The 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, known as Khaleeji Zain 25 for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. The tournament was hosted in Iraq for the first time since 1979, in the host city of Basra.
Hosts Iraq won their fourth title by beating Oman 3–2 after extra time in the final.
Teams
TeamAppearancePrevious bestperformanceFIFA RankingsOctober 2022 25th Winners (1992, 2004, 2014) 50 24th Winners (1994, 2002, 2003–04) 51 (hosts) 16th Winners (1979, 1984, 1988) 68 24th Winners (2007, 2013) 70 23rd Winners (2009, 2017–18) 75 (holders) 25th Winners (2019) 85 25th Winners (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2010) 149 10th Group stage (2003–04, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017–18, 2019) 155
Draw The draw was held on 25 October 2022 at at the Grand Millennium Al Seef in Basra. The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four, by selecting one team from each of the four ranked pots. For the draw, the teams were allocated to four pots based on the FIFA World Rankings of October 2022. Pot 1 contained the hosts Iraq and the holders Bahrain, who were assigned to A1 and A2 respectively.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 (68) (hosts) (85) (holders) (50) (51) (70) (75) (149) (155)
Squads
Each team had to register a squad of 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.
Venues
Basra Basra International Stadium Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium Capacity: 65,227 Capacity: 30,000
Officials
Referees Ma Ning Ali Sabah Abdullah Jamali Ahmed Al-Kaf Salman Falahi István Kovács Shukri Al-Hanfoush Adnan Al-Naqbi Ilgiz Tantashev
Assistant Referees Zhang Cheng Zhou Fei Rashid Abdi Rashad Al-Hakmani Ovidiu-Mihai Artene Vasile Marinescu Zahi Al-Shammari Khaled Ayed
Video Assistant Referees Fu Ming Mohanad Qasim Jérémie Pignard Rédouane Jiyed Abdullah Al-Marri Abdullah Al-Shehri Ahmed Darwish
Group stage TiebreakersThe ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:
Points obtained in all group matches: Goal difference in all group matches; Number of goals scored in all group matches.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Bracket
Semi-finals
Final
Winner
Goalscorers
Team statistics This table shows all team performance. TeamFinal phase15410123+9132531186+2103421154+17441125504Eliminated in the group stage5311123−146310234−137301224−2183003210−80
Prize money and awards Prize money PositionAmount (USD)Champions1,000,000Runner-up750,000Total1,750,000
Player awards The following awards were given:
AwardPlayerTop Scorer Aymen HusseinMost Valuable Player Ibrahim BayeshBest Goalkeeper Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini
Broadcasters Middle East Territory Broadcaster Ref. Bahrain Sport Al-Iraqiya SportsAlrabiaa SportsUTVAl-SharqiyaAl-Sumaria Jordan Sport KTV Sports KSA Sport Oman Sports Alkass AD SportsDubai SportsSharjah Sports Rest of the world Territory Broadcaster Ref. Sport Klub Polsat Sport Nova Sports
Controversies Opening ceremony Ahead of the opening ceremony, a scuffle ensued in the VIP section of the Basra International Stadium. Sheikh Fahad al-Nasser, who represents Kuwait's emir, was unable to enter as a result, and the Kuwaiti delegation left the stadium soon after. The Iraqi representatives apologised for the incident.
Crowd stampede
A stampede outside Basra International Stadium, ahead of the final, killed one person and injured up to 60 others, according to reports. The incident was said to have been caused by thousands of fans without tickets turning up to the match early while the gates were still closed. In the afternoon, Basra authorities said the situation was under control and that the crowds had moved away from the stadium, and the final match went underway as scheduled.
See also 2023 WAFF Championship 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2023 SAFF Championship 2022 AFF Championship 2023 AFC Asian Cup
References