Gulf U-17 Cup kicks off in Doha with 10 teams

The Gulf Cup for Under-17 football teams kicked off today, Friday, in the Qatari capital of Doha, and will run until November 4, with participation from our national team. Doha hosts the tournament for the second consecutive year, with this year’s edition featuring ten teams competing for the title: Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, and guest nations Egypt and China, marking the largest participation in the tournament’s history.

The draw, held last September, divided the participating teams into two groups of five. Our national team is in Group 2 alongside Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, and defending champions Saudi Arabia. Group 1 includes host nation Qatar, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, and China.

The tournament’s matches will be played across 23 games at three venues: Grand Hamad Stadium, Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium, and Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.

The opening match, held today, saw China defeat Qatar 2-0 at Grand Hamad Stadium in Doha.

Our national team will begin its campaign against Egypt at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on the 20th of this month.

The national team’s technical staff, led by coach Caiu Zanardi, has announced a 26-player squad preparing for both the Gulf Cup and the Asian Cup qualifiers in Oman. The squad includes goalkeepers Khaled Al-Khader, Othman Al-Kandari, and Adnan Al-Mubarak; outfield players Braak Al-Dhafiri, Badr Al-Dawood, Saad Al-Shammari, Dhiaab Al-Mutairi, Hamad Al-Shammari, Hussein Muqdad, Hussein Al-Saffar, Hassan Al-Mulla, Hassan Al-Atta, Omar Al-Sarawi, Abdullah Al-Ali, Abdullah Al-Ajmi, Abdulaziz Al-Anzi, Abdulrahman Al-Sula, Sayed Hussein Al-Ali, Saud Al-Asimi, Youssef Al-Anzi, Yaqoub Zahie, Nizar Al-Musab, Nasser Saeed, Nasser Al-Sudairi, Mohammed Al-Yousef, and Mohammed Al-Jadaan.