Oman Vs Bahrain: Live Score, Preview, Lineup, Telecast Details

Arabian Gulf Cup
MATCH INFO
MATCH :	Oman  V/s Bahrain
COMPETITION :	Final
DATE:	04-01-2025
TIME:	9:30 PM IST (UTC +5:30)
STADIUM:	Jaber Al-Ahmad InterAnational Stadium

Oman	Lineup
Possible XI: Al-Rushaidi; Al-Yahmadi, Al-Khamisi, Al-Rushadi, Al-Busaidi; Al-Saadi, Al-Alawi; Al-Kaabi, Fawaz, Al-Mushaifri; Al-Sabhi
Bahrain	Lineup
Possible XI: Lutfalla; Al-Shamsan, Benaddi, Al Hayam, Al-Khulasi; Saeed, Al-Aswad; Madan, Marhoon, Abdul-Romaihi; Abdullatif

Preview: Oman Vs Bahrain

Down a man after 34 minutes, Oman showed tremendous fighting spirit, holding off a potent Saudi attack with desperate defending and timely tackles.

In the end, they made the most of their opportunities, scoring on two of their three targeted efforts and being able to hold out despite having just 30% of the possession.

Thanks to that total team effort, the Omanis are through to the final for a third time in the last four editions of this tournament, with a chance to exercise the demons from 2023, when they suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat in extra time against Iraq.

Oman have not won consecutive international contests since claiming three victories in a row from March to June 2024 but are riding a five-match unbeaten run across all competitions into 2025.

Rashid Jaber's men have conceded a goal or fewer in each of those encounters on that run, allowing just one second-half strike in the entire Gulf Cup this season.

Al-Ahmar have won four of their previous five matches versus Bahrain, including the last two times they faced them in this competition, claiming a 1-0 triumph in 2018 and 2023.

With a victory this weekend, Oman would lift this trophy for the third time, equalling Qatar and Saudi Arabia for the third-most Gulf Cup triumphs, while it would be their first since 2017-18.

It took them 75 minutes, but in the end, Bahrain overcame some big obstacles and a partisan crowd to advance into the final.

They did it despite being reduced to 10 men early into the second half, winning for a third time in their previous four matches in this competition,

Saturday will mark their first appearance in the Gulf Cup final since 2019 when Dilmun's Warriors claimed their only title to date with a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia.

Their three triumphs at the Gulf Cup this season have occurred when they netted the opening goal, collecting a clean sheet in two of those instances.

Bahrain have finished as runners-up at this event four times, though, on three occasions, it was in a group with no knockout phase at that time.

Dragan Talajic has a chance to guide this nation to their first trophy since they claimed the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Championship and Gulf Cup in 2019.

Bahrain are winless in 11 successive meetings with Oman and have only beaten them once at the Gulf Cup in the 2000s, winning 1-0 in a January 2004 match played in Kuwait.

Live Start Count

-

Telecast Lists

Click Here

About Arabian Gulf Cup:

History

The Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic: كأس الخليج العربي, Kaʾs al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī), often referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial association football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of the competition has also seen it held every three to four years due to political or organisational problems. The reigning champions are Iraq, having won their fourth title at the 25th edition, as hosts, held in 2023.

The idea for the tournament was established at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and the first Arabian Gulf Cup took place in 1970 which was won by Kuwait. Kuwait has been the most successful team in the tournament's history, winning 10 tournaments out of 25 in total, followed by Iraq with four titles, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar with three titles each. The current champions are Iraq, who defeated Oman in 2023 to win their fourth title.

Developments

A major point that helped Qatar improve the competition was that Al Jazeera Sports, the leading sports channel in Western Asia, and North Africa is based in Doha. Al Jazeera Sports won broadcasting rights to the 2004, and exclusively in the 19th Arabian Gulf Cup in 2009 and dramatically reformed the Arabian Gulf Cup by hosting numerous talk shows and documentaries, on top of filming in HD and perfecting camerawork of matches.

The tournament marked the presence of some of the most influential personalities of the football world, including FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, and UEFA president, Michel Platini. The FIFA Executive Committee has also put on their October 4, 2013 meeting agenda to hear the proposal for the Arabian Gulf Cup to be included in the international match calendar.