Today, the curtain falls on one of the most exciting versions in the history of the Arab Gulf Cup football tournaments, when the Saudi and Bahraini teams meet in the final match of the Gulf Cup 24 currently held in Qatar.
The participation of the two teams in this edition of the tournament was not confirmed until a few days before the start of the tournament, but they deservedly made their way to the final match that takes place today at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Al Duhail Club in Doha.
Each of the two teams became just 90 minutes away from achieving a long-awaited dream, as the Saudi team (Al-Akhdar) looked forward to winning its fourth title after crowning the last of the previous three titles in Khaleeji 16 in Kuwait at the end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004, while the Bahraini team (Al-Ahmar) dreamed of achieving His first title in the history of the tournament, knowing that Bahrain was one of the founders of the Gulf Cup.
The Saudi national team is playing the final match for the fifth time in its history, the fourth in the last six copies of the tournament, knowing that it did not win the title in any of the previous four times in which it played the final match of the tournament.
And the Saudi national team won its previous three titles in copies in which the tournament was held in a periodic system of one role among all the participating teams, in the Gulf of 12, 15 and 16.
In contrast, the best achievement for the Bahraini team in the championship is ranked second in four previous editions.
The Bahraini team will play the final match for the first time in the history of its participation in the tournament, as the team won second place in these previous four times, when the tournament was also held in a league system of one role.
The motives for each of them, as well as the moral state, appear at the highest level, after each of them passed more than a difficult obstacle on his way to the final match.
The Saudi team started their career in the championship with a defeat by their Kuwaiti counterpart 3-1, but the team quickly regained its balance and achieved two successive victories over Bahrain 2-0 and Oman 3-1, before grabbing a very expensive victory over its Qatari counterpart, the lander 1-0 in the golden square of the championship. .
On the other hand, the Bahraini team started its career in the championship with a negative tie with its defending Omani counterpart, but it lost the next match against its Saudi counterpart and then snatched a very expensive victory over its Kuwaiti counterpart 4-2, and in the Golden Square, it turned twice late to a 2-2 draw with its Iraqi counterpart , Before ousted Al-Rafidain black from the championship with a penalty shootout.
Despite the difference between the two teams ’achievements in the championship and the defeat suffered by the Bahraini team against its Saudi counterpart in the first round of the current championship, it seems very difficult to predict the outcome of today's match, especially since the Bahraini team witnessed an improvement in its level from one match to another.