Zain Premier League Draw Brings Al-Kuwait and Al-Arabi Together in Opening Round
The draw for the 2026-2027 season of the Zain Premier League was held, attended by Deputy President of the Kuwait Football Association for Administrative and Financial Affairs, Dabin Al-Deyan, General Secretary of the Association, Saleh Al-Majroub, and Zain Kuwait’s Executive Director for Relations and Communications, Hamad Al-Masabih. The league will feature 12 clubs, in line with earlier announcements to increase the number of teams competing in the Premier League. Ten of these clubs will be those that participated fully in last season’s competition: Al-Kuwait, Al-Arabi, Al-Qadsia, Kazma, Al-Salmiya, Al-Shabab, Al-Fahaheel, Al-Jahra, Al-Nasr, and Al-Tadamun. They will be joined by two teams promoted directly from the Zain First Division.
The participation of 12 teams in the Kuwaiti Premier League will mark the first time in the competition’s history that it is structured into two divisions: the Premier Division and the First Division. The Football Association’s Competitions Committee approved the league format prior to the draw. The league will be played in a two-legged home-and-away system, with each team playing 22 matches, differing from the previous two seasons which used a different format. In those seasons, teams played a home-and-away round, after which the ten top-tier clubs were split into two groups (Championship and Relegation) to determine the league champion and the two teams relegated to the First Division.
Determining the Champion and Relegated Teams: The Zain Premier League champion will be the team with the most points accumulated across both halves of the season. In case of a tie in points among multiple teams, rankings and the championship title will be decided as follows: head-to-head results, followed by goal difference. The same criteria will apply to determine relegation to the First Division in the event of a points tie. The two teams finishing in the last and second-to-last positions will be directly relegated to the First Division for the following season.
Kuwait vs. Al-Arabi in the Opening Match: The first round of the Premier League will kick off on the 25th of this month, featuring a strong start with a clash between the Kuwaiti league champions and runners-up, Al-Arabi. Other matches in the opening round include Al-Qadsia versus Al-Fahaheel, Al-Shabab against Al-Jahra, Al-Salmiya facing Al-Nasr, Kazma meeting Al-Tadamun, and the First Division champion playing the First Division runner-up. The Kuwait derby between Al-Kuwait and Al-Qadsia will take place in the third round of the league.
Derby in the Seventh Round: The draw resulted in the popular derby between Al-Qadsia and Al-Arabi being scheduled for the seventh round of the competition, with the return leg set for the 18th round.
