FIFA Arab Cup 2025 Kicks Off Tomorrow in Doha with Oman in Group Two

Oman Ready for Arab Cup 2025 Challenge

Doha: The 11th edition of the FIFA Arab Cup 2025 will kick off tomorrow, Monday, in the Qatari capital, Doha, and will continue until the 18th of next December, with the participation of Oman national football team.

The opening ceremony will be held at Al Bayt Stadium, followed by the tournament’s opening match, which will pit the host Qatari national team against its Palestinian counterpart as part of Group One, which also includes the Tunisian and Syrian national teams, who will meet on the same day.

Oman national team will begin its journey in the tournament this Tuesday by facing the Saudi national team at the Education City Stadium at 9:00 PM Oman time.

In the second round, Oman will meet the Moroccan national team at the same stadium on Friday, 5 December at 6:30 PM, before concluding its group stage matches against the Comoros national team at the 974 Stadium on Monday, 8 December at 9:00 PM.

Oman national team continues its preparations for the tournament under the leadership of Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, who is relying on the combination he has chosen to boost the national team’s chances despite the absence of seven key players. The squad includes a mix of young and experienced players.

This edition of the Arab Cup is the second consecutive one held under the umbrella of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), following the previous edition hosted by Qatar in 2021.

For the first time since its inception in 1963, the tournament has received FIFA recognition, granting it an international dimension and significant attention, elevating it from a regional to a global level. According to the tournament’s regulations, nine teams qualified directly for the finals based on the FIFA rankings issued last April: Qatar, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iraq. Meanwhile, 14 teams competed in preliminary qualifiers based on the same international rankings, with matches also held in Doha on 25 and 26 November 2025, resulting in seven teams qualifying for the finals and completing the four groups.

The 16 teams were distributed into these groups according to the draw. The Syrian and Palestinian national teams joined Group One alongside Qatar and Tunisia. Oman national team and the Comoros were placed in Group Two alongside Morocco and Saudi Arabia. The Kuwaiti national team joined Group Three alongside Egypt, the UAE, and Jordan.

The Bahraini and Sudanese national teams joined Group Four alongside Algeria and Iraq. The teams in each group will play a single round-robin stage, with the first and second-placed teams from each group advancing to the quarter-finals, followed by the semi-finals, leading up to the final match, which will be held on 18 December. According to the tournament’s organizing committee, the champion will receive $7.155 million, while the runner-up will receive $4.293 million. The third-place team will receive $2.862 million, and the fourth-place team will receive $2.146 million. Each team that reaches the quarter-finals will receive $1.073 million, and all participating teams will receive $715,000.

Regarding the tournament’s regulations, FIFA has approved that the Arab Cup matches will be included in the global ranking system issued monthly by FIFA. This means national teams will earn points in the global ranking, giving the tournament added importance for the participating teams, especially those seeking to improve their position in the global standings.

Regarding the record of champions since the Arab Cup’s inception in 1963, the Iraqi national team has won the title the most times, in four editions (1964, 1966, 1985, and 1988). The Saudi national team won the title twice in the 1998 and 2002 editions. The title was won once each by Tunisia (1963), Egypt (1992), Morocco (2012), and Algeria, the current holder from the previous tenth edition hosted by Qatar in 2021. The champion of the new edition will be unveiled on 18 December.