The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
The United Arab Emirates national football team represents United Arab Emirates in international football and serves under the auspices of the country's Football Association.
The Bahrain national football team represents Bahrain in international football and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association, which was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966. They have never reached the World Cup, but have twice come within one match of doing so. Bahrain won the FIFA's most improved team award in 2004, and finished fourth in the 2004 Asian Cup, beating Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals but losing to Japan in the semi-finals 4–3. Bahrain then lost to Iran in the third-place match, thus finishing in fourth place overall. Bahrain had a golden year in 2019, winning both the WAFF Championship and the Arabian Gulf Cup for the first time, under the stewardship of Hélio Sousa.
The Qatar national football team, nicknamed "The Maroons", represents Qatar in international football, and is controlled by the Qatar Football Association, which is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and comes under the global jurisdiction of world football’s governing body FIFA. They play their home games at Khalifa International Stadium and Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. The latter is considered the home stadium.
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf or the Arab Gulf states refers to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yemen is bound to the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, based on history and culture.
The Arabian Gulf Cup, often referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of the competition has also seen it held every three to four years due to political or organisational problems. The reigning champions are Iraq, having won their fourth title at the 25th edition, as hosts, held in 2023.
The Arabian Gulf rugby union team was a combined team of players that represented the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in international rugby union competitions. The team competed in international matches between 1993 and 2010, and was governed by the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU). Associate members were Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
Asia Rugby, formerly the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU), is the governing body of rugby union in Asia under the authority of World Rugby. Founded in 1968 by eight charter nations, the Union today has 36 member unions in countries across Asia, stretching from Kazakhstan to Guam.
Rugby union in the Arabian Peninsula is a minor, but growing sport. The game is played in six out of seven countries on the peninsula, specifically the Gulf Cooperation states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The region hosts the annual Dubai Sevens and Dubai Women's Sevens tournaments which are global events on the World Rugby sevens series for men and women.
Rugby union in Bahrain is a minor but growing sport.
The Arabian Gulf rugby sevens national team was a minor sevens side that represented the Gulf Cooperation Council member states. The team first played in 1990, competing at the Hong Kong Sevens tournament that year before travelling to the qualifying event for the Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Sicily. Over the next two decades the Arabian Gulf was a regular participant at the Hong Kong Sevens and in their home event, the Dubai Sevens. The Arabian Gulf team was dissolved at the end of 2010 to be replaced by single-country national teams.
Rugby union in Kuwait is a minor sport.
Association football is a practiced sport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE has teams and players at both club and international level.
The 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup was the 23rd edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. It took place in Kuwait from 22 December 2017 until 5 January 2018. Oman won their second title, defeating the United Arab Emirates in the final on penalties following a goalless draw.
This page details the match results and statistics of the Yemen national football team.
Mahdi Faisal Ebrahim Al-Humaidan is a Bahraini footballer who plays as a forward for Al Khaldiya and the Bahrain national team.
The United Arab Emirates Rugby Federation, or UAE Rugby, is the governing body for rugby union in United Arab Emirates. It organises and oversees local rugby, including the annual Dubai Sevens and Dubai Women's Sevens. It became affiliated to World Rugby and Asia Rugby in 2012 as a full status member.
The Qatar Rugby Federation is the governing body for rugby union in Qatar. It was founded in 2006 and sent teams to the Arabian 7s Challenge Cup in that year. However, it was largely dormant until the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU) was dissolved at the end of 2010. The AGRFU had organised local and regional rugby competitions before then across most countries in the Arabian Peninsula, including Qatar, but was split up to allow national federations to take charge in each country.
The 2022 GCC Women's Gulf Cup was a women's T20I cricket (WT20I) tournament played in Oman from 20 to 26 March 2022. Organised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the tournament featured the women's national teams of Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia played their first official WT20I matches during this tournament.
The 2023 Men's Gulf T20I Championship was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament that took place in Qatar in September 2023. The participating teams in the inaugural edition of the Gulf Championship were the hosts Qatar along with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. All of the matches were played at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha. The top two sides in the round-robin advanced to the final.
