The first Gulf Cup… Kuwaiti domination and a title without a loss

The first edition of the Gulf Cup, hosted by Bahrain, was held from March 27 to April 3, 1970, at Isa Town International Stadium, with the participation of only 4 teams, which are Bahrain, the host country, under the leadership of Egyptian coach Hamada Al-Sharqawi, and Kuwait, led by Egyptian Taha Al-Toukhi. Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Englishman George Skiro, and Qatar led by the Sudanese Mohamed Hassan Khairy. The opening meeting brought together the teams of Bahrain and Qatar and ended with the Bahraini Al-Ahmar winning with two goals scored by Ahmed Salmeen and Hassan Zuleikh, against a goal by the Qatari Al-Annabi bearing the signature of Mubarak Faraj.

The tournament was held in one group system, where each team played three matches with the other teams, and Kuwait succeeded in winning the title after winning the three matches, achieving 6 points, and the Bahraini Red came runner-up, achieving three points, from a win, a draw and a loss, while Saudi Arabia achieved two points from only two draws, and Qatar came at the bottom of the group with one point from a 1/1 draw against Saudi Arabia.

The closing meeting brought together Kuwait and Bahrain and ended with a blue triple, with the signing of Jawad Khalaf, Muhammad Al-Masoud, and Mahmoud Dixon, who scored Kuwait’s first goals in the Gulf Cup.

The Kuwaitis, Jawad Khalaf and Muhammad Al-Masoud, were the top scorers in the first edition of the tournament, with 3 goals each, while Kuwaiti Mahmoud Dixon, Muhammad Al-Nour Musa (Saudi Arabia), and Khaled Ballan (Qatar) scored two goals each, while the Kuwaitis scored one goal each. Farouk Ibrahim, Khalaf Sattam, Qatari Mubarak Faraj, and Suleiman Almas, and from Bahrain: Youssef Amin, Ahmed Salmeen, and Hassan Zuleikh.