MUSCAT : The 25th edition of Arabian Gulf Cup football championship draw, held at Basra in Iraq today, picked Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman in the first group. The second group includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE. The championship is scheduled to be held in Iraq in the beginning of 2023.

The draw was held in the presence of top football chiefs in the Gulf countries and coaches of the participating teams. Sultanate of Oman was represented by Qutaiba bin Said al Ghailani, member of the Board of Directors of the Oman Football Association, Younis bin Issa al Ghafri from the Media Department, Maqbool bin Mohammad al Balushi, Director of the National Team and Salah bin Thuwaini al Araimi from the National Teams Department.

It is worth noting that this tournament is being held in the Republic of Iraq and comes two years later, where the Bahrain national team won its title in its last edition against Saudi Arabia by a score of one to zero.

The Arabian Gulf Cup is organised every two years. The first edition was held in Bahrain in 1970 and the last one in Qatar in 2019. Kuwait holds the record for the number of wins with 10 titles, compared to 3 titles for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and two titles for the Sultanate of Oman and the UAE, and one title for Bahrain.