Despite occupying fourth place in the first edition of the Arabian Gulf Football Cup in 1970, the Qatari team confirmed early on its strong presence and distinctive fingerprints in that tournament.
This is not evidenced by the fact that Khalid Blanc won the title of best player in the first edition of the tournament, to present the Qatari team and a great success certificate with the kickoff in the Gulf Cup.
In 23 previous editions, Qatar have not missed the Gulf tournament in any edition, but only Kuwait and Kuwait have participated in all editions that have been held so far throughout the history of the tournament, which extends for half a century.
Qatar won the Gulf Cup in three previous editions in 1992, 2004 and 2014.
But the fingerprints of Annabi over the past 23 versions attest to many achievements, especially as the team was in the top four of the championship 15 times from 23 previous versions, in addition to many distinctive numbers.
The history of the tournament attests to the fact that Blanc was only the first name in a long list of high-profile stars who made the history of Annabi at the Gulf Cup tournaments, whether through their impressive levels or abundant goals.
Former Qatari player Mohamed Ghanem followed the path of Blanc when he won the title of best player in the third edition, in which Annabi also finished third.
Mansour Al Muftah has always had the same name on the history of the Gulf Cup for his impressive footprints, although he did not win the title but played a prominent role in Annabi winning second place in both the 1984 and 1990 editions.
Al-Muftah has also established himself as one of the best scorers in the Gulf Cup tournament in its history, where he scored 13 times to be with his late compatriot Mahmoud Sophie (ten goals), the most prominent scorer in the history of the Gulf Cup tournaments so far.
But the history of the Gulf tournaments also testifies to the many Qatari scorers, including Mubarak Mustafa, who scored the top scorer in the 1992 version with three goals, to contribute effectively to Annabi won his first three Gulf titles.
Mohammed Salim Al Enezi was also the top scorer of the 13th Gulf Cup in 1996 with four goals that helped Annabi win second place in that edition hosted by Oman.
Over the past few years, the Qatari national team has had many distinguished stars who have made a big mark in the Gulf championships such as Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan, Jarallah Al Marri, Ibrahim Alghanim, Ali Asad, Boualem Khokhi, Hassan Al Haidous and Akram Afif.
Goalkeeper Qassim Burhan also shone in the 22nd Gulf in Saudi Arabia in 2014 and led his country to the title after beating Saudi Arabia in the final, and was crowned the best goalkeeper in that edition.
The last edition also saw some of the young stars who left their mark with Annabi in the 23rd Gulf of Kuwait, including the young Moez Ali, who scored the top scorer with two goals, before surprising everyone in the last Asian Cup in the UAE earlier this year and crowned the top scorer of the championship with nine goals in seven games , Which means that he holds the hopes of Annabi in the Gulf and Asian championships for many years to come as well as in the 2022 World Cup.