Saudi Arabia’s perfect group-stage record offers historic route to Gulf Cup final

Saudi Arabia will take a notable piece of tournament history into their Arabian Gulf Cup 27 semi-final against Qatar on Saturday.

The two sides will meet at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, with Saudi Arabia aiming to reach the final after winning all three of their group matches.

The hosts collected nine points from victories over Kuwait, Oman and Iraq to qualify for the last four with a perfect record.

According to Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadiyah, Saudi Arabia are the fourth team to take maximum points from the group stage since the competition adopted a two-group format in the 2004 edition.

Each of the previous three teams to achieve that feat went on to progress through the semi-finals.

Oman were the first, in 2007, when they reached the final before losing 1-0 to the United Arab Emirates.

The same outcome followed in 2013, when the United Arab Emirates and Iraq both finished the group stage with nine points. They then met in the final, where the United Arab Emirates won 2-1 against Iraq.

Saudi Arabia will therefore be seeking to extend that pattern by overcoming Qatar and earning a place in the final of Arabian Gulf Cup 27.

The national team have not appeared on the winners’ podium for 23 years. Their last Arabian Gulf Cup title came in 2003.