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Oman national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Oman women's national football team.

The Oman national football team (Arabic: منتخب عُمان لكرة القدم‎) is the national team of Oman that has represented Oman in international competitions since 1978. Although the team was officially founded in 1978, the squad was formed long before, and a proper football association was formed only in December, 2005. The team is governed by the Oman Football Association.

Oman عُمان
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Al-Ahmar
(The Reds)
AssociationOman Football Association
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationWAFF (West Asia)
Head coachPim Verbeek
CaptainAhmed Mubarak
Most capsAhmed Mubarak (154)[1]
Top scorerHani Al-Dhabit (42)
Home stadiumSultan Qaboos Sports Complex
FIFA codeOMA
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current84 Increase 1 (25 October 2018)[2]
Highest50 (August – October 2004)
Lowest129 (October 2016)
Elo ranking
Current73 Increase 20 (11 November 2018)[3]
Highest49 (12 April 2005)
Lowest174 (March 1984)
First international
 Libya 15–1 Muscat and Oman Flag of Muscat.svg
(Cairo, Egypt; 2 September 1965) [1]
Biggest win
 Oman 14–0 Bhutan 
(Muscat, Oman; 28 March 2017)
Biggest defeat
 Libya 21–0 Muscat and Oman Flag of Muscat.svg
(Baghdad, Iraq; 1 April 1966)
Asian Cup
Appearances4 (first in 2004)
Best resultGroup stage

Contents

HistoryEdit

Prior to the turn of the 21st century, Oman's senior team had generally finished in the last place in all the competitions in which it competed. It was not until the mid 1990s under the OFA chairmanship of Sheikh Saif bin Hashil Al-Maskary did Oman started to be extremely successful on the Asian football stage. During this period, Oman won the Asian Under-17 Championship in 1996 and the year 2000, as well as reaching the semifinals of the Under-17 World Cup in 1995. Oman nowadays exports players to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and also has their captain playing in England. Former Omani captain, Hani Al-Dhabit was awarded the RSSSF 2001 World Top Scorer, with 22 goals;[4] the most goals scored by a player who won the World Top Scorer award till date, and also being the third Arab and only the first Omani to win the award.[5]

The senior team has never qualified for the World Cup, but has qualified for the Asian Cup in the years 2004, 2007 and most recently in 2015 and 2019. They also have reached the Arabian Gulf Cup final four times, and have won it for the first time on their third attempt as hosts in 2009. They had to wait for the 2017 edition to win the tournament for the second time in their history.

Arabian Gulf Cup performanceEdit

Prior to the new millennium, Oman generally struggled in the Gulf Cup, usually finishing in 6th or 7th place, even when the cup was held in Oman. It was only in 1998 when the national team began to improve its performance, and in the 2003 and 2004 Gulf Cups, new talents like Amad Al-Hosni, Ali Al-Habsi, Sultan Al-Touqi, Badr Al-Maimani and Khalifa Ayil made the team more successful.

In the 2002 Gulf Cup which was held in Saudi Arabia, Oman had once again finished at an unimpressive 5th place, but under the captaincy of Dhofar F.C.'s Hani Al-Dhabit, Oman had accomplished something which was never done before in the team's history in the Gulf Cup, defeating 9-time winners,[6] Kuwait. The match had ended 3–1 with captain Hani Al-Dhabit scoring a hat-trick. Hani also netted a goal against Bahrain, and a consolation goal in a 2–1 loss against Qatar.[7] At the end of the competition, Hani was the only Omani to score goals, and was also awarded the "Top Goalscorer" of the competition, with a total of 5 goals.[8]

In the 2004 Gulf Cup which was held in Doha, Oman reached the final for the first time in the team's history, which was eventually lost to the hosts Qatar in a penalty shootout after the goalkeeping sensation Ali Al-Habsi missed a penalty. Qatar won the match 6–5 on penalties after the match had ended 1–1 at normal time. Amad Al-Hosni was awarded the "Top Goalscorer" award of the competition with a total of 4 goals.[9]

In the 2007 Gulf Cup which was held in the United Arab Emirates, the national team again reached the final for a second consecutive time and again lost 1–0 to the hosts United Arab Emirates. Although Oman lost to the Emirates in the final, they had maintained an undefeated record throughout the competition excluding the final.[10] Once again Ali Al-Habsi had received the "Best Goalkeeper of the Gulf Cup" award[11] for the third consecutive time in a row, the most won by any goalkeeper in the 40 years of the Gulf Cup tournament. Oman had tied the United Arab Emirates in goalscoring with nine goals each after the competition.[12]

Eventually after losing twice in the Gulf Cup final consecutively, Oman had managed to win the 2009 Gulf Cup tournament as hosts, by defeating regional giants, Saudi Arabia in a penalty shootout. Oman won the match 6–5 on penalties after the match had ended 0–0 at extra time. Oman maintained a clean-sheet throughout the whole competition.[13] The competition in Muscat was the first for Hassan Rabia, and despite this, he managed to score 4 goals making him receive the "Top Goalscorer" award.[14] Ali Al-Habsi also received his fourth consecutive "Best Goalkeeper Award".[15]

However, Ali Al-Habsi would not go on to feature in the next two Gulf Cup's due to his commitments with his English club team Wigan Athletic F.C. at the time. In the 2010 Gulf Cup which was held in Yemen, Oman once again after great performances in the three previous tournaments put up an unimpressive performance, drawing all the three matches of the group stage against Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq. Oman could manage to score only one goal in the tournament against Bahrain, which was scored by Amad Al-Hosni, and hence could not go further in the tournament. Following the bad performances of the team in the regional tournament, the Oman Football Association sacked their then-manager Claude Le Roy on 9 January 2011, who won them their maiden tournament in 2009.

In the 2013 Gulf Cup which was held in Bahrain, Oman again put up an unimpressive performance which was criticized a lot by fans in Oman. Oman could manage to draw only one match against the hosts Bahrain and lost in their other two matches against Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Oman again could score only one goal, and this time it was from the spot by youngster Hussain Al-Hadhri in the match against Qatar which Oman eventually lost 2–1.

In the 2017 Gulf Cup which was held in Kuwait, Oman started the tournament with a loss to the United Arab Emirates by one goal from a penalty kick by Ali Mabkhout. Afterwards, Oman won the two remaining matches of the group stage, first against the hosts Kuwait 1–0 with a penalty kick by Ahmed Kano, then against Saudi Arabia 2–0 which was considered as the upset of the tournament. Oman qualified to the semi-final match which was against Bahrain, and won it 1–0 with an own goal by the Bahraini Mahdi Abduljabbar. Eventually, and after nine years from its first title, Oman managed to win the tournament for the second time in its history by defeating the United Arab Emirates in the final in a penalty shootout. Oman won the match 5–4 on penalties after it had ended 0–0 after extra time. The Omani Ahmed Mubarak Kano was awarded the most valuable player award for his role in the success of the Omani team campaign.

Arabian Gulf Cup record
Year Host Country Place Pld W D* L GF GA
1970   Bahrain Did not enter
1972   Saudi Arabia Did not enter
1974   Kuwait 6th place
1976   Qatar 7th place
1979   Iraq 7th place
1982   UAE 6th place
1984   Oman 7th place
1986   Bahrain 7th place
1988   Saudi Arabia 7th place
1990   Kuwait 4th place
1992   Qatar 6th place
1994   UAE 6th place
1996   Oman 6th place
1998   Bahrain 4th place
2002   Saudi Arabia 5th place
2003   Kuwait 4th place
2004   Qatar 2nd place
2007   UAE 2nd place
2009   Oman 1st place
2010   Yemen Group Stage
2013   Bahrain Group Stage
2014   Saudi Arabia 4th place
2017   Kuwait 1st place
Total 21/23

Team awardsEdit

Oman has not won many team titles. What they have achieved, though, is qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup four times in 2004, 2007, 2015 and 2019. However, they never got out of the group stage. In 2009, Oman won their first Gulf Cup trophy at home in Muscat, an achievement that Oman did not manage to repeat until the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup held in Kuwait, after they defeated the United Arab Emirates in a penalty shootout in the Final match.

