Gulf 4.. The beginning of the participation of the Lions of Mesopotamia and Kuwait retains the title

From March 25 to April 15, 1976, Doha hosted, at Qatar Stadium, the fourth edition of the Gulf Cup, in which the Iraqi national team participated for the first time, bringing the number of participating teams to seven: UAE led by Yugoslav Tadic, Bahrain led by English Jack Manel, Iraq led by Scotsman Daniel McAleenan, Oman led by Egyptian Mamdouh Khafagy, Al Annabi led by Englishman Frank Wajnek, Kuwait led by Brazilian Mario Zagallo, and Saudi Arabia led by Hungarian star Puskas.

That version was held with a league system of one role, and it was not decided except by a playoff match that brought together the teams of Kuwait and the newcomer Iraq, where the teams of Kuwait and Iraq succeeded in achieving 4 wins and two draws, during 6 confrontations each, and they collected 10 points, and they were equal in goal difference (Kuwait scored 22 and received 5, and Iraq scored 21 and received 4), so that a play-off match was adjudicated, which ended in favor of Al-Azraq 4/2.

While Al-Annabi came third with 9 points, then the Bahraini Red with 6 points, the Saudi Green with 4 points, the Emirati White with two points, and finally the Omani Red with one point from a tie against the Emirates.

In this version, 84 goals were scored during 22 matches, and the star Jassem Yaqoub topped the scorers with 9 goals, followed by 8 goals each: Ali Kazem and Faisal Al-Dakhil, then 6 goals for Abdulaziz Al-Anbari, 5 goals for Mansour Moftah, and 4 goals for Muhammad Bahram and Sabah Abdul-Jalil And 3 goals for Falah Hassan, Suleiman Al-Mas, and Khaled Sorour, and two goals for Kazem Waal, Ahmed Sobhi, Muhammad Al-Moghanim, Ahmed Omar Fustuk, and Ahmed Sobhi.

While one goal was scored by: Ali Hussein, Mijbel Fartous, Jassim Al-Dawoodi, Jassim Abdullah, Salem Bushneen, Hamed Subhi, Hussein Muhammad, Farouk Ibrahim, Saif Al-Hajri, Rajab Abdul Rahman, Issa Khalifa, Mubarak Al-Alawi, Saud Bu Hamad, Jawhar Almas, Khalil Shweier, Hamad Hareb, Sultan Bashir, Sultan Naseeb, Awad Mubarak, Muslim Alawi.

Ali Kazem, the Iraqi star, won the award for the best player, and the best Bahraini goalkeeper was awarded to Hammoud Sultan, while the fair play award went to the Saudi Khaled Al-Turki.