Doha, Qatar: Qatar will face the UAE, Bahrain and Yemen in Group B of the 27th Arabian Gulf Cup, as the draw ceremony held in Jeddah yesterday revealed.
Hosts Saudi Arabia headline Group A alongside Iraq, Oman and Kuwait in the regional tournament, which will be staged in Jeddah from September 23 to October 6, 2027.
The draw ceremony was attended by Minister of Sports and Youth and President of the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) H E Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani, representatives of the eight participating teams and a host of former Gulf football stars.
Saudi Arabia will organise the Gulf Cup for the fifth time, having previously hosted the competition in 1972, 1988, 2002 and 2014. The upcoming edition will also be the fifth tournament held under the AGCFF umbrella.
Ahead of the draw, teams were seeded according to the latest FIFA rankings released on April 1. As hosts, Saudi Arabia were automatically placed at the top of Group A, while the UAE occupied the top spot in Group B as the highest-ranked side.
The remaining nations were divided into pots based on rankings, with Qatar and Iraq placed in Pot 1, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Pot 2, Bahrain and Oman in Pot 3, and Kuwait and Yemen in Pot 4.
Under the competition format, teams in each group will play a single round-robin phase, with the top two sides advancing to the semi-finals. The winners of Group A will meet the runners-up of Group B, while the Group B leaders will face the second-placed team from Group A.
Bahrain enter the tournament as defending champions after defeating Oman 2-1 in the final of the previous edition held in Kuwait.
Kuwait remain the most decorated side in Gulf Cup history, having lifted the title a record 10 times, with their most recent triumph coming in Yemen in 2010. Iraq are second on the honours list with four titles, most recently claiming the crown on home soil in Basra in 2023.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia have each won the tournament three times, while the UAE, Oman and Bahrain have secured two titles apiece. Yemen are still chasing their maiden Gulf Cup title after 10 appearances.
First staged in Bahrain in 1970, the Arabian Gulf Cup has grown into one of the region’s most cherished football events, combining fierce on-pitch competition with the strong cultural and social ties shared among Gulf nations.
