The Gulf Cup of Nations or Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic: كأس الخليج العربي), also known as Khaleeji (Arabic: خليجي), followed by the edition of the games (e.g. Khaleeji 17, Khaleeji 18, Khaleeji 19, etc), is a football (soccer) tournament currently held every two years rotating the host city every edition. Previously the competition was usually held by countries members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on a biannual basis, but the history of the competition has also seen it held every 3, or even 4 years, due to political, or organizational problems.
The Gulf Cup of Nations was founded at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico by Persian Gulf nations, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The First Gulf Cup tournament took place in Bahrain in 1970, and was won by the Kuwaiti team.
For the first time, the 17th edition of the tournament, held in Doha, Qatar in 2004, featured sports such as handball, basketball, and volleyball. The 2007 and 2009 tournaments included these sports as well.
The 2009 Gulf Cup, the 19th edition, took place in Muscat, Oman, from 4 January to 17 January 2009 and was won by Oman, for the first time in their history by beating regional leaders, Saudi Arabia in a penalty shootout.
Read more about Gulf Cup Of Nations: An Increasing Popularity, Future Hosts and Past Winners of The Gulf Cup of Nations, Most Gulf Cup of Nations Champions, All-time Goal Records, Other Records
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