FIFA Arab Cup Groups Unveiled

Draw for Second Edition of FIFA Arab Cup Conducted

The tournament will be held in Qatar from December 1st to 18th, with Algeria entering as the defending champions.

The path to the final has been set for the teams participating in the FIFA Arab Cup™ following the official draw ceremony at the Raffles Hotel in Doha.

With participation from across the Arab world, 11 nations from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and 11 from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), including reigning champions Algeria and host nation Qatar, will compete for the title in the second edition of the tournament, scheduled from December 1st to 18th.

Fourteen of the lowest-ranked teams, based on the April FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking, will enter a qualification stage for the Arab Cup 2025. The winners will advance to the final stage, joining the seven highest-ranked nations, alongside Qatar and Algeria.

The qualification matches will take place in Qatar on November 25th and 26th. They have been structured as inter-confederation playoffs, where the highest-ranked AFC team faces the lowest-ranked CAF team, and vice versa. The matchups are as follows:

  • Qualifier 1: Oman (1st in AFC) vs. Somalia (7th in CAF)
  • Qualifier 2: Bahrain (2nd in AFC) vs. Djibouti (6th in CAF)
  • Qualifier 3: Syria (3rd in AFC) vs. South Sudan (5th in CAF)
  • Qualifier 4: Palestine (4th in AFC) vs. Libya (4th in CAF)
  • Qualifier 5: Lebanon (5th in AFC) vs. Sudan (3rd in CAF)
  • Qualifier 6: Kuwait (6th in AFC) vs. Mauritania (2nd in CAF)
  • Qualifier 7: Yemen (7th in AFC) vs. Comoros (1st in CAF)

Winners of the qualification matches will advance to the group stage, which was revealed during the draw ceremony to feature a number of highly anticipated encounters. Among these is a notable match in Group A between Qatar and Tunisia, two of the semi-finalists from the previous edition four years ago.

Group B brings together two teams that captured global attention during the last FIFA World Cup™: Morocco and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Group C will witness an exciting clash between Jordan, the runner-up of the recent AFC Asian Cup, and Egypt, a powerhouse of African football.

The honor of opening the tournament will be given to Qatar, who will face the winner of the match between Palestine and Libya. The complete groups are as follows:

Group D: Algeria, Iraq, (Bahrain or Djibouti), (Lebanon or Sudan)

Group A: Qatar, Tunisia, (Syria or South Sudan), (Palestine or Libya)

Group B: Morocco, Saudi Arabia, (Oman or Somalia), (Yemen or Comoros)

Group C: Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, (Kuwait or Mauritania)