With an expanded World Cup on the horizon at the end of the season, the Africa Cup of Nations on the way in December and last summer's revamped Club World Cup in the rearview mirror, it's perhaps easy to lose track of FIFA's ever-growing slate of tournaments.
So with that in mind, we'll let you off if the FIFA Arab Cup has perhaps slipped off your radar when it comes to planning your football-watching schedule for the next few months.
What is the FIFA Arab Cup?
The inaugural edition of the Arab Cup was organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and played in Lebanon in 1963, with Tunisia lifting the trophy. Two more editions followed in 1964 and 1966 before the competition was shelved until 1985, when it was played five more times until 2012.
In 2021, FIFA brought the competition back, with Algeria defeating Tunisia in the final, which was played in Qatar, a year before the nation hosted the World Cup final.
Qatar will again be the host for what FIFA describe as the second edition of the competition, which kicks off on December 1, with the final taking place on December 18.
The tournament is played in six stadiums that hosted the 2022 World Cup, including the Lusail Stadium which will be the venue for the final.
Format-wise, a total of 16 teams from both the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will take part. Hosts Qatar and holders Algeria qualify automatically, as do the seven highest-ranked nations at the time of the draw, with the remaining places filled via a series of single-leg qualification matches which take place in November.
Who has qualified?
That means the following teams have qualified:
- Qatar (hosts)
- Algeria (defending champion)
- Egypt
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Morocco
- Saudi Arabia
- Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
While the play-offs will be contested between:
Oman v Somalia
Bahrain v Djibouti
Syria v South Sudan
Palestine v Libya
Lebanon v Sudan
Kuwait v Mauritania
Yemen v Comoros
FIFA Arab Cup draw
The draw was held in Doha in May, with teams put into four groups of four. The top two in each group will qualify for the knockout stage, which consists of quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final on December 18:
Group A: Qatar, Tunisia, Syria/South Sudan, Palestine/Libya
Group B: Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Oman/Somalia, Yemen/Comoros
Group C: Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait/Mauritania
Group D: Algeria, Iraq, Bahrain/Djibouti, Lebanon/Sudan
