The most decorated team is Al-Arabi, and the terrifying Jasim Yaqoub is the all-time top scorer
The tournament carries a digital legacy forged by 26 previous editions, which featured 406 matches and 1,015 goals, averaging 2.5 goals per match. Over this long journey, generations of players, goal scorers, and goalkeepers have succeeded one another, and the balance of power has shifted, while the statistics have remained a witness to the history of the eight national teams in the tournament. The record-breaking figures are distributed among multiple teams: Kuwait’s “Blue” team holds the highest number of titles and goals, Saudi Arabia has the most victories, Bahrain has the most draws, while Oman holds the highest number of losses and goals conceded. Kuwait stands at the top of the champions’ record with 10 titles, compared to four for Iraq, three each for Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and two each for the UAE, Bahrain, and Oman.
Kuwait’s statistics do not end with titles; the “Blue” team has played 120 matches across 26 participations, the highest number among all teams. During this period, they recorded 59 wins, 26 draws, and 35 losses, scoring 206 goals while conceding 119, thereby also holding the best goal difference of +87. Despite Kuwait’s lead in titles and goals, Saudi Arabia has claimed the top spot in a key statistic, as the “Green” team achieved 60 victories in 117 matches, making them the most successful in terms of wins in the tournament’s history, edging out Kuwait by a single victory.
The formidable historical top scorer
Behind the 1,015 goals witnessed in the tournament stands a group of forwards who have shaped a significant part of its memory. Leading the list is Kuwaiti Jassim Yaqoub, who tops the all-time scorers’ chart with 18 goals. In second place, two players are separated from the top spot by just one goal: Iraqi Hussein Saeed and Saudi Majed Abdullah, each with 17 goals. This means that only three players at the top of the list are separated by a single goal.
The statistics of the all-time top scorers become even more meaningful when linked to the top scorers of individual editions. Jassim Yaqoub, who leads the all-time rankings with 18 goals, scored nine of them in the 1976 edition alone—half of his career total in the tournament in a single edition—after having led the top scorers in the 1974 edition with six goals.
A remarkable record for Omani Al-Habsi
Omani goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi stands out exceptionally in the goalkeepers’ records, having won the Best Goalkeeper award in four consecutive editions of the tournament in 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2009. He was followed by Kuwaiti Nawaf Al-Khalidi, Iraqi Noor Sabri, Qatari Qasim Burhan, UAE’s Khalid Al-Eisa, Saudi Fawaz Al-Qarni, Omani Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini, and finally Bahraini Ibrahim Lutaf Allah in the 2024 edition.
