FIFA Arab Cup

FIFA Arab Cup
Organiser(s)UAFA (1983–2012)
FIFA (2021–present)
Founded1963; 63 years ago (1963)
RegionArab world
Teams16 (finals)
Current champions Morocco (2nd title)
Most championships Iraq (4 titles)
Websitefifa.com/arabcup
2025 FIFA Arab Cup

The FIFA Arab Cup (Arabic: كأس العرب, romanized: Kaʾs al-ʿArab), often called the Arab Cup, is an international football competition organized by FIFA. It is held every four years with the participation of the men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), the governing body for countries in the Arab world. The current champion is Morocco, which won its second title at the 2025 tournament in Qatar.

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

The eleven Arab Cup tournaments have been won by six national teams. Iraq has won four times, Saudi Arabia and Morocco have each won twice, and Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia have each won once. Qatar has hosted the Arab Cup three times, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have each hosted twice, and Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Syria have each hosted once.

History

The initial idea to establish an Arab Cup came in 1957 from Lebanese journalist Nassif Majdalani and the Secretary General of the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) Izzat Al Turk. In November 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. The first Arab Cup was held in Beirut in April 1963, with the participation of five teams.

During the 17-year hiatus between 1966 and 1983, 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.

In the 1980s, the competition returned under the auspices of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA). The 1992 Arab Cup was also organised as part of the 1992 Arab Games.

The 2021 edition was the first edition to be organised by FIFA; the competition was renamed FIFA Arab Cup. Following the 2021 final, in which Algeria defeated Tunisia 2–0 to win the tournament, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced that FIFA would continue to oversee future editions. On 15 May 2024, FIFA announced that Qatar would host the tournament in 2025, 2029 and 2033, and the tournament would follow the principle of an invitational competition not included in the International Match Calendar.

The 2025 edition became the first Arab Cup tournament to surpass one million spectators, reaching a total attendance of 1,236,600. Its final, held at Lusail Stadium, drew a record-breaking attendance of 84,517 spectators as Morocco defeated Jordan 3–2 to claim the title.

Results

Keys
Ed. Year Host First place game Third place game Teams
1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions Score 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Third place Score Fourth place
Arab Cup
1 1963 Lebanon
Tunisia
Syria
Lebanon
Kuwait		 5
2 1964 Kuwait
Iraq
Libya
Lebanon
Kuwait		 5
3 1966 Iraq
Iraq		 2–1
Syria
Libya		 6–1
Lebanon		 10
Arab Cup (UAFA)
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 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 10
– 2009 Edition cancelled during qualification due to lack of sponsorship
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 Qatar
Morocco		 3–2 (a.e.t.)
Jordan		  Saudi Arabia and  United Arab Emirates 16
12 2029 Qatar TBD TBD TBD
13 2033 Qatar TBD TBD
Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.
  1. ↑ From 1983 to 2012, the competition was under the auspices of UAFA.
  2. ↑ The 1992 edition organized as part of the 1992 Arab Games football tournament was also counted as part of the Arab Cup.
  3. ↑ No third place match was played.
  4. ↑ Match was abandoned at half-time due to adverse weather, which resulted in FIFA declaring the final result as 0–0 and third place being shared between both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Teams reaching the top four

Teams reaching the top four
Team Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place Total
 Iraq 4 (1964, 1966*, 1985, 1988) — 1 (2012) — 5
 Saudi Arabia 2 (1998, 2002) 1 (1992) 2 (1985*, 2025) 1 (2012*) 6
 Morocco 2 (2012, 2025) — 1 (2002) — 3
 Tunisia 1 (1963) 1 (2021) — — 2
 Egypt 1 (1992) — 1 (1988) 1 (2021) 3
 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
 Jordan — 1 (2025) 1 (2002) 1 (1988*) 3
 Kuwait — — 2 (1992, 1998) 2 (1963, 1964*) 4
 Lebanon — — 2 (1963*, 1964) 1 (1966) 3
 United Arab Emirates — — 1 (2025) 1 (1998) 2
* hosts

Best performances by confederations

Records and statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

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
(16)		 2029
Qatar
(16)		 Total
 Algeria ××××GS×GS××1stQF 4
 Bahrain ××GS2ndGS××2ndGSGSGS 7
 Comoros ×××××וGS 1
 Egypt ××××3rd1stGS×GS4thGS 6
 Iraq ×1st1st1st1st×××3rdGSQF 7
 Jordan GSGSGSGS4thGSGS3rd×QF2nd 10
 Kuwait 4th4thGS×GS3rd3rdGSGS•GS 9
 Lebanon 3rd3rd4th×GS×GSGSGSGS• 8
 Libya ×2nd3rd×××GS×2nd•• 4
 Mauritania ×××GS•××××GS• 2
 Morocco ××××××GS3rd1stQF1st 5
 Oman ××GS××××××QFGS 3
 Palestine ××GS××GS•GSGSGSQF 6
 Qatar ×××4th××2nd××3rdGSQ 5
 Saudi Arabia ×××3rdGS2nd1st1st4thGS3rd 8
 Sudan ××ו××GSGSGSGSGS 5
 Syria 2nd×2nd×2nd4thGSGS×GSQF 8
 Tunisia 1st×××GS××××2ndGS 4
 United Arab Emirates ××××××4th××QF3rd 3
 Yemen ××GS××××GSGS•• 3

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Third place match in 2025 was abandoned due to adverse weather, which resulted in FIFA declaring third place to be shared between both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
  2. 1 2 There was no third place match in the 2002 Arab Cup.

References

  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. ↑ "Du 1er au 15 avril 1963 à Beyrouth : le Liban organisera la première « Coupe arabe »" [From 1 to 15 April 1963 in Beirut: Lebanon will host the first "Arab Cup"]. L'Orient (in French). 8 September 1962. p. 6.
  5. ↑ Morrison, Neil. "Arab Cup 1963 Details". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. 1 2 Abboud, John; Nygård, Jostein; Qayed, Mohammed. "Arab Cup". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ "FIFA Arab Cup 2021 – Teams – Lebanon". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  10. ↑ "Algeria beat Tunisia to win FIFA Arab Cup 2021". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  11. ↑ "Gianni Infantino: FIFA Arab Cup set to continue". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 December 2021. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "Key tournament decisions made by FIFA Council". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  13. ↑ "FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025: Tournament Matches Surpass One Million Fans". Qatar news agency. 12 December 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Newspaper, The Peninsula (17 December 2025). "FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 continues to break records". thepeninsulaqatar.com. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  15. ↑ reporter/Doha, Sports (18 December 2025). "Super sub Hamdallah leads Morocco to Arab Cup triumph". Gulf Times. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "Qatar 2025 in stats". FIFA. 19 December 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  17. ↑ "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.