Oman national football team

Oman عُمان
Nickname(s) Al-Ahmar
(The Reds)
Association Oman Football Association
Confederation AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach Pim Verbeek
Captain Ahmed Mubarak
Most caps Ahmed Mubarak (154)[1]
Top scorer Hani Al-Dhabit (42)
Home stadium Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex
FIFA code OMA
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 85 Decrease 1 (20 September 2018)
Highest 50 (August – October 2004)
Lowest 129 (October 2016)
Elo ranking
Current 71 Steady (30 July 2018)
Highest 49 (12 April 2005)
Lowest 174 (March 1984)
First international
 Libya 15–1 Muscat and Oman
(Cairo, Egypt; 2 September 1965)
Biggest win
 Oman 14–0 Bhutan 
(Muscat, Oman; 28 March 2017)
Biggest defeat
 Libya 21–0 Muscat and Oman
(Baghdad, Iraq; 1 April 1966)
Asian Cup
Appearances 4 (first in 2004)
Best result Group stage

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.

History

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;[2] 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.[3]

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 performance

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,[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8] Once again Ali Al-Habsi had received the "Best Goalkeeper of the Gulf Cup" award[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12] Ali Al-Habsi also received his fourth consecutive "Best Goalkeeper Award".[13]

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
YearHost CountryPlace Pld W D* L GF GA
1970 BahrainDid not enter
1972 Saudi ArabiaDid not enter
1974 Kuwait6th place
1976 Qatar7th place
1979 Iraq7th place
1982 UAE6th place
1984 Oman7th place
1986 Bahrain7th place
1988 Saudi Arabia7th place
1990 Kuwait4th place
1992 Qatar6th place
1994 UAE6th place
1996 Oman6th place
1998 Bahrain4th place
2002 Saudi Arabia5th place
2003 Kuwait4th place
2004 Qatar2nd place
2007 UAE2nd place
2009 Oman1st place
2010 YemenGroup Stage
2013 BahrainGroup Stage
2014 Saudi Arabia4th place
2017 Kuwait1st place
Total21/23

Team awards

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.

YearAwardCompetition
2004Won second-place trophy17th Gulf Cup
2007Won second-place trophy18th Gulf Cup
2009Won first-place trophy19th Gulf Cup
2009Won fair play team award19th Gulf Cup
2014Won fair play team award22nd Gulf Cup
2017Won first-place trophy23rd Gulf Cup

Competition records

World Cup record

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
Uruguay 1930 to Spain 1982Did not enter
Mexico 1986Withdrew
Italy 1990Did not qualify
United States 1994Did not qualify
France 1998Did not qualify
South Korea Japan 2002Did not qualify
Germany 2006Did not qualify
South Africa 2010Did not qualify
Brazil 2014Did not qualify
Russia 2018Did not qualify
Qatar 2022To be determined
Canada Mexico United States 2026To be determined
Total

AFC Asian Cup record

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
Hong Kong 1956 to Kuwait 1980Did not enter------- ------
Singapore 1984Did not qualify------- ------
Qatar 1988Withdrew------- ------
Japan 1992Did not qualify------- ------
United Arab Emirates 1996Did not qualify------- ------
Lebanon 2000Did not qualify------- ------
China 2004Group stage9th311143 ------
IndonesiaMalaysiaThailandVietnam 2007Group stage15th302113 ------
Qatar 2011Did not qualify------- ------
Australia 2015Group stage12th310215 ------
United Arab Emirates 2019Qualified------- ------
TotalBest: Group Stage4/169234611 ------

Asian Games

Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.
Asian Games record
Year Result GP W D* L GS GA
India 1951Did not enter000000
Philippines 1954Did not enter000000
Japan 1958Did not enter000000
Indonesia 1962Did not enter000000
Thailand 1966Did not enter000000
Thailand 1970Did not enter000000
Iran 1974Did not enter000000
Thailand 1978Did not enter000000
India 1982Did not enter000000
South Korea 1986Did not enter000000
China 1990Did not enter000000
Japan 199411th place311144
Thailand 199811th place52121413
2002–present See Oman national under-23 football team
Total2/1383231817

Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games record
Year Round Pld W D L GF GA
Egypt 1953
Lebanon 1957
Morocco 1961
United Arab Republic 1965
Syria 1976
Morocco 1985
Lebanon 1997
Jordan 1999
Egypt 2007
Qatar 2011
Total
/10
0
0
0
0
0
0

Arab Nations Cup

Arab Nations Cup record
Year Result GP W D* L GS GA
Lebanon 1963Did not enter------
Kuwait 1964Did not enter------
Iraq 1966Group Stage3003124
Saudi Arabia 1985Did not enter------
Jordan 1988Did not enter------
Syria 1992Did not enter------
Qatar 19980------
Kuwait 2002Group Stage------
Saudi Arabia 2012Group Stage------
TotalBest: Group Stage000000

Schedule

Recent and forthcoming matches

16 October 2018 FriendlyOman v EcuadorQatar
27 December 2018 FriendlyOman v IndiaUAE

2019 AFC Asian Cup

Players

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Al-Habsi (1981-12-30) 30 December 1981 118 0 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
18 1GK Faiz Al-Rushaidi (1988-07-19) 19 July 1988 16 0 Oman Al-Suwaiq
22 1GK Riyadh Al-Alawi (1987-02-24) 24 February 1987 0 0 Oman Dhofar

2 2DF Mohammed Al-Musalami (1990-04-27) April 27, 1990 37 2 United Arab Emirates Al Jazira
3 2DF Mohammed Al-Rawahi (1993-04-26) April 26, 1993 1 0 Oman Al-Nahda
5 2DF Nadhir Awadh (1994-12-05) December 5, 1994 1 0 Qatar Al-Shahania
11 2DF Saad Al-Mukhaini (1987-09-06) September 6, 1987 85 1 Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr
13 2DF Abdul Salam Al-Mukhaini (1988-04-07) 7 April 1988 55 1 Kuwait Al-Kuwait
17 2DF Ali Al-Busaidi (1991-01-21) 21 January 1991 27 1 Oman Al-Suwaiq

4 3MF Ali Al-Jabri (1990-01-29) 29 January 1990 1 0 Oman Al-Nahda
5 3MF Hisham Al-Shuaibi (1992-06-09) 9 June 1992 1 0 Oman Dhofar
6 3MF Raed Ibrahim Saleh (1992-06-09) 9 June 1992 60 3 Malta Valletta
8 3MF Yaseen Al-Sheyadi (1994-02-05) 5 February 1994 5 0 Oman Al-Suwaiq
10 3MF Qasim Said (1989-04-20) 20 April 1989 82 13 Oman Dhofar
12 3MF Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri (1985-02-23) 23 February 1985 140 15 Qatar Al-Mesaimeer
14 3MF Mohsin Al-Khaldi (1992-01-01) 1 January 1992 15 0 Saudi Arabia Ohod
15 3MF Jameel Al-Yahmadi (1994-10-09) 9 October 1994 0 0 Oman Al-Shabab
16 3MF Mahmood Al-Mushaifri (1993-01-14) January 14, 1993 2 0 Oman Al-Suwaiq
21 3MF Mohammed Al-Mashari (1990-12-04) 4 December 1990 13 0 Oman Fanja
23 3MF Harib Al-Saadi (1990-02-01) 1 February 1990 3 0 United Arab Emirates Al Jazira

7 4FW Khalid Al-Hajri (1994-03-10) 10 March 1994 9 9 Oman Al-Suwaiq
9 4FW Abdul Aziz Al-Muqbali (1989-04-23) 23 April 1989 56 18 Kuwait Al-Kuwait
19 4FW Saud Al-Farsi (1993-12-21) 21 December 1993 7 0 Oman Al-Oruba
20 4FW Sami Al-Hasani (1990-07-08) 8 July 1990 5 1 Oman Al-Oruba

