Arab Futsal Cup

The Arab Futsal Cup (Arabic: كأس العرب لكرة الصالات)^[1] is a futsal competition for Arab nations. It was first held in 1998. Only three teams have won the cup since its foundation. Morocco is the most successful having won the title three times, followed by Egypt and Libya with two titles each.

Arab Futsal Cup

Organising body	UAFA
Founded	1998
Region	Arab world (UAFA)
Number of teams	10
Current champions	Morocco (2023)
Most successful team(s)	Morocco (3 titles)
2023 Arab Futsal Cup

Three countries have hosted the Arab Cup. Egypt have hosted it four times, Saudi Arabia twice, while Libya hosted it.

As of the last edition, Morocco are the current champions having defeated Kuwait 7-1 in the final.

History

The competition started in 1998 under the name of Arab Futsal Championship. From the 2021 edition, it was renamed to Arab Futsal Cup.^{[citation needed]}

The first two editions of the futsal cup was won by Egypt, after defeating Morocco twice in the final, becoming the first nation to win back-to-back titles.^[2][3]

The third and forth edition of the Arab Futsal Cup was won by Libya, thus becoming the second nation to win back-to-back titles. ^[4][5]

Moroccan domination

On 29 May 2021, Morocco won their first Arab Cup in 2021 after defeating Egypt 4-0 in the final.^[6]

The sixth edition witnessed the participation of 10 countries,^[7][8][9] Morocco went on to win the cup, claiming their second Arab Cup title after defeating Iraq 3-0, becoming the third nation after Egypt and Libya to win back-to-back titles.^[10][11]

On 16 June 2023, Morocco became the first nation to win the cup three consecutive times, after defeating Kuwait 7-1 in the final.^[12][13]

Results

Year	Host		Final				Third place match or losing semi-finalists
			Winner	Score	Runner-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
1998 Details	Egypt		Egypt	8–4	Morocco		Libya	6–2	Palestine
2005 Details	Egypt		Egypt	5–1	Morocco		Lebanon	8–5	Libya
2007 Details	Libya		Libya	2–0n/a	Egypt		Lebanon	8–3n/a	Morocco
2008 Details	Egypt		Libya	3–2	Egypt		Jordan	4–1	Lebanon
2021 Details	Egypt		Morocco	4–0	Egypt		Bahrain and  United Arab Emirates
2022 Details	Saudi Arabia[14]		Morocco	3–0	Iraq		Egypt and  Kuwait
2023 Details	Saudi Arabia[15]		Morocco	7–1	Kuwait		Algeria and  Libya

^n/a A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.

Ranking

Team	Champion	Runner-up	Third	Semi-finalists	Fourth	Top 4
Morocco	3 (2021, 2022, 2023)	2 (1998, 2005)			1 (2007)	5
Egypt	2 (1998, 2005)	3 (2007, 2008, 2021)		1 (2022)		6
Libya	2 (2007, 2008)		1 (1998)	1 (2023)	1 (2005)	5
Kuwait		1 (2023)		1 (2022)		2
Iraq		1 (2022)				1
Lebanon			2 (2005, 2007)		1 (2008)	3
Jordan			1 (2008)			1
Bahrain				1 (2021)		1
United Arab Emirates				1 (2021)		1
Algeria				1 (2023)		1
Palestine					1 (1998)	1

Summary (1998-2023)

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Morocco	6	32	27	0	5	176	66	+110	81
2	Egypt	7	32	24	3	5	165	73	+92	75
3	Libya	6	29	19	1	9	137	92	+45	58
4	Lebanon	4	19	8	0	11	93	87	+6	24
5	Iraq	4	16	7	3	6	50	53	-3	24
6	Kuwait	3	14	7	2	5	61	43	+18	23
7	Algeria	6	22	4	3	15	64	102	-38	15
8	Palestine	3	11	4	2	6	38	46	-8	14
9	Jordan	2	8	4	0	4	42	32	+10	12
10	Saudi Arabia	3	10	3	2	5	35	41	-6	11
11	United Arab Emirates	1	4	2	0	2	13	13	0	6
12	Bahrain	1	4	2	0	2	9	11	-2	6
13	Tunisia	3	10	2	0	8	31	62	-31	6
14	Sudan	1	3	1	0	2	8	21	-13	3
15	Mauritania	3	10	1	0	10	23	64	-41	3
16	Tajikistan	1	3	0	1	2	3	12	-9	1
17	Syria	1	3	0	0	3	7	22	-15	0
18	Comoros	2	6	0	0	6	8	28	-20	0
19	Yemen	1	4	0	0	4	5	46	-41	0
20	Somalia	2	3	0	0	6	4	52	-48	0

  – Record

Awards

Year	Top goalscorer(s)	Gls	Best player	Best goalkeeper	Fair play team	Ref.
2007	Abdul-Wahed Mohammed Hithem Atwe	8	Morad Bokare	Mohammed Al-Sharif	Tunisia
2008	Khaled Takaji	13	Rabie El-Hoti	Mohammed Al-Sharif
2021	Achraf Saoud	7	Anás El-Ayyane	Reda Khiyari		[16][17]
2022	Abdulrahman Al Taweel	9	Soufiane El Mesrar	Zaher Hadi	Egypt	[18]
2023	Abduellteif AlAbasi	7	Anás El-Ayyane	Samir Teffaf

Participating nations

Team	1998	2005	2007	2008	2021	2022	2023	Years
Algeria	GS	GS	GS	GS		GS	SF	6
Bahrain					SF			1
Comoros					GS		GS	2
Egypt	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	SF	QF	7
Iraq		GS		GS		2nd	QF	4
Jordan	GS			3rd				2
Kuwait					GS	SF	2nd	3
Lebanon		3rd	3rd	4th			QF	4
Libya	3rd	4th	1st	1st		QF	SF	6
Mauritania					GS	QF	GS	3
Morocco	2nd	2nd	4th		1st	1st	1st	6
Palestine	4th					QF	GS	3
Saudi Arabia					GS	QF	QF	3
Somalia	GS					GS		2
Sudan	GS							1
Syria				GS				1
Tajikistan							GS	1
Tunisia		GS	GS	GS				3
United Arab Emirates					SF			1
Yemen				GS				1
Total	8	7	6	9	8	10	12

Legend

1st – Champions 2nd – Runner-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place SF – Semi-final (no third place match)

QF – Quarter-final GS – Group stage Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament    – Hosts