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FIFA Arab Cup

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This article is about the men's association football tournament. For the women's tournament, see Arab Women's Cup.

FIFA Arab Cup
Organising bodyUAFA (1985–2012)
FIFA (2021–present)
Founded1963; 61 years ago (1963)
RegionArab world
Number of teams16 (finals)
Current champions Algeria (1st title)
Most successful team(s) Iraq (4 titles)
Websitefifa.com/arabcup
2025 FIFA Arab Cup
Tournaments

The FIFA Arab Cup (Arabic: كأس العرب, romanized: Kaʾs al-ʿArab), or Arab Cup, is an international association football competition organized by FIFA. It is held every four years with the participation of senior men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), the governing body for countries in the Arab world.[1] The current champion is Algeria, which won its first title at the 2021 tournament in Qatar.

The championship's inaugural edition was in 1963, held in Lebanon, which was won by Tunisia. After having been played in 1964 and 1966, the Arab Cup was halted for almost 20 years, before being contested in 1985. The tournament was played five more times until 2012, the last competition organized by the UAFA. The 2021 edition was the first organized by FIFA.

The ten Arab Cup tournaments have been won by six national teams. Iraq have won four times; the other Arab Cup winners are Saudi Arabia, with two titles; Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and inaugural winner Tunisia, with one title each.

Seven countries have hosted the Arab Cup. Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have each hosted twice, while Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Syria have each hosted once. All Arab Cups have been held in Asia.

History

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The initial idea for the conception of an Arab Cup came in 1957 from Lebanese journalist Nassif Majdalani and the Secretary General of the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) Izzat Al Turk.[2][3] In 1962, the LFA called for the formal establishment of the tournament through their president Georges Dabbas, who organised a general Arab assembly for the formation of the Arab Cup.[4] The first Arab Cup was held in Beirut between April and May 1963, with the participation of five teams.[5]

During the 16-year hiatus between 1966 and 1982, the Arab Cup was de facto replaced by the Palestine Cup, which was held three times in the 1970s and then became a youth tournament after the return of the Arab Cup in the 1980s.[4][6] The 1992 Arab Cup was also organised as part of the 1992 Arab Games.[6]

The 2021 edition was the first edition to be organised by FIFA; the competition was renamed FIFA Arab Cup.[7][8] Following the 2021 final, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced that FIFA would continue to oversee future editions.[9] On 15 May 2024, FIFA announced that Qatar will host the tournament in 2025, 2029 and 2033, and the tournament will follow the principle of an invitational competition not included in the International Match Calendar.[10]

Results

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Keys
Ed. Year Host First place game Third place game Teams
1st place, gold medalist(s) Champion Score 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Third place Score Fourth place
Arab Cup
1 1963  Lebanon
Tunisia 		[note 1]
Syria
Lebanon 		[note 1]
Kuwait 		5
2 1964  Kuwait
Iraq 		[note 1]
Libya
Kuwait 		[note 1]
Lebanon 		5
3 1966  Iraq
Iraq 		2–1
Syria
Libya 		6–1
Lebanon 		10
4 1985  Saudi Arabia
Iraq 		1–0
Bahrain
Saudi Arabia 		0–0 (a.e.t.)
(4–1 p)
Qatar 		6
5 1988  Jordan
Iraq 		1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)
Syria
Egypt 		2–0
Jordan 		10
6 1992[a]  Syria
Egypt 		3–2
Saudi Arabia
Kuwait 		2–1
Syria 		6
7 1998  Qatar
Saudi Arabia 		3–1
Qatar
Kuwait 		4–1
United Arab Emirates 		12
8 2002  Kuwait
Saudi Arabia 		1–0 (a.e.t.)
Bahrain 		 Jordan and  Morocco[b] 10
– 2009 Edition cancelled during qualification due to lack of sponsorship[11]
9 2012  Saudi Arabia
Morocco 		1–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–1 p)
Libya
Iraq 		1–0
Saudi Arabia 		11
FIFA Arab Cup
10 2021  Qatar
Algeria 		2–0 (a.e.t.)
Tunisia
Qatar 		0–0 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 p)
Egypt 		16
11 2025 TBD TBD TBD
12 2029 TBD TBD
13 2033 TBD TBD
Notes
  1. ^ a b c d A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.
  1. ^ The 1992 edition organized as part of the 1992 Arab Games football tournament was also counted as a part of the Arab Cup.
  2. ^ No third place match was played.

