Gulf Cup 23…the Omani team is champion for the second time…and the tournament has five top goal scorers. 

Kuwait hosted the 23rd edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup from December 22, 2017 to January 5, 2018, for the fourth time after 1974, 1990, and 2003.

All the Gulf teams participated in that edition and were divided into two groups. The first included Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE. Oman qualified for the semi-finals with 6 points from two wins and a loss, and the UAE came in as runners-up with 5 points from a win. And two draws.

Iraq led the second group, which included Qatar, Yemen, and Bahrain, with 7 points from two wins and a draw, and Bahrain came in second with 5 points from a win and two draws.

 

In the semi-finals, Oman defeated Bahrain 1-0 and the UAE defeated Iraq on penalties 4-2 after a goalless tie in the regular and extra time to meet in the final match, which was decided by penalty kicks in favor of the Omani team 5-4, so that the Omani team lifted the cup for the second time in its history.

That version witnessed the scoring of 23 goals over the course of 15 matches, and the title of top scorer was won by Jamal Rashid, Ali Hosni, Ali Fayez, Saeed Al-Ruzaiqi, and Moez Ali, with two goals for each player, while Ahmed Mubarak (Kano) won the best player award. Khaled Issa won the best goalkeeper award, and the Kuwait national team won the fair play award.