
	Mahmoud Soufi	Qatar	10
	Yasser Al-Qahtani	Saudi Arabia	10

Players in bold are still active

Golden boot history

Year	Player(s)	Goals scored
1970	Mohammed Masawd	3
	Jawad Khalif
1972	Hamad Bu Hamood	6
1974	Jasem Yaqoub	6
1976	Jasem Yaqoub	9
1979	Hussein Saeed	10
1982	Ebrahim Zwaeed	3
	Saleem Khalifa
	Yussif Swaid
	Majed Abdullah
1984	Hussain Saeed	7
1986	Fahad Khamees	6
1988	Zuhair Bukheet	4
	Ahmad Radhi
1990	Mohammed Ebrahim Hajeyah	5
1992	Mubarak Mustafa	3
1994	Fuad Anwar	4
	Mahmoud Soufi
1996	Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi	4
1998	Jasem Al Huwaidi	9
2002	Hani Al-Dhabit	5
2003–04	Talal Yousef	5
2004	Amad Al Hosni	4
2007	Ismail Matar	5
2009	Hassan Rabia	4
2010	Bader Al-Mutawa	3
	Alaa Abdul-Zahra
2013	Ahmed Khalil	3
	Abdulhadi Khamis
2014	Ali Mabkhout	5
2017–18	Ali Husni	2
	Ali Faez
	Jamal Rashid
	Almoez Ali
	Said Al-Ruzaiqi
2019	Ali Mabkhout	5
2023	Aymen Hussein	3
	Ibrahim Bayesh

Other records

• Biggest win – 8 goals

 Kuwait 8–0  Oman (29 March 1976)

• Most goals in a game – 8 goals

 Kuwait 8–0  Oman (29 March 1976)

• Most individual goals in a single game – 5 goals

Majed Abdullah,  Saudi Arabia (3 April 1979 vs  Qatar)

Jassem Al Houwaidi,  Kuwait (1998 vs  Qatar)

• Most individual goals in a single tournament – 10 goals

Hussein Saeed,  Iraq (1979)