26th Arabian Gulf Cup

26th Arabian Gulf Cup
كأس الخليج العربي 26
Tournament details
Host countryKuwait
Dates21 December 2024 – 4 January 2025
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Bahrain (2nd title)
Runners-up Oman
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Goals scored41 (2.73 per match)
Attendance390,990 (26,066 per match)
Top scorer(s) Mohamed Marhoon
Issam Al-Sabhi
Abdullah Al-Hamdan
(3 goals each)
Best player(s) Mohamed Marhoon
Best goalkeeper Ebrahim Lutfalla
← 2023
2026 →

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]

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 positions were based on the FIFA ranking updated on 24 October.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

Squads

Main article: 26th Arabian Gulf Cup squads

Each team had to register a squad of 26 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.

Venues

60km
37miles
2
1
Location of areas hosting the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup
1
Ardhiya
2
Sulaibikhat
Kuwait City
Ardhiya Sulaibikhat
Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium Sulaibikhat Stadium
Capacity: 60,000 Capacity: 15,000 (new)


Officials

Referees

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 officials

Group stage

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]
Source: AGCFF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Disciplinary points: Oman –7, Kuwait –9
  2. ^ a b Disciplinary points: United Arab Emirates –6, Qatar –11
Kuwait 1–1 Oman
  • Nasser 34'
 Report
Attendance: 42,445
Qatar 1–1 United Arab Emirates
 Report
Attendance: 5,007
Oman 2–1 Qatar
 Report
Attendance: 4,552
United Arab Emirates 1–2 Kuwait
 Report
  • Daham 16'
  • M. Al-Enezi 89'
Attendance: 48,621
Referee: Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
Kuwait 1–1 Qatar
Daham 74' Report Muntari 90+11'
Attendance: 57,742
United Arab Emirates 1–1 Oman
 Report
Attendance: 7,813
Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)

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]
Source: AGCFF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Bahrain 3, Saudi Arabia 0
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Iraq 3, Yemen 0
Iraq 1–0 Yemen
Hussein 64' Report
Attendance: 7,203
Saudi Arabia 2–3 Bahrain
 Report
Attendance: 7,726
Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)
Yemen 2–3 Saudi Arabia
 Report
Attendance: 9,200
Referee: Qasim Al-Hatmi (Oman)
Bahrain 2–0 Iraq
 Report
Attendance: 13,150
Iraq 1–3 Saudi Arabia
Ali 64' Report
Attendance: 54,942
Bahrain 1–2 Yemen
Al-Romaihi 62' Report
Attendance: 4,293[4]
Referee: Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
31 December 2024 – Sulaibikhat
 
 
 Oman2
 
4 January 2025 – Kuwait City
 
 Saudi Arabia1
 
 Oman1
 
31 December 2024 – Kuwait City
 
 Bahrain2
 
 Bahrain1
 
 
 Kuwait0
 

Semi-finals

Oman 2–1 Saudi Arabia
 Report
Attendance: 10,500
Bahrain 1–0 Kuwait
 Report
Attendance: 60,122

