Hosts Kuwait and last year’s finalists Oman are through to the semi-finals of the Khaleeji Zain 26 (Gulf Cup) following a dramatic night of action that saw Qatar and the much-fancied UAE eliminated.
With both matches kicking off at the same time and all four teams still in with a chance to qualify, it was nail-biting stuff for the 57,742 fans packed into the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium.
But they were celebrating following a 1-1 draw with Qatar that saw them top the group with five points alongside Oman who will join them in the last four after a 1-1 draw with their neighbours, UAE, on the other side of the city.
It was Qatar who thought they had opened the scoring in the 38th minute when Yusuf Abdurisag headed in from a corner, but the referee blew for a foul on the goalkeeper.
Kuwait’s first opportunity to take the lead came on 62 minutes when Mohammad Daham burst through the Qatari defence but saw his low shot come back off the post. And then just a minute later, the same player saw another effort hit the same spot on the upright.
At the other end, substitute Mohammed Muntari thought he had finally broken the deadlock for Qatar but his effort was ruled out by a late flag for offside.
But it was Daham that finally got his deserved goal to send the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium into raptures. A free-kick was awarded on the edge of the box for handball and the striker bent it past the wall into the far corner.
There was more drama in the 77th minute when the referee was sent to the television to check a VAR call on a penalty for Qatar, but after a long deliberation he turned it down.
Kuwait faced a nervous final couple of minutes when Muntari headed home for Qatar to make it 1-1, but The Blues held on for a memorable, and deserved, point to go through.
Meanwhile, at the Jaber Al-Mubarak International Stadium, the UAE took the lead in the 20th minute through Musen Al-Ghassani. But Oman pulled level 11 minutes from time through winger Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri for the all-important point to advance.
Kuwait and Oman will now await their opponents from Group B for Tuesday night’s semi-finals with Iraq facing Saudi Arabia tomorrow night, and Bahrain, who are already qualified, playing Yemen at the same time.
