Arabian Gulf Cup

The Arabian Gulf Cup, also referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial association 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. The reigning champions are Bahrain, who won their second title at the 26th edition.

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 26 in total, followed by Iraq with four titles, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar with three titles each.

Developments

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 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.
The tournament marked the presence of some of the most influential personalities of the football world, including FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, and UEFA president, Michel Platini. 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.

Political and security issues

From 1990 to 2003, Iraq was banned due to the Gulf War.
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.
The 22nd Arabian Gulf Cup was also shifted after concerns of preparation and security.
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.
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. However, later in November 2019, the three countries agreed to take part and the draw for the tournament was re-made.

Results

Winners summary

Note:

An asterisk beside the year in the above table means that country hosted the tournament.
Participating nations

Legend:

– Champions
– Runners-up
– Third place
– Fourth place
– Semi finalist
GS – Group stage
Q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
— Withdrew / Disqualified
— Hosts
— Did not participate

Note:

was banned from the competition from 1992 to 2003.
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		25	116	59	25	32	175	114	+61	202
2		26	119	58	25	36	204	119	+85	200
3		26	117	43	31	43	143	140	+3	160
4		25	117	41	31	42	122	143	−21	154
5		25	112	36	34	42	122	139	-17	142
6		15	76	38	25	13	134	69	+65	139
7		23	116	25	31	60	98	186	-88	106
8		11	36	1	6	29	16	89	−73	9

Source:
Note:

1972
1982
1990
All-time goal records

All-time goal records by Tournaments:

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
2024–25	15	41	2.73

reached 100 goals on 3 March 1988 vs
reached 200 goals on 13 January 2023 vs
reached 100 goals on 19 October 1996 vs
reached 100 goals on 16 December 2004 vs
reached 100 goals on 2 December 2010 vs
reached 100 goals on 11 January 2013 vs
reached 100 goals on 11 January 2013 vs

Does not include goals from annulled or abandoned games
Includes 1974 preliminary round games
''Does not include penalty shoot-out goals''

All-time top scorers

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

Players in bold are still active

Golden boot history

Other records

Biggest win – 8 goals
Most goals in a game – 8 goals
Most individual goals in a single game – 5 goals
Most individual goals in a single tournament – 10 goals