Former squads

AFC Asian Cup
Gulf Cup

Personnel

As of December 2016

Technical staff

[14]

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

Coaches

Manager Years as manager
Egypt Mohammed Al-Khafaji 1974–1976
England George Smith 1979
Tunisia Hamed El-Dhiab 1980–1982
Tunisia Mansaf El-Meliti (caretaker) 1982
Brazil Paulo de Oliveira 1984
Brazil Antônio Clemente 1986
Brazil Jorge Vitório 1986–1988
Germany Karl-Heinz Heddergott 1988–1989
Germany Bernd Patzke 1990–1992
Iran Heshmat Mohajerani 1992–1994
Oman Rashid Jaber 1995–1996
Egypt Mahmoud El-Gohary 1996
Slovakia Jozef Vengloš 1996–1997
Scotland Ian Porterfield 1997
Iran Homayoun Shahrokhi 1997–1998
Brazil Valdeir Vieira 1998–1999
Brazil Carlos Alberto Torres 2000–2001
Czech Republic Milan Máčala 2001
Germany Bernd Stange 2001
Oman Rashid Jaber (caretaker) 2002
Czech Republic Milan Máčala 2003–2005
Croatia Srečko Juričić 2005–2006
Oman Hamad Al-Azani (caretaker) 2006
Czech Republic Milan Máčala 2006–2007
Argentina Gabriel Calderón 2007–2008
Uruguay Julio César Ribas 2008
Oman Hamad Al-Azani (caretaker) 2008
France Claude Le Roy 2008–2010
Oman Hamad Al-Azani 2010–2011
France Paul Le Guen[15] 2011–2015
Spain Juan Ramón López Caro 2016
Netherlands Pim Verbeek 2016–

Kits and sponsors

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,[16][17] 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.[18] Later in June 2012, Oman's airline Oman Air became the official carrier of the Oman Football Association.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21]

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.[22][23] On October 18, 2015, the Omani Football Association announced a partnership with a new mental energizer Energy Drinks Partner, Effect.[24][25]

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 also

References

  1. FIFA Century Club. FIFA.com
  2. – Al-Dhabit scored 22 goals in 2001
  3. – 3rd Arab to receive the award, and first Omani.
  4. 9-time winners of the Gulf Cup of Nations
  5. – match results from the 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations.
  6. – Hani Al-Dhabit, top goalscorer of the 2002 Gulf Cup with a total of 5 goals.
  7. Gulf Cup 17 – Qatar – goalzz.com
  8. – Oman's performance in the 2007 Gulf Cup.
  9. – Al-Habsi receiving the Best Goalkeeper award.
  10. – Oman's goal scoring record in the 18th Gulf Cup.
  11. – Oman's 19th Gulf Cup record.
  12. Hassan Rabia—19th Gulf Cup top goalscorer.
  13. "– BWFC – Ali 4 time winner of Best Goalkeeper award". Archived from the original on 31 December 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  14. "OFA Announce Full National Team Staff Appointments". ofa.om.
  15. "Oman Football Association 'relieves' Le Guen of coaching duties after Oman's loss to Turkmenistan". Times of Oman.
  16. "Gulf Air signs deal with Oman". gulfair.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  17. "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.
  18. "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.
  19. "Oman National Team Announce Major Local Sponsor". Oman Air. 7 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  20. "Oman Football Association confirms tie-up with Kappa". Al Bawaba. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  21. "Oman Football Association announce new exclusive sales partner". Zawya. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  22. "Our partnership with Oman Air has grown, says Sayyid Khalid". Muscat Daily. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  23. "الطيران العماني يمدد عقد الشراكة مع اتحاد القدم". Al Roya. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  24. "Oman Football Score with Effect". ofa.om. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  25. "Oman FA rope in Effect as new energy drink partner". Times of Oman. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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