27th Arabian Gulf Cup

27th Arabian Gulf Cup

كأس الخليج العربي 27
Tournament details
Host country	Saudi Arabia
City	Jeddah
Dates	23 September – 6 October 2026
Teams	8 (from 1 confederation)
← 2024–25

The 27th Arabian Gulf Cup will be the 27th edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. ^{[1] [2]} The tournament will be held in Saudi Arabia from 23 September to 6 October 2026. ^{[3] [4]}

Teams

Team	Appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Rankings
Qatar	27th	Winners (1992, 2004, 2014)
Saudi Arabia (hosts)	26th	Winners (1994, 2002, 2003–04)
Iraq	18th	Winners (1979, 1984, 1988, 2023)
United Arab Emirates	26th	Winners (2007, 2013)
Oman	25th	Winners (2009, 2017–18)
Bahrain (holders)	27th	Winners (2019, 2024–25)
Kuwait	27th	Winners (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2010)
Yemen	12th	Group stage (2003–04, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017–18, 2019, 2023, 2024–25)

Venues

500km
311miles

1

   

Location of areas hosting the 27th Arabian Gulf Cup

1

Jeddah

Jeddah
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium
Capacity: 62,345	Capacity: 27,000

Group stage

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings: Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saudi Arabia (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	A2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	A3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	A4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 2025. Source: AGCFF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

23 September 2026 (2026-09-23)

Saudi Arabia	v

23 September 2026 (2026-09-23)

	v

---

26 September 2026 (2026-09-26)

	v

26 September 2026 (2026-09-26)

	v

---

29 September 2026 (2026-09-29)

	v

29 September 2026 (2026-09-29)

	v

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bahrain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Knockout stage
2	B2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	B3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	B4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 2025. Source: AGCFF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

24 September 2026 (2026-09-24)

Bahrain	v

24 September 2026 (2026-09-24)

	v

---

27 September 2026 (2026-09-27)

	v

27 September 2026 (2026-09-27)

	v

---

30 September 2026 (2026-09-30)

	v

30 September 2026 (2026-09-30)

	v

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	3 October 2026 – Jeddah
	Winner Group A
					6 October 2026 – Jeddah
	Runner-up Group B
					Winner Semi-final 1
	3 October 2026 – Jeddah
					Winner Semi-final 2
	Winner Group B
	Runner-up Group A

Semi-finals

3 October 2026 (2026-10-03)

Winner Group A	Semi-final 1	Runner-up Group B

---

3 October 2026 (2026-10-03)

Winner Group B	Semi-final 2	Runner-up Group A

Final

6 October 2026 (2026-10-06)

Winner Semi-final 1	v	Winner Semi-final 2

King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah

References

1. "جدة تستضيف كأس الخليج العربي الـ 27 في سبتمبر 2026" (in Arabic). Maspero. 2 January 2026.
2. "رسميا.. جدة تستضيف خليجي 27 في سبتمبر المقبل" (in Arabic). El Watan News. 2 January 2026.
3. "الخميس إعلان استضافة السعودية «خليجي 27» في سبتمبر 2026". aawsat.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-26.
4. "الشهادة الآسيوية للمالكي". arriyadiyah.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-26.