Arabian Gulf Cup
Organising bodyArab Gulf Cup Football Federation
Founded1970
Number of teams8
Current champions Iraq
(4th title)
Most successful team(s) Kuwait
(10 titles)
Websiteagcff.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

2007 Gulf Cup Stadium
View of the jam-packed stadium during the 18th Arabian Gulf Cup in Abu Dhabi in 2007

A major point that helped Qatar improve the competition was 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][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 (a.e.t.)
(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 (a.e.t.)
(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 (a.e.t.)
(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 (a.e.t.)
(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 (a.e.t.)
(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

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 Bahrain
1970
Saudi Arabia
1972
Kuwait
1974
Qatar
1976
Iraq
1979
United Arab Emirates
1982
Oman
1984
Bahrain
1986
Saudi Arabia
1988
Kuwait
1990
Qatar
1992
United Arab Emirates
1994
Oman
1996
Bahrain
1998
Saudi Arabia
2002
Kuwait
2003–04
Qatar
2004
United Arab Emirates
2007
Oman
2009
Yemen
2010
Bahrain
2013
Saudi Arabia
2014
Kuwait
2017–18
Qatar
2019
Iraq
2023
Total
 Bahrain 2ndWDGS4th4th2ndGSGS4th3rd2nd3rdGSGSGS2nd3rdSFGSGS4thGSSF1stSF25
United Arab Emirates UAE 3rd4thGSGS3rd4th2nd2ndGS4th2nd4th3rdGSGSGS1stGSSF1st3rd2ndGSGS24
 Iraq 2nd1stWD1stGS1stWDGSGSGSSF2ndGSSFSF1st16
 Kuwait 1st1st1st1st2nd1stGS1stGS1stGSGS1st1st3rdGS4thGSSF1st3rdGSGSGSGS25
 Oman GSGSGSGSGSGSGS4thGSGSGS4thGS4th2nd2nd1stGSGS4th1stGS2nd23
 Qatar 4th4th3rd3rdGSGS2nd4thGS2nd1st4th2ndGS2nd3rd1stGSSFGSGS1stGSSFSF25
 Saudi Arabia 3rd2nd2ndGS3rd4th3rd3rd3rd3rd1st3rd2nd1st1stGSSF2nd2ndGS2ndGS2ndGS24
 Yemen GSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS10
Total4567777776666667888888888

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 (Iraq withdrew from the competition)

All-time goal records

All-time goal records by Tournaments:[22]

Tournament Games Goals scored Goals per game
1970 6 19 3.17
1972 6 25 4.17
1974 10 40 4.00
1976 22 84 3.82
1979 21 70 3.33
1982 15 38 2.53
1984 22 51 2.32
1986 21 53 2.52
1988 21 34 1.62
1990 10 21 2.10
1992 15 30 2.00
1994 15 34 2.27
1996 15 35 2.33
1998 15 40 2.67
2002 15 33 2.20
2003–04 21 46 2.19
2004 16 59 3.69
2007 15 34 2.27
2009 15 31 2.07
2010 15 30 2.00
2013 16 36 2.25
2014 16 33 2.06
2017–18 15 23 1.53
2019 15 45 3.00
2023 15 39 2.60

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 Kuwait Mohammed Masawd3
Kuwait Jawad Khalif
1972 Kuwait Hamad Bu Hamood6
1974 Kuwait Jasem Yaqoub6
1976 Kuwait Jasem Yaqoub9
1979 Iraq Hussein Saeed10
1982 Bahrain Ebrahim Zwaeed3
United Arab Emirates Saleem Khalifa
Kuwait Yussif Swaid
Saudi Arabia Majed Abdullah
1984 Iraq Hussain Saeed7
1986 United Arab Emirates Fahad Khamees6
1988 United Arab Emirates Zuhair Bukheet4
Iraq Ahmad Radhi
1990 Kuwait Mohammed Ebrahim Hajeyah5
1992 Qatar Mubarak Mustafa3
1994 Saudi Arabia Fuad Anwar4
Qatar Mahmoud Soufi
1996 Qatar Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi4
1998 Kuwait Jasem Al Huwaidi9
2002 Oman Hani Al-Dhabit5
2003–04 Bahrain Talal Yousef5
2004 Oman Amad Al Hosni4
2007 United Arab Emirates Ismail Matar5
2009 Oman Hassan Rabia4
2010 Kuwait Bader Al-Mutawa3
Iraq Alaa Abdul-Zahra
2013 United Arab Emirates Ahmed Khalil3
Kuwait Abdulhadi Khamis
2014 United Arab Emirates Ali Mabkhout5
2017–18 Iraq Ali Husni2
Iraq Ali Faez
Bahrain Jamal Rashid
Qatar Almoez Ali
Oman Said Al-Ruzaiqi
2019 United Arab Emirates Ali Mabkhout5
2023 Iraq Aymen Hussein3
Iraq 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)

See also

References

  1. "FIFA President impressed with Gulf Cup kick-off". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017.
  2. "Arabian Gulf Cup 23 2017". Kooora. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018.
  3. "The Official Logo of the Arabian Gulf Cup". Kuwait Football Association. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  4. "Kuwait to host 26th Gulf Cup". Iraqi News. 2023-01-09. Archived from the original on 2023-01-09. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  5. "Dozens injured during Oman's Gulf Cup win celebrations". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018.
  6. "Iraq pull out of Gulf Cup in spat with Saudi Arabia". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016.
  7. http://gulfnews.com/sport/football/uae-fans-could-be-deprived-of-gulf-cup-action-1.43346 Archived 2011-01-21 at the Wayback Machine – Al Jazeera win rights from Abu Dhabi & Dubai Sports, in a competition that was broadcast freely just a decade ago
  8. http://m.sportbusiness.com/news/168199/al-jazeera-acquires-gulf-cup-rights Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine – Al Jazeera Sports receive full broadcasting rights for 23.5 million dollars
  9. "WTVision broadcasts real-time statistics at 2009 Gulf Cup in Oman - News - wTVision". Archived from the original on 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2010-02-07. – Al Jazeera Sports offer the Gulf Cup in HD for the first time, and offer further enhanced visual graphics
  10. http://www.gulf-cup.net/index.asp?IDNews=125&id=100001 Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine – Sepp Blatter on the 19th Gulf Cup
  11. http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/84173262/AFP Archived 2023-04-10 at the Wayback Machine – Michel Platini attending the 19th Gulf Cup
  12. http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/84167684/AFP – Michel Platini attending the 19th Gulf Cup
  13. FIFA.com
  14. "Wars and football: Iraq's politically-charged history in the Arabian Gulf Cup". Doha News. 21 January 2023. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  15. "Bahrain to host 21st Gulf Cup". QFA.com.qa. 31 October 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  16. "Gulf Cup shifts from Iraq to Saudi Arabia". SFGate. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  17. "Iraq named 2016 Gulf Cup hosts, final decision in three months". Qatar FA. 18 November 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  18. "Iraq officially suspends hosting Khaliji 23 Championship". Iraqi News.com. 2 February 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  19. "Five teams to compete in 24th Arabian Gulf Cup next month". FOX Sports Asia. 24 October 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  20. "Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain to play in Gulf Cup in Qatar". The Arabian Stories News. 13 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  21. "Arab Gulf Cup Federation". Archived from the original on 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  22. Statistics made by contributor based on information found on gulfcup.com Archived 5 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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