Teams reaching the top four

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Teams reaching the top four
Team Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place Semi final Total
 Iraq 4 (1964, 1966*, 1985, 1988) — 1 (2012) — — 5
 Saudi Arabia 2 (1998, 2002) 1 (1992) 1 (1985*) 1 (2012*) — 5
 Tunisia 1 (1963) 1 (2021) — — — 2
 Egypt 1 (1992) — 1 (1988) 1 (2021) — 3
 Morocco 1 (2012) — 1 (2002*) — 2
 Algeria 1 (2021) — — — — 1
 Syria — 3 (1963, 1966, 1988) — 1 (1992*) — 4
 Libya — 2 (1964, 2012) 1 (1966) — — 3
 Bahrain — 2 (1985, 2002) — — — 2
 Qatar — 1 (1998*) 1 (2021*) 1 (1985) — 3
 Kuwait — — 3 (1964*, 1992, 1998) 1 (1963) — 4
 Lebanon — — 1 (1963*) 2 (1964, 1966) — 3
 Jordan — — — 1 (1988*) 1 (2002)[a] 2
 United Arab Emirates — — — 1 (1998) — 1
* hosts

Best performances by confederations

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Records and statistics

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Main article: FIFA Arab Cup records and statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

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Legend

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament are shown (in parentheses).

Team 1963
Lebanon
(5) 		1964
Kuwait
(5) 		1966
Iraq
(10) 		1985
Saudi Arabia
(6) 		1988
Jordan
(10) 		1992
Syria
(6) 		1998
Qatar
(12) 		2002
Kuwait
(10) 		2012
Saudi Arabia
(11) 		2021
Qatar
(16) 		2025
Qatar
(...) 		Total
 Algeria × × × × GS × GS × × 1st 3
 Bahrain × × GS 2nd GS × × 2nd GS GS 6
 Egypt × × × × 3rd 1st GS × GS 4th 5
 Iraq × 1st 1st 1st 1st × × × 3rd GS 6
 Jordan GS GS GS GS 4th GS GS SF × QF 9
 Kuwait 4th 3rd GS × GS 3rd 3rd GS GS • 8
 Lebanon 3rd 4th 4th × GS × GS GS GS GS 8
 Libya × 2nd 3rd × × × GS × 2nd • 4
 Mauritania × × × GS • × × × × GS 2
 Morocco × × × × × × GS SF 1st QF 4
 Oman × × GS × × × × × × QF 2
 Palestine × × GS × × GS • GS GS GS 5
 Qatar × × × 4th × × 2nd × × 3rd Q 4
 Saudi Arabia × × × 3rd GS 2nd 1st 1st 4th GS 7
 Sudan × × × • × × GS GS GS GS 4
 Syria 2nd × 2nd × 2nd 4th GS GS × GS 7
 Tunisia 1st × × × GS × × × × 2nd 3
 United Arab Emirates × × × × × × 4th × × QF 2
 Yemen × × GS × × × × GS GS • 3
Team 1963
Lebanon
(5) 		1964
Kuwait
(5) 		1966
Iraq
(10) 		1985
Saudi Arabia
(6) 		1988
Jordan
(10) 		1992
Syria
(6) 		1998
Qatar
(12) 		2002
Kuwait
(10) 		2012
Saudi Arabia
(11) 		2021
Qatar
(16) 		2025
Qatar
(...) 		Total

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In the 2002 Arab Cup there was no Third place playoff so both Morocco and Jordan were awarded 3rd place.

References

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  1. ^ نتائج اجتماع الجمعية العمومية غير العادي واجتماع اللجنة التنفيذية للاتحاد العربي لكرة القدم [The results of the General Meeting of UAFA's Executive Committee]. UAFA (in Arabic). 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  2. ^ "قبل انطلاقها.. ماذا يخبرنا التاريخ عن بطولة "كأس العرب"؟". Sky News Arabia. Saber Hussam-Eddin. 28 November 2021. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  3. ^ "كأس العرب: لبنان موطن الفكرة لم يحقق أي انجاز". france24. 28 November 2021. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b موسوعة كرة القدم العراقية من الالف الى الياء ... بطولة كأس العرب [Encyclopedia of Iraqi football from A to Z ... Arab Cup Championship]. Kooora.com (in Arabic). 18 September 2005. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  5. ^ Morrison, Neil. "Arab Cup 1963 Details". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b Abboud, John; Nygård, Jostein; Qayed, Mohammed. "Arab Cup". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  7. ^ "الاتحاد العربي" يعلن عن مسابقاته للموسم القادم [The "Arab Union" announces its competitions for the next season]. UAFA (in Arabic). 25 April 2021. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  8. ^ "FIFA Arab Cup 2021 – Teams – Lebanon". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Gianni Infantino: FIFA Arab Cup set to continue". FIFA.com. 18 December 2021. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Key tournament decisions made by FIFA Council". FIFA.com. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  11. ^ "UAFA : 44 millions dollars pour la relance des compétitions". ES Tunis media site. TAP. 2012. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
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