Final

Oman 1–2 Bahrain
Al-Mushaifri 17' Report
Attendance: 57,674
Oman
Bahrain
GK 18 Faiz Al-Rushaidi  90+3'  90+9'
CB 2 Mohammed Al-Musalami (c)
CB 6 Ahmed Al-Khamisi  58'
RB 13 Thani Al-Rushaidi
LB 17 Ali Al-Busaidi
CM 4 Arshad Al-Alawi  46'
CF 12 Abdullah Fawaz  86'
CM 23 Harib Al-Saadi
CF 7 Issam Al-Sabhi  90+10'
RM 10 Jameel Al-Yahmadi
LM 21 Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri
Substitutions:
GK 1 Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini
GK 22 Ibrahim Al-Rajhi  90+9'
DF 3 Mulham Al-Sinaidi  58' 90+8'
DF 5 Ghanim Al-Habashi
DF 14 Ahmed Al-Kaabi
DF 16 Khalid Al-Braiki
MF 8 Zahir Al-Aghbari  86'
MF 9 Ahed Al-Mashaiki
MF 19 Mataz Saleh
MF 24 Hussein Al-Shahri
FW 25 Faraj Al-Kiyumi
FW 26 Abdulsalam Al-Shukaili  90+8'
Manager:
Rashid Jaber
GK 22 Ebrahim Lutfalla
CB 2 Amine Benaddi  43'
CB 3 Waleed Al Hayam
DM 4 Sayed Dhiya Saeed (c)
RB 5 Hamad Al-Shamsan
LB 23 Abdulla Al-Khulasi
RW 7 Ali Madan
AM 8 Mohamed Marhoon
DM 19 Kamil Al-Aswad
CF 13 Mohamed Al-Romaihi  56'  90+14'
LW 20 Mahdi Al-Humaidan  83'
Substitutions:
GK 1 Ammar Mohamed
GK 21 Sayed Mohammed Jaffer
DF 16 Sayed Baqer
DF 18 Mohamed Adel
DF 24 Vincent Emmanuel
MF 10 Abdulwahab Al-Malood
MF 15 Jasim Al-Shaikh
MF 17 Hazza Ali
MF 25 Sayed Ahmed Al-Wadaei
FW 9 Ebrahim Al-Khattal
FW 11 Ismail Abdullatif  90+14'
FW 26 Husain Abdulkarim
Manager:
Dragan Talajić

Assistant referees:
Taleb Al-Marri (Qatar)
Saoud Al-Maqaleh (Qatar)
Fourth official:
Mohanad Qasim Sarray (Iraq)
Reserve assistant referee:
Ahmed Al-Baghdadi (Iraq)
Video assistant referee:
Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Fu Ming (China)
Ahmed Gatea (Iraq)

Match rules

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Maximum of twelve named substitutes
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time
  • Maximum of three substitution opportunities, with a fourth allowed in extra time

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

1 own goal

Prize money and awards

Prize money

Position[5] Amount (USD)
Champions 1,000,000
Runner-up 750,000
Total 1,750,000

Player awards

The following awards were given:[6]

Award Player
Top Scorer Mohamed Marhoon
Most Valuable Player Mohamed Marhoon
Best Goalkeeper Ebrahim Lutfalla

Broadcasters

Middle East

Territory Broadcaster Ref.
Bahrain Bahrain Sport [7]
Iraq Al-Iraqiya Sports
Alrabiaa Sports 		[7]
Kuwait KTV Sports [7]
Oman Oman Sports [7]
Qatar Alkass
 [7]
Saudi Arabia SSC
KSA Sport
United Arab Emirates AD Sports
Dubai Sports
 [8]
Yemen SSC
Alkass
(via free YouTube streaming)

Others

Territory Broadcaster Ref.
United States of America ESPN+
Netherlands ESPN
Portugal Sport TV

References

  1. ^ "Kuwait to host 26th Gulf Cup". Iraqi News. 2023-01-09. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  2. ^ "خليجي 26 سيقام في الكويت نهاية عام 2024". beIN SPORTS (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  3. ^ "Bahrain national team wins the Arabian Gulf Cup title". YS Scores. 4 January 2025.
  4. ^ "«خليجي 26».. 262694 متفرجاً في الدور الأول" (in Arabic). Al-Etihad. 30 December 2024.
  5. ^ الدقاق, المعتصم بالله (2023-01-17). "جائزة المركز الأول في كأس الخليج 2023 بطولة خليجي 25". خبرني (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  6. ^ "انهيار وبكاء حارس البحرين بعد التتويج بلقب كأس الخليج (فيديو)" (in Arabic). Erem News. 4 January 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Gulf 26 in Kuwait.. Match schedule and broadcasting channels". يمن شباب نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-31.
  8. ^ National, The. "Arabian Gulf Cup 2025: Fixtures, how to watch and all you need to know". The National. Retrieved 2024-12-31.
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