Oman national football team

It was not until the mid 1990s under the OFA chairmanship of Sheikh Saif bin Hashil Al-Maskary that 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;[3] 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.[4]

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.

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,[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9] Once again Ali Al-Habsi had received the "Best Goalkeeper of the Gulf Cup" award[10] 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 goal-scoring with nine goals each after the competition.[11]

Omani players during 2019 AFC Asian Cup

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.[12] 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.[13] Ali Al-Habsi also received his fourth consecutive "Best Goalkeeper Award".[14]

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.

Summary

Gulf Cup record
Year	Host Country	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1970	Bahrain	Did not enter
1972	Saudi Arabia
1974	Kuwait	6th place	2	0	0	2	0	9	–9
1976	Qatar	7th place	6	0	1	5	3	21	–18
1979	Iraq	7th place	6	0	0	6	1	21	−20
1982	UAE	6th place	5	0	0	5	2	15	−13
1984	Oman	7th place	6	0	2	4	3	9	−6
1986	Bahrain	7th place	6	0	1	5	4	11	–7
1988	Saudi Arabia	7th place	6	1	1	4	3	9	−6
1990	Kuwait	4th place	4	0	3	1	4	6	−2
1992	Qatar	6th place	5	0	0	5	1	10	–9
1994	UAE	6th place	5	0	2	3	4	9	–5
1996	Oman	6th place	5	0	2	3	2	7	–5
1998	Bahrain	4th place	5	1	1	3	6	12	−6
2002	Saudi Arabia	5th place	5	1	1	3	5	7	−2
2003	Kuwait	4th place	6	2	2	2	6	4	+2
2004	Qatar	Runners-Up	5	3	1	1	10	7	+3
2007	UAE	Runners-Up	5	4	0	1	7	4	+3
2009	Oman	Champions	5	3	2	0	7	0	+7
2010	Yemen	Group Stage	3	0	3	0	1	1	0
2013	Bahrain	Group Stage	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3
2014	Saudi Arabia	4th place	5	1	2	2	7	5	+2
2017	Kuwait	Champions	5	3	1	1	4	1	+3
2019	Qatar	Group Stage	3	1	1	1	3	4	–1
2021	Iraq	To be decided
Total	22/24	Best: Champions	104	19	27	58	81	172	–91

As of 3 December 2019[16]

Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

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,[20][21] 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.[22] Later in June 2012, Oman's airline Oman Air became the official carrier of the Oman Football Association.[23]

On 8 February 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.[24] Oman Air also renewed its deal on the same day with the OFA till the end of the 2013–14 season. On 16 September 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.[25]

On 9 September 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.[26][27] On 18 October 2015, the Omani Football Association announced a partnership with a new mental energizer Energy Drinks Partner, Effect.[28][29]

In 2018, the OFA signed a new contract with German sports company Jako.

• Oman national under-23 football team
• Oman women's national football team

• Official Oman Football Association Website
• Oman national football team FIFA.com
• Oman national football team – Football-Lineups
• Oman national football team – NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAMS