Kuwait national football team

Kuwait
Nickname(s)	Al Azraq
Association	Kuwait Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Head coach	Mohammed Ibrahem
Most caps	Bashar Abdullah (134)
Top scorer	Bashar Abdullah (75)
Home stadium	Kuwait National Stadium
FIFA code	KUW
FIFA ranking	128
Highest FIFA ranking	24 (December 1998)
Lowest FIFA ranking	124 (November 2008)
Elo ranking	101
Highest Elo ranking	26 (December 1998)
	Home colours
	Away colours
First international
	Kuwait 2 - 2 Libya ; (Morocco; September 3, 1961)
Biggest win
	Kuwait 20 - 0 Bhutan ; (Kuwait City, Kuwait; February 14, 2000)
Biggest defeat
	United Arab Republic 8 - 0 Kuwait ; (Morocco; September 4, 1961); Portugal 8 - 0 Kuwait ; (Leiria, Portugal; November 19, 2003)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 1982)
Best result	Round 1, 1982
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances	8 (First in 1972)
Best result	Winners, 1980

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For current information on this topic, see Kuwait national football team results.

The Kuwait National Football Team is the national team of Kuwait and is controlled by the Kuwait Football Association. They made one World Cup Finals appearance, in 1982, managing a draw with Czechoslovakia but losing to England and France. During the match against France, France scored a goal while some of the Kuwaiti players had stopped, having heard a whistle. The goal was initially awarded by the referee, who had not blown, but Kuwait walked off the pitch in protest. They eventually resumed playing only after the intervention of Sheikh Fahad Al Ahmed and the referee's changing his mind to disallow the French goal.

They have better success contending for the Asian Cup, reaching the finals in 1976 and taking home the winner's trophy in 1980.

Kuwait's 20-0 win over Bhutan in 2000 was at the time the biggest ever win in international football. It was surpassed in 2001, when Australia beat Tonga 22-0. Also in 2000, Kuwait took part at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Kuwait, who last qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 1982, have been drawn with Iran, Syria and the United Arab Emirates in Group Five.

Kuwait are now waiting for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification which will take place in the near future.

[edit] History

[edit] Temporary Suspension

In October 30 2007, Kuwait was suspended by FIFA from all participation in international football, on the grounds of governmental interference in the national football association.^[1] The ban lasted less than 2 weeks.^[2]

On October 24 2008, Kuwait was again suspended by FIFA from all participation in international football, because of its failure to hold the General Assembly elections by mid-October. ^[3]

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Additional information: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Third Round

Kuwait are in the same FIFA World Cup qualifying group as Iran, Syria and United Arab Emirates. They will play home and away against each of the other three teams in group 5.

Kuwait started their World Cup campaign in Abu Dhabi against United Arab Emirates and lost 2-0. Their next game came at home against Iran which ended in a 2-2 draw, Iran were leading by 2 goals in the first 5 minures. In Round 3, Kuwait lost 1-0 to Syria after dominating nearly all the game. Kuwait first win came at home in round 4 against Syria, Ahmad Ajab scored a hattrick which led Kuwait to a 4-2 victory & kept their chances of making the world cup alive. Kuwait's next game was also at home against United Arab Emirates, the away team up 2-0 at halftime, but in the 2nd half Kuwait leading goalscorer Ahmad Ajab scored 2 goals and was on his way to score the 3rd goal in 90th minute but he was punched by the Emarati goalkeeper and the referee didn't give a penalty and a few second after that UAE scored the third goal and won 3-2. Kuwait ended their campaign with a 2-0 loss against Iran.

[edit] Group 5

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Iran	6	3	3	0	7	2	+5	12
United Arab Emirates	6	2	2	2	7	7	0	8
Syria	6	2	2	2	7	8	-1	8
Kuwait	6	1	1	4	8	12	-4	4


Iran		2-0	0-0	0-0
Kuwait	2-2		4-2	2-3
Syria	0-2	1-0		1-1
United Arab Emirates	0-1	2-0	1-3

[edit] 2011 AFC Asian Cup

Additional information: 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Kuwait are in the same AFC Asian Cup qualifying group as Australia, Indonesia and Oman. They will play home and away against each of the other three teams in Group B.

[edit] Group B

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Indonesia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Oman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kuwait	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

[edit] World Cup record

World Cup record
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1970	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1978	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Round 1	3	0	1	2	2	6
1986 to 2010	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	1/18	3	0	1	2	2	6

World Cup History
Year	Round	Score	Result
1982	Round 1	Kuwait 1 – 1 Czechoslovakia	Draw
	Round 1	Kuwait 1 – 4 France	Lose
	Round 1	Kuwait 0 – 1 England	Lose

[edit] Asian Cup record

AFC Asian Cup record
Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1956	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1960	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1964	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	Round 1	2	1	0	1	2	5
1976	Runners-Up	4	3	0	1	6	3
1980	Champions	6	4	1	1	13	6
1984	Third Place	6	3	1	2	5	4
1988	Round 1	4	0	3	1	2	3
1992	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Fourth place	6	2	1	3	9	6
2000	Quarterfinals	4	1	2	1	3	3
2004	Round 1	3	1	0	2	3	7
2007	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	8/14	35	15	8	12	43	37

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

[edit] Coaches

Coaches by Years (1955-2008)

