At 12:29 AM Beijing time on December 29th, the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup football tournament continued, with Saudi Arabia defeating Iraq 3-1 in the last round of Group B. After accumulating 6 points over 3 rounds, Saudi Arabia secured second place in the group and narrowly qualified for the semi-finals. Next, Saudi Arabia will face Oman in the semi-finals, while Bahrain will play against Kuwait.
Just before the national team organized a new training session, two opponents from the same group in the top 18 qualifiers, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, had already appeared in the Gulf Cup. It was quite coincidental that both teams were drawn into the same group. In the end, Saudi Arabia lost 2-3 to Bahrain, but they ended their streak of five winless matches by turning things around with a 3-2 victory over Yemen in the second round.
In order to prepare early for the resumption of the top 18 qualifiers next March, plus the fact that the Gulf Cup is the highest-level event in the Arab and Middle East regions, Saudi Arabia's head coach Hervé Renard fielded most of the main squad, with only players from European leagues absent.
In the final round, Saudi Arabia competed with Iraq for the remaining qualification spot in the group. Both teams had one win and one loss in the first two rounds, with Saudi Arabia temporarily occupying second place in the group due to a better goal difference. Therefore, a draw in the final round would be enough for Saudi Arabia to surpass Iraq and advance to the semi-finals.
In the first half, both teams had an equal share of possession, attacking and defending each other, but there were few threats to the opponent's goal. Saudi Arabia had 2 shots off target and only 1 corner kick opportunity, while Iraq had 3 shots off target and 3 corner kicks, with the score still tied at 0-0.
It wasn't until the 55th minute of the second half that Saudi Arabia earned a penalty through a corner kick attack, which was successfully converted by Salman Al-Faraj, breaking the deadlock with a 1-0 lead. Despite falling behind by one goal, Iraq's rhythm was not disrupted. In the 64th minute, Eiman Hussain headed the ball across, and Ali managed to shake off the defenders inside the box before scoring with a low shot, helping Iraq level the score at 1-1.
In the 81st minute, Sudan Al-Ghamdi passed the ball into the box from the flank, and Hamdan Al-Muwallad curled a shot into the far corner of the net, helping Saudi Arabia regain the lead at 2-1. In the 87th minute, Hamdan scored another goal to complete his brace, securing a 3-1 victory for Saudi Arabia, with the whole team celebrating wildly.
After defeating Iraq, Saudi Arabia secured second place in the group with two consecutive victories and a total of 6 points, advancing to the semi-finals alongside Bahrain. According to the draw, Saudi Arabia will face Oman in the semi-finals, while Bahrain will play against Kuwait.
From losing in the first round to winning two games in a row, Saudi Arabia made a strong comeback, changing their lackluster performance in the top 18 qualifiers, which is definitely not good news for the national team.
According to the schedule, the two teams will face each other directly in the next round of the top 18 qualifiers, with the national team playing away against Saudi Arabia. Now that Saudi Arabia has regained their form in the Gulf Cup, it will be even more difficult for the national team to score points away from home, let alone secure all three points.