Year Award Competition
2004 Won second-place trophy 17th Gulf Cup
2007 Won second-place trophy 18th Gulf Cup
2009 Won first-place trophy 19th Gulf Cup
2009 Won fair play team award 19th Gulf Cup
2014 Won fair play team award 22nd Gulf Cup
2017 Won first-place trophy 23rd Gulf Cup

Competition recordsEdit

World Cup recordEdit

FIFA World Cup Finals record World Cup Qualifications record
Hosts / year Result Position GP W D* L GS GA GP W D L GS GA
  1930 to   1982 Did not enter – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  1986 Withdrew – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  1990 Did not qualify – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  1994 Did not qualify – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  1998 Did not qualify – – – – – – – – – – – – –
    2002 Did not qualify – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  2006 Did not qualify – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  2010 Did not qualify – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  2014 Did not qualify – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  2018 Did not qualify – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  2022 To be determined – – – – – –
      2026 To be determined – – – – – –
Total – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

AFC Asian Cup recordEdit

Main article: Oman at the AFC Asian Cup
AFC Asian Cup Finals record AFC Asian Cup qualification
Hosts / year Result Position GP W D* L GS GA GP W D* L GS GA
  1956 to   1980 Did not enter - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  1984 Did not qualify - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  1988 Withdrew - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  1992 Did not qualify - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  1996 Did not qualify - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  2000 Did not qualify - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  2004 Group stage 9th 3 1 1 1 4 3 - - - - - -
     2007 Group stage 15th 3 0 2 1 1 3 - - - - - -
  2011 Did not qualify - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  2015 Group stage 12th 3 1 0 2 1 5 - - - - - -
  2019 Qualified - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Total Best: Group Stage 4/16 9 2 3 4 6 11 - - - - - -

Asian GamesEdit

Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.
See also: Oman national under-23 football team
Asian Games record
Year Result GP W D* L GS GA
  1951 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1954 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1958 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1962 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1966 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1970 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1974 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1978 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1982 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1986 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1990 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0
  1994 11th place 3 1 1 1 4 4
  1998 11th place 5 2 1 2 14 13
2002–present See Oman national under-23 football team
Total 2/13 8 3 2 3 18 17

Pan Arab GamesEdit

Pan Arab Games record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
  1953 Did not enter
  1957 Did not enter
  1961 Did not enter
  1965 Group stage 10th 4 0 0 4 2 45
  1976 Did not enter
  1985 Did not enter
  1997 Group stage 7th 3 0 2 1 4 6
  1999 Group stage 8th 4 0 2 2 2 7
  2007 Did not enter
  2011 Group stage 9th 2 0 1 1 0 2
Total Group stage 4/10 13 0 5 8 8 60

Arab Nations CupEdit

Arab Nations Cup record
Year Result GP W D* L GS GA
  1963 Did not enter - - - - - -
  1964 Did not enter - - - - - -
  1966 Group stage 3 0 0 3 1 24
  1985 Did not enter - - - - - -
  1988 Did not enter - - - - - -
  1992 Did not enter - - - - - -
  1998 Withdrew - - - - - -
  2002 Group stage - - - - - -
  2012 Group stage - - - - - -
Total Best: Group stage 0 0 0 0 0 0

