On Tuesday evening, the draw for the tenth edition of the Arab Football Cup was held at the "Katara 4" Cultural Village in the Qatari capital, Doha, resulting in strong matches. The finals of the Arab Football Cup 2021 will take place in six Qatari stadiums from December 1 to December 18, marking the first time the tournament is jointly organized by FIFA and the Arab Football Association.
Sixteen teams will participate in the finals, divided into four groups of four teams each, with the group winners and runners-up advancing to the quarter-finals. Nine teams with the highest rankings according to the latest FIFA ranking published in April are guaranteed a spot in the finals: hosts Qatar, Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Meanwhile, the fourteen lowest-ranked teams will compete in single-match playoffs for seven spots in the finals later this year. FIFA revealed the playoff matches for the Arab Cup "Qatar 2021" on Monday, prior to the draw held on Tuesday in Doha.
The qualifying matches for the Arab Cup 2021 are as follows:
- Oman (80th globally) vs. Somalia (197th globally)
- Lebanon (93rd globally) vs. Djibouti (183rd globally)
- Jordan (95th globally) vs. South Sudan (169th globally)
- Bahrain (99th globally) vs. Kuwait (148th globally)
- Mauritania (101st globally) vs. Yemen (145th globally)
- Palestine (104th globally) vs. Comoros (131st globally)
- Libya (119th globally) vs. Sudan (123rd globally)
The groups are as follows:
- Group A: Qatar, Iraq, the winner of Oman vs. Somalia, the winner of Bahrain vs. Kuwait
- Group B: Tunisia, UAE, Syria, the winner of Mauritania vs. Yemen
- Group C: Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the winner of Jordan vs. South Sudan, the winner of Palestine vs. Comoros
- Group D: Algeria, Egypt, the winner of Lebanon vs. Djibouti, the winner of Libya vs. Sudan
The draw for the 2021 Arab Cup was conducted with the participation of FIFA legends Wael Gomaa from Egypt, Nawaf Al-Temyat from Saudi Arabia, Haitham Mustafa from Sudan, and Younis Mahmoud from Iraq, alongside Manola Zubera, the Director of Competitions at FIFA.
