Doha, Qatar: Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation will host the draw ceremony for the 27th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup in Jeddah tomorrow. The tournament will take place from September 23 to October 6.
The ceremony is set to begin at 4:00 pm at the Culture Square - Arts Center Building, located within the historic district of Jeddah and affiliated with the Red Sea International Film Festival.
The event will be attended by Sports Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani, also the President of the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation, Yasser Al-Mishal, President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, officials from participating football federations, representatives of the eight competing national teams, as well as a number of former Gulf football stars.
Meanwhile, Jassim Sultan Al-Rumaihi and an accompanying delegation have already arrived in Jeddah to oversee the final arrangements related to the ceremony.
The tournament will be staged at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium. Gulf Cup 27 will mark the fifth edition of the competition organised under the umbrella of the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation.
Eight national teams will compete in the tournament: Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen.
According to tournament regulations, teams will be placed into four pots based on the latest FIFA rankings released on April 1.
The first pot includes Qatar (55th globally) and Iraq (57th), while the second pot features Saudi Arabia (61st) and the UAE (68th). Oman (79th) and Bahrain (91st) occupy the third pot, with Kuwait (134th) and Yemen (149th) in the fourth pot.
Under the draw mechanism, one team from each pot will be placed into each group, ensuring that teams from the same ranking level do not face each other in the group stage.
Host nation Saudi Arabia will head Group A and play the tournament’s opening match, while the UAE will lead Group B.
The competition format divides the teams into two groups of four, with each side playing the others once in a round-robin system. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals. The winner of Group A will face the runner-up of Group B, while the winner of Group B will meet the runner-up of Group A. The two semi-final winners will advance to the final to compete for the championship title.
Saudi Arabia has previously hosted the tournament in 1972, 1988, 2002 and 2014.
