Fighting back strongly from a goal down, Bahrain defeated Oman 2-1 in the final to lift the Arabian Gulf Cup 2024-25 trophy at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait on Saturday, January 4. (More Football News)
Oman led for more than an hour as Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri opened the scoring in the 17th minute, before Mohamed Marhoon converted a penalty for Bahrain to equalize in the 78th minute. Bahrain's winning goal came two minutes later, when Oman's Mohammed Al-Maslami inadvertently sent the ball into his own team's net.
Marhoon was also pivotal in Bahrain's passage to the final, as he scored the winner in their narrow 1-0 victory over hosts Kuwait in the last-four stage. As for Oman, they had made it to the summit clash after a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in the semis.
This is only Bahrain's second Gulf Cup title in the biennial tournament's 55-year history, having lifted the trophy in 2019 after final heart-breaks in the 1970, 1982, 1992 and 2003-04 editions.
The next edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup will be held in 2026 in Saudi Arabia, which is quickly becoming a major destination for big-ticket global football events. Less than a month ago, Saudi Arabia was officially confirmed by FIFA as host of the 2034 men's World Cup, giving the oil-rich kingdom its biggest prize yet for massive spending on global sports driven by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