ScheduleEdit

Recent and forthcoming matchesEdit

27 December 2018 FriendlyOman  v  IndiaUAE
2 January 2019 FriendlyThailand  v  OmanUnited Arab Emirates

2019 AFC Asian CupEdit

PlayersEdit

Current squadEdit

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Ali Al-Habsi (1981-12-30) 30 December 1981 (age 36) 118 0   Al-Hilal
18 1GK Faiz Al-Rushaidi (1988-07-19) 19 July 1988 (age 30) 16 0   Al-Ain
22 1GK Riyadh Al-Alawi (1987-02-24) 24 February 1987 (age 31) 0 0   Dhofar
2 2DF Mohammed Al-Musalami (1990-04-27) April 27, 1990 (age 28) 37 2   Dhofar
3 2DF Mohammed Al-Rawahi (1993-04-26) April 26, 1993 (age 25) 1 0   Al-Wakra
5 2DF Nadhir Awadh (1994-12-05) December 5, 1994 (age 23) 1 0   Al-Shahania
11 2DF Saad Al-Mukhaini (1987-09-06) September 6, 1987 (age 31) 85 1   Al-Nassr
13 2DF Abdul Salam Al-Mukhaini (1988-04-07) 7 April 1988 (age 30) 55 1   Dhofar
17 2DF Ali Al-Busaidi (1991-01-21) 21 January 1991 (age 27) 27 1   Al-Suwaiq
4 3MF Ali Al-Jabri (1990-01-29) 29 January 1990 (age 28) 1 0   Al-Nahda
5 3MF Hisham Al-Shuaibi (1992-06-09) 9 June 1992 (age 26) 1 0   Dhofar
6 3MF Raed Ibrahim Saleh (1992-06-09) 9 June 1992 (age 26) 60 3   Valletta
8 3MF Yaseen Al-Sheyadi (1994-02-05) 5 February 1994 (age 24) 5 0   Al-Suwaiq
10 3MF Qasim Said (1989-04-20) 20 April 1989 (age 29) 82 13   Dhofar
12 3MF Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri (1985-02-23) 23 February 1985 (age 33) 140 15   Al-Mesaimeer
14 3MF Mohsin Al-Khaldi (1992-01-01) 1 January 1992 (age 26) 15 0   Sur
15 3MF Jameel Al-Yahmadi (1994-10-09) 9 October 1994 (age 24) 0 0   Al-Wakra
16 3MF Mahmood Al-Mushaifri (1993-01-14) January 14, 1993 (age 25) 2 0   Al-Suwaiq
21 3MF Mohammed Al-Mashari (1990-12-04) 4 December 1990 (age 27) 13 0   Fanja
23 3MF Harib Al-Saadi (1990-02-01) 1 February 1990 (age 28) 3 0   Dhofar
7 4FW Khalid Al-Hajri (1994-03-10) 10 March 1994 (age 24) 9 9   Al-Suwaiq
9 4FW Abdul Aziz Al-Muqbali (1989-04-23) 23 April 1989 (age 29) 56 18   Al-Shamal
19 4FW Saud Al-Farsi (1993-12-21) 21 December 1993 (age 24) 7 0   Al-Oruba
20 4FW Sami Al-Hasani (1990-07-08) 8 July 1990 (age 28) 5 1   Al-Oruba

Former squadsEdit

AFC Asian Cup
Gulf Cup

PersonnelEdit

As of December 2016

Technical staffEdit

[16]

Position Name
Head Coach   Maqbool Al-Alawi
Assistant Coach   Waleed Al-Saadi
  Muhanna Said
Fitness Coach   Ricardo Silva
Goalkeeping Coach   Chedli Mabrouki
Team Director   Ahmed Hadid Al-Mukhaini
Team Manager   Maqbool Al-Balushi
Administrative Director   Mohammed Al-Alawi
Physiotherapist   Harry Brooke

CoachesEdit

Manager Years as manager
  Mohammed Al-Khafaji 1974–1976
  George Smith 1979
  Hamed El-Dhiab 1980–1982
  Mansaf El-Meliti (caretaker) 1982
  Paulo de Oliveira 1984
  Antônio Clemente 1986
  Jorge Vitório 1986–1988
  Karl-Heinz Heddergott 1988–1989
  Bernd Patzke 1990–1992
  Heshmat Mohajerani 1992–1994
  Rashid Jaber 1995–1996
  Mahmoud El-Gohary 1996
  Jozef Vengloš 1996–1997
  Ian Porterfield 1997
  Homayoun Shahrokhi 1997–1998
  Valdeir Vieira 1998–1999
  Carlos Alberto Torres 2000–2001
  Milan Máčala 2001
  Bernd Stange 2001
  Rashid Jaber (caretaker) 2002
  Milan Máčala 2003–2005
  Srečko Juričić 2005–2006
  Hamad Al-Azani (caretaker) 2006
  Milan Máčala 2006–2007
  Gabriel Calderón 2007–2008
  Julio César Ribas 2008
  Hamad Al-Azani (caretaker) 2008
  Claude Le Roy 2008–2010
  Hamad Al-Azani 2010–2011
  Paul Le Guen[17] 2011–2015
  Juan Ramón López Caro 2016
  Pim Verbeek 2016–

Kits and sponsorsEdit

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The well-known "confettied" kit provided by Grand Sport during Oman's attempted qualification for the 1998 World Cup

Over the years Oman has had multiple kit providers, of which Grand Sport held the contract for the longest period. Oman has also worn kits provided by Puma, Umbro, Lotto and Adidas.

