The FIFA Arab Cup ( ar, كأس العرب, translit=Kaʾs al-ʿArab), or simply Arab Cup, is an international

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

competition which has been organized by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

since 2021, and is contested by the senior men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), the sport's governing body for countries in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

. The current champion is

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, which won its first title at the 2021 tournament in Qatar. The championship's inaugural edition was in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, held in Lebanon, which was won by

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. After having been played in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

, the Arab Cup was halted for almost 20 years, before being contested in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. The tournament was played five more times until

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, the last competition organized by the UAFA. The 2021 edition was the first organized by FIFA. The ten Arab Cup tournaments have been won by six national teams.

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

have won four times; the other Arab Cup winners are

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

, with two titles; Algeria,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

, and inaugural winner

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, with one title each. Seven countries have hosted the Arab Cup. Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have each hosted twice, while Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Syria have each hosted once. All Arab Cups have been held in Asia.

History

The initial idea for the conception of an Arab Cup came in 1957 from Lebanese journalist

Nassif Majdalani Nassif Majdalani ( ar, ناصيف مجدلاني; 10 October 1913 – 8 January 1988) was a Lebanese radio and television presenter, as well as president of the Lebanon Football Association (LFA), which he helped found in 1933, between 1946 and ...

and the Secretary General of the

Lebanese Football Association The Lebanese Football Association (LFA) ( ar, الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم, Al-Ittiḥād Al-Lubnānī Likurat Al-Qadam; french: Fédération Libanaise de Football) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. ...

(LFA) Izzat Al Turk. In 1962, the LFA called for the formal establishment of the tournament through their president Georges Dabbas, who organised a general Arab assembly for the formation of the Arab Cup. The first Arab Cup was held in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

between April and May 1963, with the participation of five teams. During the 16-year hiatus between 1966 and 1982, the Arab Cup was ''de facto'' replaced by the

Palestine Cup The Palestine Cup is the main national association football competition in Palestine. It is sanctioned by the Palestinian Football Association. Past competitions were more expansive including clubs from all tiers of Palestinian football. For the ...

, which was held three times in the 1970s and then became a youth tournament after the return of the Arab Cup in the 1980s. The

1992 Arab Cup The 1992 Arab Cup is the sixth edition of the Arab Cup and also counted as the seventh edition of the 1992 Pan Arab Games football tournament, hosted by Syria, in 2 Provinces Aleppo and Damascus. Egypt won their first title of the Arab Cup and the ...

was also organised as part of the

1992 Pan Arab Games The 1992 Pan Arab Games was the seventh edition of the quadrennial multi-sport event between Arab nations. It was held in Damascus, Syria between September 4 and September 18, 1992. A total of 2611 athletes from 18 countries participated in events ...

. The 2021 edition was the first edition to be organised by

; the competition was renamed FIFA Arab Cup. Following the 2021 final, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced that FIFA would continue to oversee future editions.

Results

*''a.e.t.'': after extra time *''p'': after penalty shoot-out *''TBD'': to be determined ;Notes

Teams reaching the top four

* ''hosts''

Best performances by confederations

Records and statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

;Legend * – Champions * – Runners-up * – Third place * – Fourth place * – Semi-final (no third place match) *GS – Group stage *''Q'' — Qualified for upcoming tournament * — Did not qualify * — Did not participate * — Hosts For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament are shown (in parentheses).

References

External links

*
Arab Cup
at the

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arab Cup FIFA competitions Union of Arab Football Associations competitions International association football competitions in Africa International association football competitions in Asia International association football competitions in the Middle East Recurring sporting events established in 1963 Association football events