Making their second successive appearance in the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup, Oman will battle Bahrain on Saturday at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait.
Samba Al-Khaleej scored two late goals in the semis and held onto a 2-1 triumph versus Saudi Arabia, while the Bahrainis narrowly eliminated the hosts Kuwait, winning 1-0.
Match preview
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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.
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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.
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Team News
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A red card issued to Rabia Al-Alawi means that the Oman attacker will miss this decisive clash, while Faiz Al-Rushaidi, Jameel Al-Yahmadi, Thani Al-Rushadi and Abdullah Fawaz were the four newcomers in their starting 11 on Tuesday.
Arshad Al-Alawi put his team in front after 74 minutes against Saudi Arabia, with the winner coming courtesy of Ali Al-Busaidi five minutes from the end.
As for Bahrain, they will be without Mahdi Abduljabbar, who received a second caution early into half number two of their semi-final, while Sayed Baqer missed that encounter through suspension and Talajic had a completely new starting 11 from the side that began in their defeat versus Yemen (2-1).
Mohamed Marhoon, who currently features at club level for Kuwait SC, netted the winner against the hosts, as Ebrahim Lutfalla made two stops to collect a clean sheet.
Oman possible starting lineup:
Al-Rushaidi; Al-Yahmadi, Al-Khamisi, Al-Rushadi, Al-Busaidi; Al-Saadi, Al-Alawi; Al-Kaabi, Fawaz, Al-Mushaifri; Al-Sabhi
Bahrain possible starting lineup:
Lutfalla; Al-Shamsan, Benaddi, Al Hayam, Al-Khulasi; Saeed, Al-Aswad; Madan, Marhoon, Abdul-Romaihi; Abdullatif
We say: Oman 2-1 Bahrain
Both sides are coming off emotional highs just days ago, but we believe the determination and desire to win for Oman will be a little greater, while their experience in this spot should also help put them over the top.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
