The 1963 Arab Cup was the first edition of the Arab Cup hosted in Beirut, Lebanon. Tunisia won the first title of the Arab Cup.
Participating teams Five teams took part in the tournament: the hosts Lebanon along with Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and Tunisia. Five other teams were invited but did not participate in the tournament: Morocco who initially agreed to take part but later withdrew, Libya who apologized for not participating as they were not yet a FIFA member, United Arab Republic and Sudan who declined the invitation, and Iraq who refused to participate due to Kuwait's presence in the tournament as the Iraqi government did not recognize Kuwait's independence at the time and claimed it as part of its territory.
The 5 participating teams were: Team Qualified as Hosts Invitee Invitee Invitee Invitee
Venues Beirut Camille Chamoun Stadium Capacity: 45,000
Squads
Final tournament Tournament classification
Matches
Lebanon v Tunisia match The game was the decisive match of group stage at the 1963 Arab Cup. The match was played at Camille Chamoun Stadium in Beirut on 7 April 1963. The winner was determined by a final group stage, with the final five teams playing in round-robin format, instead of a knockout stage. Tunisia won the tournament finishing first in the final standing.
Match details
Lebanon: GK 1 Samih ChatilaDF 5 Youssef Yammouth DF 12 Samik SabkadjianDF 2 Muhieddine "Tabello" Itani DF 13 Elias "Kharma" GeorgesMF 6 Ahmad AlamehMF 7 Robert "Roro" ChehadehMF 10 Mardik TchaparianFW 16 Levon Altounian (c)FW 4 Joseph Abou MuradFW 15 Mahmoud "Abou Taleb" BerjaouiSubstitutes:DF 19 Camille Haidar Manager: Joseph NalbandianTunisia: GK 1 Abdelkader "Zerga" GhalemDF 2 Mohsen KeffalaDF 6 Mohsen HabachaDF 4 Ahmed SghaïerDF 16 Mahfoudh Benzarti MF 9 Taoufik Ben OthmanMF 12 Mongi Haddad MF 10 Abdelmajid Chetali (c)FW 17 Alaya SassiFW 8 Mohamed Salah JedidiFW 11 Hammadi HeniaSubstitutes:DF 3 Hédi Douiri Manager: André Gérard
Goalscorers
References
External links 1963 Arab Cup – rsssf.com لبنان أوّل مستضيف لكأس العرب 1963 – Nida Al-Watan