26th Arabian Gulf Cup
International football competition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 26th Arabian Gulf Cup, known as Khaleeji Zain 26 for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. The tournament was held in Kuwait from 21 December 2024 to 4 January 2025.[1][2]
Host countryKuwait
Dates21 December 2024 – 4 January 2025
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venues2 (in 2 host cities)
| كأس الخليج العربي 26 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Kuwait |
| Dates | 21 December 2024 – 4 January 2025 |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venues | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Bahrain (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Oman |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 41 (2.73 per match) |
| Attendance | 390,990 (26,066 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Mohamed Marhoon Issam Al-Sabhi Abdullah Al-Hamdan(3 goals each) |
| Best player | Mohamed Marhoon |
| Best goalkeeper | Ebrahim Lutfalla |
← 2023 2026 → | |
Bahrain won the competition for the second time, beating Oman 2–1 in the final.[3]
Teams
| Team | Appearance | Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2024 | ||||
 Qatar | 26th | Winners (1992, 2004, 2014) | 48 | |
 Iraq (holders) | 17th | Winners (1979, 1984, 1988, 2023) | 56 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 25th | Winners (1994, 2002, 2003–04) | 59 | |
 United Arab Emirates | 25th | Winners (2007, 2013) | 63 | |
| Bahrain | 26th | Winners (2019) | 81 | |
| Oman | 24th | Winners (2009, 2017–18) | 80 | |
 Kuwait (hosts) | 26th | Winners (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2010) | 134 | |
 Yemen | 11th | Group stage (2003–04, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017–18, 2019, 2023) | 157 | |
Draw
The draw was held on 9 November 2024 at 19:00 UTC+3 in Kuwait City. The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four, by selecting one team from each of the four ranked pots. Their pot positions were based on the FIFA rankings from 24 October 2024 (shown in parentheses). Host nation Kuwait and defending champions Iraq were automatically seeded at the top of Groups A and B, respectively.[4]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuwait (135) (hosts) Iraq (56) (holders) |
Qatar (46) Saudi Arabia (59) |
United Arab Emirates (68) Bahrain (76) |
Oman (80) Yemen (154) |
Squads
Each team had to register a squad of 26 players, three of whom had to be goalkeepers.
Venues
Location of areas hosting the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup
| Kuwait City | |
|---|---|
| Ardhiya | Sulaibikhat |
| Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium | Sulaibikhat Stadium |
| Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 15,000 (new) |
 |
 |
Officials
Referees
Mustapha Ghorbal
Ammar Mahfoodh
Mohanad Qasim Sarray
Ahmad Al-Ali
Dahane Beida
Qasim Al-Hatmi
Abdulrahman Al-Jassim
István Kovács
Khalid Al-Turais
Halil Umut Meler
Omar Al-Ali
Assistant referees
- Abdulla Al-Rowaimi
- Mohamed Salman
- Watheq Al-Swaiedi
- Ahmad Abbas
- Abdulhadi Al-Anezi
- Saoud Al-Maqaleh
- Taleb Al-Marri
- Mohammed Al-Abakry
- Abdelraheem Al-Shammari
- Jasem Al-Ali
- Mohamed Al-Hammadi
Fourth officials
- Mokrane Gourari
- Abbès Zerhouni
- Brahim Hmade
- Youssouf Yahia
- Nasser Al-Busaidi
- Hamed Al-Ghafer
- Mircea Grigoriu
- Ferencz Tunyogi
- Kerem Ersoy
- İbrahim Çağlar Uyarcan
Video Assistant Referees
Fu Ming
Mahmoud Ashour- Ahmed Rsetam
Jumpei Iida- Abdullah Jamali
- Khamis Al-Marri
- Abdullah Al-Shehri
Haythem Guirat- Mohamed Khadim
Group stage
| Tiebreakers |
|---|
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:
|
All times are local (UTC+03:00).
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oman |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5[a] | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Kuwait (H) |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5[a] | |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2[b] | |
| 4 | Qatar |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2[b] |
| Qatar | 1–1 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| United Arab Emirates | 1–2 | Kuwait |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| United Arab Emirates | 1–1 | Oman |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bahrain |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6[a] | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 6[a] | |
| 3 | Iraq |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 3[b] | |
| 4 | Yemen |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3[b] |
| Saudi Arabia | 2–3 | Bahrain |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Yemen | 2–3 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Iraq | 1–3 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
Ali  64' |
Report |
|
| Bahrain | 1–2 | Yemen |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Romaihi 62' |
Report |
|
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 31 December 2024 – Sulaibikhat | ||||||
| Oman | 2 | |||||
| 4 January 2025 – Kuwait City | ||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | |||||
| Oman | 1 | |||||
| 31 December 2024 – Kuwait City | ||||||
| Bahrain | 2 | |||||
| Bahrain | 1 | |||||
| Kuwait | 0 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Oman | 2–1 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Final
| Oman | 1–2 | Bahrain |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Mushaifri 17' |
Report |
|
Winner
| 26th Arabian Gulf Cup Winner |
|---|
 Bahrain Second title |
Goalscorers
There were 41 goals scored in 15 matches, for an average of 2.73 goals per match.
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
- Mahdi Abduljabbar
- Mahdi Al-Humaidan
- Mohamed Al-Romaihi
- Mohanad Ali
- Aymen Hussein
- Moath Al-Enezi
- Yousef Nasser
- Arshad Al-Alawi
- Ali Al-Busaidi
- Akram Afif
- Almoez Ali
- Mohammed Muntari
- Salem Al-Dawsari
- Saleh Al-Shehri
- Caio Canedo
Abdul Majeed Sabarah
1 own goal
- Ebrahim Al-Khattal (against Yemen)
- Mohammed Al-Musalami (against Bahrain)
Prize money and awards
Prize money
Player awards
The following awards were given:[7]
| Award | Player |
|---|---|
| Top Scorer | Mohamed Marhoon |
| Most Valuable Player | Mohamed Marhoon |
| Best Goalkeeper | Ebrahim Lutfalla |
Broadcasters
Middle East
| Territory | Broadcaster | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Bahrain |
Bahrain Sport | [8] |
| Iraq |
Al-Iraqiya Sports Alrabiaa Sports |
[8] |
| Kuwait |
KTV Sports | [8] |
| Oman |
Oman Sports | [8] |
| Qatar |
Alkass |
[8] |
| Saudi Arabia |
SSC KSA Sport |
|
| United Arab Emirates |
AD Sports Dubai Sports |
[9] |
| Yemen |
SSC Alkass (via free YouTube streaming) |
Others
| Territory | Broadcaster | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
 United States of America |
ESPN+ | |
 Netherlands |
ESPN | |
 Portugal |
Sport TV |