The Gulf Cup in West Asia is now in full swing, with favourites Saudi Arabia facing Oman in the final group stage. Saudi Arabia failed to turn their advantage into victory in the game, and in the end, they lost 1-2 to their opponents, suffered two consecutive defeats in the tournament, and only finished third in the group, missing the knockout round!
In the FIFA rankings, Saudi Arabia is ranked 49th, a high 5th in Asia, while Oman is ranked 75th and 9th in Asia. From the world ranking, you can see the huge gap between the two teams. In addition, in the Qatar World Cup, the Saudi team also upset the eventual champion Argentina, which surprised fans around the world. And this defeat is also the only defeat Argentina has suffered in the World Cup in Qatar, and the Saudis can proudly say that they have defeated the world champion!
Although they still failed to break through the group, the Saudi team has proved its strength through the World Cup, so many fans regard them as favorites to win the Gulf Cup. In the opener against Yemen, Saudi Arabia won 2-0 and made an easy start. However, in the second game against the hosts Iraq, Saudi Arabia were at a disadvantage for the whole time, and eventually lost the match 0-2, and temporarily slipped to third in the group.
In the final round against Oman, Saudi Arabia must win to keep their hopes of qualifying, and if they draw or lose, they will be eliminated early. The pressure to win also forced the Saudi team to attack, and the Oman team comfortably played a defensive counterattack. In the 34th minute, Oman broke the deadlock first, and Ahmadi's pass accurately found Allawi, who did not wait for the ball to land and the volley scored to give Oman a 1-0 lead! However, six minutes later, Saudi Arabia equalized by midfielder Ammar.
The Saudis launched a frantic comeback to try to turn the score around, but Oman's counterattack was equally threatening. In the 84th minute, Oman's captain Saadi played a wonderful long-range shot, the ball flew past the fingertips of the Saudi goalkeeper into the net, 2-1, Oman once again overtook the score! This time, with little time left in the game, the Saudi team failed to equalize again, and they had to accept the fate of losing and failed to reach the next knockout round!
The Oman team, which defeated Saudi Arabia, was the opponent of the national football team in the round of 12, and in the two-legged matchup, the national football team drew 1 and lost 1 without a win, and finally finished humiliated as the second lowest in the group. The rapid progress of the Oman team has also made the Chinese men's football team feel a crisis. In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Oman team may become a roadblock for the national football team, we not only have to compete with Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia and other traditional Asian powerhouses, but also win Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, Syria these Asian second-rate teams, the national football team wants to qualify, I am afraid to hang again!
For the Chinese team, the first task now is to select a new manager, otherwise how can the Chinese men's team, which does not even have a suitable manager, talk about competing with Asian rivals?