The Kuwait national team is engaged in a strong confrontation at the opening of the 26th Gulf Cup, as it meets the Oman national team, at nine in the evening today at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, in the first round of the first group matches, which also includes the Emirates and Qatar.
The Kuwaiti team aims to break a historical knot against the Omani team, as it has not achieved a victory over it for 26 years, specifically since “Gulf 14” in Bahrain with five goals without a response, on the ninth of November 1998, before the following matches witnessed an overwhelming superiority for the Omani team, which achieved the victory. In 10 matches. The two teams tied in five matches.
“Al-Ahmar” achieved victory in the last seven matches between the two teams with results: one unanswered goal in a friendly match, two unanswered goals in the West Asian Championship, 5-0 in “Gulf 22,” 1-0 in “Gulf 23,” and 2-1 in “Gulf 24.” And an unanswered goal in the 2015 Asian Nations Cup, and their last match in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, in which the Oman national team prevailed by four unanswered goals last October.
The Kuwaiti national team seeks to benefit from playing the tournament on its home soil and in front of its fans to enhance its historical record, by winning the tournament title 10 times as the most successful team.
Argentine coach Juan Antonio Pizzi will have a historic opportunity if he is able to lead the team to the podium again towards the 11th title in the history of the tournament.
The Argentine coach is distinguished by the fact that he used a number of young talents, such as Youssef Majed, Salman Al-Awadi, and Moaz Al-Asmaa, and also brought back veteran Youssef Nasser to shine again, and goalkeeper Khaled Al-Rashidi after an absence of many years.
On the other hand, the Oman national team is searching for its third title in the new edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup, despite the difficulty of the task, in front of the teams of the first group.
The Oman national team won the “Gulf 25” title, after winning the title twice before in the 2009 and 2017 editions, while the team, led by its coach Rashid Jaber, is searching for the third title in the tournament, and in the same land from which it won its second title.
The Oman national team is competing in the tournament in the absence of its striker Mohsen Al-Ghassani after his Thai team, Bangkok, refused to have him join.
Fayez Al-Rashidi holds the captaincy of the Oman national team, and Abdul Rahman Al-Mushafri, Al-Seeb’s Omani winger, and his colleague Jamil Al-Yahmadi are among the team’s most prominent players, with the market value of each of them reaching 500 thousand euros, according to the “Transfer Market” website specializing in player transfers, while the market value of the national team players is Oman in general is about eight million euros.
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