Saudi Arabia, Oman, the Emirates, and Qatar qualified for the 27th Gulf semi-finals after the elimination of Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq, and Kuwait.

With the end of the first round of the Gulf Cup Championship “Gulf 27”, which is held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the teams of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the Emirates and Qatar were able to qualify for the semi-finals.

The Bahraini team, the defending champion, left the tournament in the first round, along with the teams of Yemen and Iraq, as well as Kuwait, which won the tournament.

The first round witnessed intense competition between the Omanis and the Iraqis, which went beyond the boundaries of the stadium and reached a hotel in the city of Jeddah, to obtain the second qualifying card in the first group, which was decided by lottery.

In the semi-finals, the Saudi “Green” team faces the Qatari “Annabi” team, while the Emirati “Al-Abyad” team plays with the Omani “Samba Gulf” team.

Omani striker Nasser Al Rawahi tops the tournament's top scorers with three goals.

The first group, a Saudi-Omani qualification and a rare incident

The host Saudi team achieved the full mark in the first group of the Gulf Cup, after defeating Kuwait by a single goal, Oman by three clean goals, and finally Iraq by two unanswered goals.

Saudi Arabia raised its score to 9 points in the lead, compared to 4 points each for Oman, which won over Kuwait 3-1, and Iraq, while Kuwait ended its participation without points.

The Greek coach of Saudi Arabia, Yorgos Donis, said after the match in the press conference, “Focus represents one of the most important demands of the technical staff since the beginning of the tournament, whether in implementing tactical instructions or adhering to the rules on and off the field.”

He continued, "The work does not stop at one match, but rather aims to build a regular team that will gain the confidence of the fans on an ongoing basis."

Oman reached the semi-finals of the tournament, after being qualified by the draw conducted by the Competitions Committee of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation on Tuesday, at the expense of Iraq, after they tied in all numbers in the first group.

In the last round of the first round, the Iraqi team lost to its Saudi counterpart 0-2, while the Omani team won over its Kuwaiti counterpart 3-1.

With the end of the second match, the Omani players celebrated their qualification to the semi-finals, believing that they had snatched the qualification ticket, but in reality it was a tie in all likely factors, so their joys were postponed to hold a lottery to determine the qualifier between them and the Iraqi team.

The two teams were equal after the end of their matches in the result of the direct confrontation (1-1) and the goal difference, as in fair play, which prompted the organizing committee to hold a lottery after about two hours to determine the qualifier.

Khaled Al-Muqrin, head of the Competitions Committee at the Gulf Media Union, said after the draw was held, “The organizing committee met and examined the results, and we explained to the representatives of the Iraqi and Omani teams the mechanism of the draw.”

In the second group, an Emirati-Qatari qualified and a strong Yemeni victory

The UAE and Qatar teams were guaranteed to advance to the semi-finals before the third round of the first round, which witnessed a direct confrontation between them.

The Qatari and UAE teams tied 1-1, with the UAE occupying the top spot in the group, followed by Qatar.

Before the third round, the Croatian coach of the Emirates, Zlatko Dalic, stressed that “our clear goal is to win and finish the group stage in the lead.”