The Iraqi national team for veteran players managed to win against their Kuwaiti counterpart with a single goal on Saturday, in the second round of the Gulf Cup for veteran players held in Qatar, qualifying for the tournament's semifinals.
Iraqi player Samal Saeed scored the only winning goal for the Iraqi veteran team.
The match took place at 5:30 PM Baghdad time, at the Saud bin Abdulrahman Stadium. With today’s victory, they earned three new points, strengthening their position in the first group by raising their total to six points.
The Iraqi team had started its campaign in the tournament yesterday, Friday, with a significant victory over their Omani counterpart by five goals to none, securing the first three points and beginning their title defense with a wide margin.
Qatar hosts the tournament from October 30 to November 5, 2026, with the participation of eight teams divided into two groups; the first includes Iraq, the defending champion, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait, while the second includes the host Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, and Yemen.
The competitions are held in a single round-robin format, consisting of two halves of 20 minutes each, allowing for unlimited substitutions. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals, where the group A winner meets the group B runner-up, and the group B winner meets the group A runner-up.
In the case of a tie during the knockout stages, matches are decided by penalty shootouts directly, leading to the final match to determine the champion of the edition.