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
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.
Squads
Each team had to register a squad of 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.
Venues
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
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Bracket
Semi-finals
Final
Winner
Goalscorers
Team statistics
This table shows all team performance.
Prize money and awards
Prize money
Source:
Player awards
The following awards were given:
Broadcasters
Middle East
Rest of the world
Controversies
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.
A stampede outside Basra International Stadium, ahead of the final, killed between one and four people and injured at least 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.
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani, president of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation, praised the outstanding organization of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup by hosts Iraq, calling it a big success.