Gulf athletes have confirmed that the next edition of the Arabian Gulf Football Cup, “Gulf 26,” which begins in Kuwait next Saturday, will be the best ever, and that it will appear in a highly competitive manner, and will regain the distinguished technical level that was lost in previous tournaments, especially in the past 15 years. And that the audience will have a date with a distinguished tournament on the technical and competitive levels, and they indicated that the tournament will enjoy unprecedented media follow-up, coinciding with the participation of most of the teams in the final qualifying rounds. For the 2026 World Cup, we hope that the tournament will enjoy a large audience, compared to what the last edition witnessed in the Iraqi city of Basra.
The athletes told Emirates Al-Youm: “The UAE national team is a strong candidate to reach the final match, while the competition will be limited to the second team in the final match between the teams of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.”
The “Gulf 26” competitions will be held from December 21 to January 3, 2025.
Eight teams are participating in the tournament, and the first group includes the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman teams, while the second group includes Iraq (the defending champion), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen.
High technical level
Former Kuwait national team player, Gamal Mubarak, who participated in six previous tournaments, confirmed that the technical level of the Gulf tournaments has declined for 15 years, but “Gulf 26” will appear remarkably for several reasons, including that seven Gulf teams participating in the tournament have the opportunity to advance to the next World Cup. It aspires to provide distinguished technical levels before returning to the World Cup qualifiers next March, in addition to being ready at the present time. The same applies to the players and coaches’ efforts to prove their presence strongly.
Gamal Mubarak nominated the Kuwaiti team to qualify for the final match if it played strong matches like the one it played against Jordan in the World Cup qualifiers. Regarding the most prominent players nominated to shine in the “Gulf 26”, he confirmed that the Kuwaiti Mohammed Dahham, the Emirati Hareb Abdullah, the Saudi Salem Al-Dosari, and the Iraqi Ayman. Hussein and Qatari Akram Afif will be the most prominent and influential in the tournament.
Exceptional tournament
Former Bahraini football star, Hussein Baba, who played with Bahraini Red Six previous sessions in the Arabian Gulf Cup, said that “Gulf 26” will appear exceptional from a technical standpoint due to the readiness of the teams participating in the World Cup qualifiers, and the arrival of new coaches looking to confirm their position. Through this tournament, including coaches from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.
Hussein Baba said: “We are looking forward to witnessing high technical levels of the teams that remind us of the good old days of the Gulf championships, when the players’ skills dominated the situation, unlike the present time where team performance outweighs the skills. However, the next tournament will witness the prominent appearance of a number of stars, after we saw More than one distinguished player in the World Cup qualifiers, including Saudi Salem Al-Dosari, Fabio Lima and Hareb Abdullah from the Emirates, Qatari Akram Afif, and Bahraini Mohammed Marhoon. And the Kuwaiti Muhammad Dahham.
Regarding determining the two sides of the final match or the name of the team that will win the tournament, he stressed that it is a difficult matter, but the technical data indicate that the tournament will be limited to the teams of the Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, excluding the Iraqi team due to the absences it suffers from, describing the rising technical level that it will be the common factor for most of the matches. Championship.
Large public attendance
The former Oman national team player, Sultan Muhammad Saeed Al-Tawqi, who played two rounds in the Gulf Championship with the Omani Red, confirmed that “Gulf 26” will witness a large audience presence equivalent to what happened in “Gulf 25” in Basra, Iraq, so that the public realizes that it is on a date with strong matches. Especially in light of the participation of the teams in the first team, and the presence of most of the stars of the Gulf teams.
Al-Tawqi said: “Gulf 26 will appear with high quality, technically, publicly and medially, due to the qualitative shift that most Gulf teams are experiencing at the present time, in addition to the desire of the new coaches to prove their presence and develop their teams before returning to the World Cup qualifiers.”
Al-Tawqi expected that the tournament would witness the brilliance of UAE national team player Yahya Al Ghassani, as well as Omani national team player Salah Al Yahyai.
Pressure matches
The international lecturer at the UAE Football Association, Omar Al Hammadi, confirmed that “Gulf 26” will not be affected by the pressure of the matches played by the Gulf teams in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, indicating that coaches are obligated to maintain their players in a state of health and good physical fitness before returning to the World Cup qualifiers. .
He said: “Gulf football tournaments differ from other tournaments, as they are affected by the public attendance and the quality of media coverage, which affects the focus of players and coaches together.”
He continued: “I agree with my fellow athletes that the tournament will witness distinguished stars and a large audience presence, and that most of the teams have similar chances, most notably the UAE and Saudi Arabia teams.”
. .