Ali Othman (1955)
Ahmed Abu Taha (1957)
Edmund Majewski (1958)
Ljubiša Broćić (1962)
Mohammed Abdu Saleh Al Wahsh (1964)
Dimitri Tadic (1966-1969)
Taha Al Touki (1970)
Ljubiša Broćić (1971-1973)
Hassen Nasser (1973) (caretaker)
Ljubiša Broćić (1973-1975)
Mário Zagallo (1976-1978)
Saleh Zakereya (1978) (caretaker)
Carlos Alberto Parreira (1978-1983)
Antônio Lopes (1983-1985)
Malcolm Allison (1985-1986)
Saleh Zakereya (1986) (caretaker)
György Mezey (1986-1987)
Antônio Vieira (1987-1988)
George Armstrong (1988)
Miguel Pereira (1989)
Otacílio (1989-1990)
Luiz Felipe Scolari (1990)
Mohammed Karem (1990) (caretaker)
Valmir Louruz (1990-1992)
Paulo Luiz Campos (1992-1993)
Valmir Louruz (1990-1992)
Gildo Rodriguez (1993)
Jawad Maqseed (1993)
Valeri Lobanovsky (1993-1996)
Milan Máčala (1996-1999)
Dušan Uhrin (1999-2001)
Berti Vogts (2001-2002)
Radojko Avramović (2002-2003)
Paulo César Carpegiani (2003-2004)
Mohammed Ibrahem (2004)
Slobodan Pavkovic (2005)
Mohammed Ibrahem (2005) (caretaker)
Mihai Stoichiţă (2005-2006)
Saleh Zakereya (2006-2007)
Radion Gacanin (2007-June 2008)
Mohammed Ibrahem (June 2008-) (caretaker)

[edit] Players

[edit] Most capped Kuwaiti players

As of March 31, 2008, the four players with the most caps for Kuwait are:

#	Name	Career	Caps
1	Bashar Abdullah	1996 - 2008	134
2	Wail Sulaiman Al-Habashi	1986 - 1996	109
3	Jamal Mubarak	1994 - 2004	108
4	Nohair Al-Shammari	1996 - 2008	105

[edit] Famous Players

[edit] Current squad

The following players were called for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against UAE on June 14, 2008.

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Hameed Youssef	August 10, 1987	6	0	Al Salmiya
2	DF	Yacoub Al Taher	October 27, 1983			Al-Kuwait
3	MF	Mohamed Jarragh	November 10, 1981	39	9	Al-Arabi
4	DF	Hussain Fadel	October 9, 1984			Al-Qadisiya
5	DF	Ali Maqseed	December 11, 1986	12	3	Al-Arabi
6	DF	Mohammad Sinad	July 1, 1987			Al-Qadisiya
7	FW	Fahad Al Rashidi	December 31, 1984	13	4	Al Salmiya
8	MF	Saleh Al Sheikh	May 29, 1982			Al-Qadisiya
9	FW	Ahmad Ajab	May 13, 1984	14	15	Al-Qadisiya
10	FW	Khalaf Salama	July 25, 1979			Al-Qadisiya
11	DF	Fayez Bandar	December 7, 1983	9	1	Al-Qadisiya
12	GK	Ahmed Al Fadhli	September 6, 1982			Kazma
13	DF	Musaed Neda	July 8, 1983			Al-Qadisiya
14	MF	Adel Al Shammari	June 20, 1986			Al-Qadisiya
15	MF	Waleed Ali Jumah	November 3, 1980			Al-Kuwait
16	FW	Hamad Al Enezi	October 5, 1986			Al-Qadisiya
17	MF	Khaled Khalaf	August 15, 1983			Al-Arabi
18	MF	Jarah Al Ataiqi	October 15, 1981			Al-Kuwait

[edit] Recent Call Ups

The following players were called up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in 2008.

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call Up
Goalkeepers
Khaled Al Fadhli	May 15, 1974 (age 34)	Al-Kuwait	N/A	v Syria, June 2, 2008
Nawaf Al Khaldi	May 25, 1981 (age 27)	Al-Qadisiya	N/A	v Syria, June 8, 2008
Defenders
Nohayer Al Shammari	July 12, 1976 (age 32)	Al-Qadisiya	N/A	v UAE, February 6, 2008
Ahmad Al Eidan	October 1, 1982 (age 25)	Al-Salmiya	N/A	v UAE, February 6, 2008
Yousef Al Youha	September 2, 1979 (age 28)	Al-Kuwait	N/A	v UAE, February 6, 2008
Fahad Shaheen	February 26, 1985 (age 23)	Al-Kuwait	N/A	v Syria, June 8, 2008
Khaled Al Shammari	January 2, 1977 (age 31)	Kazma	N/A	v Syria, June 8, 2008
Midfielders
Abdulrahman Mussa	December 4, 1981 (age 26)	Al-Qadisiya	N/A	v UAE, February 6, 2008
Ebraheem Shehab	January 20, 1986 (age 22)	Al-Kuwait	N/A	v Iran, March 26, 2008
Strikers
Bader Al Mutwa	January 10, 1985 (age 23)	Al-Qadisiya	N/A	v Iran, March 26, 2008
Fahad Al Hamad	December 1, 1983 (age 24)	Kazma Sporting Club	N/A	v UAE, February 6, 2008

Mattia Pardini

[edit] Previous squads

[edit] References

^ "FIFA suspends Kuwait Football Federation". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.
^ "FIFA lifts suspension on Kuwait". FIFA. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168297446.html|title=FIFA suspends Kuwait Football Federation|publisher=The-AFC.co.uk|accessdate=2008-10-25}}

[edit] External links

[edit] Titles

Preceded by 1976 Iran	Asian Champions 1980 (First title)	Succeeded by 1984 Saudi Arabia

[0] "FIFA suspends Kuwait Football Federation". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.

[1] "FIFA lifts suspension on Kuwait". FIFA. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.

[2] te web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168297446.html|title=FIFA suspends Kuwait Football Federation|publisher=The-AFC.co.uk|accessdate=2008-10-25}}

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