The Kuwaiti national team concludes its preparations for the 27th Gulf Cup by meeting Yemen in Jeddah

The Kuwait national team will conclude its preparations for the “27th Gulf Football Cup” competitions, scheduled in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from September 23 until October 6, with a match against Yemen on Friday.

“Al-Azraq” arrived in Jeddah on Tuesday after a preparatory camp in Qatar, during which it played a friendly match with the Qatari team Lusail.

The draw placed Kuwait in the first group alongside Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iraq, while the second included Bahrain, the Emirates, Qatar and Yemen.

Kuwait will begin its campaign against Saudi Arabia on September 23 in Jeddah, before facing Iraq on the 26th and Oman on the 29th.

The former coach of the Kuwaiti national team, Abdul Aziz Hamada, told Agence France-Presse that the preparations “were not ideal; Due to the cessation of local league competitions long before the start of the tournament, in addition to the Kuwait Club players’ commitment to their team’s participation in the (AFC Champions League 2) during the majority of the team’s preparation period.”

He added, "Continuing the Kuwaiti League competitions closer to the tournament date would have given the technical staff a better opportunity to prepare the players."

Portuguese coach Helio Sousa is facing some criticism regarding his choices, especially in the goalkeeping position, after calling up Khaled Al-Rashidi, the Kuwait Club goalkeeper, despite not participating with his team since the beginning of the season, at the expense of Al-Qadisiyah’s veteran goalkeeper, Hamid Al-Qallaf, who is performing at distinguished levels. Which raised questions about Al-Rashidi’s level of readiness.

On the other hand, the Yemeni team continues its preparations for the tournament in Jeddah, after it was one of the first teams to arrive in the city.

Hamada believes that the Kuwaiti team, along with the Yemeni and Emirati teams, comes “in close positions between 6 and 8” according to his assessment of the levels of the participating teams, stressing that Sousa does not have a “magic wand” to overcome the difference in readiness and experience in front of teams such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Bahrain.

Hamada believed that the competition for the title would be limited to the Saudi team, the home team, and the Iraqi team, which in turn participated in the 2026 World Cup.