Saudi Arabia Beat UAE 2-0 to Win Arabian Gulf Cup Final in Jeddah

The UAE's search for a third Arabian Gulf Cup title ended in disappointment in Jeddah on Tuesday night, as hosts Saudi Arabia won the final 2-0 in front of a full stadium.

The result gave Saudi Arabia their first Gulf Cup crown in 22 years. It also handed Zlatko Dalic the first defeat of his reign as UAE coach, ending an unbeaten start that had carried the team all the way to the final. After the match, President Sheikh Mohamed congratulated the Saudi leadership and people and praised the conduct of both teams.

A fierce atmosphere in Jeddah

The Arabian Gulf Cup is nominally a contest for regional bragging rights, but its final rarely feels low-stakes, and this one lived up to that reputation. King Abdullah Sport City Stadium was loud well before kick-off.

Around 12,000 Emirati supporters were in their seats hours ahead of the start, many having travelled on six aircraft chartered by the UAE Football Association. When the players took their acclimatisation walk before the match, most of them pulled out their phones to film the away support.

By kick-off, all 60,000 seats were filled and the home crowd had taken control of the soundtrack. UAE captain Khalid Essa looked unsettled as jeering drowned out the national anthem.

The UAE start brightly

Despite the hostile backdrop, the visitors made the sharper start. In the third minute, Guilherme Bala threaded a ball to Nicolas Gimenez in the box. The Al Wasl playmaker, who has scored regularly during the tournament, attempted an overhead kick that sailed over the crossbar.

The chance did little to calm the stands. Moments later, play was halted when smoke from fans' flares drifted across the field.

Saudi Arabia strike twice

When the match resumed, Saudi Arabia took command. After the UAE failed to clear a corner, winger Hammam Al Hammami's shot took a deflection and beat Essa to open the scoring.

The second came almost immediately. Firas Al-Buraikan, the striker who scored earlier this year to help Al Ahli become champions of Asia at club level, doubled the advantage. In the space of a few minutes, the UAE had gone from the better side to two goals behind.

Saudi Arabia nearly made it three. Saleh Abu Alshamat struck the post from a position where he would normally expect to score.

Near misses and a VAR decision

The UAE were not without chances. Gimenez fired against the left-hand post after a neat through ball from Mamadou Coulibaly. He then thought he had won a penalty when Bruno de Oliveira went down in the area, but a VAR review led the referee to reverse the decision. The officials concluded that the UAE forward had gone down too easily under the challenge of Saudi centre-back Hassan Al Tambakti.

After the break, Dalic made changes to try to find a way back and to limit the threat of Al Hammami on the flank. The UAE saw more of the ball and slowed Saudi Arabia's momentum, but created little of real danger. Late on, substitute Fabio de Lima hit the crossbar and then saw his follow-up effort saved, the closest the visitors came to a goal.

The closing stages turned bad-tempered. Khaled Al Dhanhani, an unused UAE substitute, was shown a red card for disputing a decision.

Sheikh Mohamed praises sportsmanship

After the final whistle, President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan sent his congratulations on X to Saudi Arabia's King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi people. He also said both teams had shown a high level of sportsmanship, and he commended the way the tournament was organised, wishing Saudi Arabia continued success in future competitions.

The message struck a warm tone after a heated match, and it underlined the close ties between the two countries that sport often reflects.

What the defeat means for the UAE

For Dalic, the loss is a setback but not a verdict. His team reached the final undefeated, and the scoreline came after a hostile night on the opposition's home ground in a match that featured two goals in the first phase of play and several chances at the other end. The challenge now is to keep what worked and tighten the defensive organisation that gave way from a corner.

For the UAE as a whole, the wait for a third Gulf Cup title goes on. For Saudi Arabia, a young winger and a clinical striker delivered a trophy that had eluded the country for more than two decades, in front of their own supporters.