The national team signed a contract in 2006 with Gulf Air,[18][19] but the deal ended abruptly in early 2008, and was replaced with a signed sponsorship by Omantel's Oman Mobile.

On 9 May 2012, the Oman Football Association launched the new official team kit to be worn by Oman in their push for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fourth Round. The new kit was launched together with a new OFA logo. The new kit was designed for Oman by Taj Oman, an Oman-based company.[20] Later in June 2012, Oman's airline Oman Air became the official carrier of the Oman Football Association.[21]

On February 8, 2014, the Omani Football Association confirmed the tie-up with Italian sports apparel manufacturer Kappa. A joint venture agreement was signed by sportswear giant Kappa and the OFA's apparel brand Taj Oman. In a 4-year deal, Kappa will produce the kit worn by all the Oman National football teams bearing the Taj mark, and will provide Oman with a large range of sportswear specific for the country. The deal will see both the names (Kappa & Taj) on the kit worn by the National teams and on all retail items.[22] Oman Air also renewed its deal on the same day with the OFA till the end of the 2013–14 season. On September 16, 2014, the Omani Football Association announced that they had signed an agreement with Asia Sports Marketing to become the exclusive sales agent for the Association.[23]

On September 9, 2015, the Omani Football Association signed a one-year contract extension with, Oman Air as the official carrier of the national team. The association said that although Oman Air's ticket allocation in the deal is primarily meant for the senior national team's tours, the OFA has often judiciously availed the privilege for club teams' trips to Salalah for Omantel Professional League (OPL) matches and also for overseas travel of the national age-group squads.[24][25] On October 18, 2015, the Omani Football Association announced a partnership with a new mental energizer Energy Drinks Partner, Effect.[26][27]

Period Kit Manufacturer
1978–1996 Puma
1996–2005 Grand Sport
2005–2006 Umbro
2006–2008 Lotto
2008–2012 Adidas
2012–2014 Taj Oman
2014–present Kappa

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ FIFA Century Club. FIFA.com
  2. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  3. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  4. ^ – Al-Dhabit scored 22 goals in 2001
  5. ^ – 3rd Arab to receive the award, and first Omani.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ 9-time winners of the Gulf Cup of Nations
  7. ^ – match results from the 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations.
  8. ^ – Hani Al-Dhabit, top goalscorer of the 2002 Gulf Cup with a total of 5 goals.
  9. ^ Gulf Cup 17 – Qatar – goalzz.com
  10. ^ – Oman's performance in the 2007 Gulf Cup.
  11. ^ – Al-Habsi receiving the Best Goalkeeper award.
  12. ^ – Oman's goal scoring record in the 18th Gulf Cup.
  13. ^ – Oman's 19th Gulf Cup record.
  14. ^ Hassan Rabia—19th Gulf Cup top goalscorer.
  15. ^ "– BWFC – Ali 4 time winner of Best Goalkeeper award". Archived from the original on 31 December 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  16. ^ "OFA Announce Full National Team Staff Appointments". ofa.om.
  17. ^ "Oman Football Association 'relieves' Le Guen of coaching duties after Oman's loss to Turkmenistan". Times of Oman.
  18. ^ "Gulf Air signs deal with Oman". gulfair.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  19. ^ "Gulf Air Signs Sponsorship Deal With Oman Football Association − SportsOman reports the signed deal". englishsabla.com. Sports Oman. 21 May 2006. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  20. ^ "Oman Football Association Unveils Official Logo And Kit". theweek.co.om. 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-03-06. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  21. ^ "Oman National Team Announce Major Local Sponsor". Oman Air. 7 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  22. ^ "Oman Football Association confirms tie-up with Kappa". Al Bawaba. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  23. ^ "Oman Football Association announce new exclusive sales partner". Zawya. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  24. ^ "Our partnership with Oman Air has grown, says Sayyid Khalid". Muscat Daily. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  25. ^ "الطيران العماني يمدد عقد الشراكة مع اتحاد القدم". Al Roya. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  26. ^ "Oman Football Score with Effect". ofa.om. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  27. ^ "Oman FA rope in Effect as new energy drink partner". Times of Oman. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External linksEdit

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