Doha, December 10 (QNA) - The historical scorers of the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Championship have written their names in golden letters in the records of the championship, in a list that must be reviewed when the date of any new edition approaches, as is the case with the 26th edition that will be held in Kuwait from Dec. 21 to Jan. 3.
Kuwaits Jassim Yaqoub still has a firm grip on the list since the 4th edition held in Doha in 1976, when he scored 18 goals. However, the differences are very small in a list full of names of big stars who have written a brilliant history in the tournament.
Yaqoub, who hung up his boots in 1983, had scored 18 goals in just three editions he participated in, before injury forced him to retire. In his first appearance in the second edition of the tournament, which was held in Saudi Arabia in 1972, he scored three goals, coming in second on the scorers list behind Saudi Saeed Gharb, who scored five goals. Then, in the third edition, which was held in Kuwait in 1974, he scored six goals and was crowned top scorer for that edition, before scoring nine goals in the fourth edition, which was held in Doha in 1976, retaining the top scorer title for the second consecutive time, and reaching the 18th goal, which has remained steadfast for nearly 49 years.
The second place on the list of top scorers is occupied by two of the most prominent stars of Gulf and Arab football, Iraqs Hussein Saeed and the Saudi Majed Abdullah, as each of the two stars scored 17 goals.
Hussein Saeed was not only the runner-up in the Gulf Cup's all-time top scorers list, but he also has a distinguished record that has stood since 1979, when he became and still is the top scorer in a single edition, scoring ten goals in the fifth tournament held in Iraq, while in the seventh tournament held in the Sultanate of Oman in 1984 he scored seven goals and won the top scorer title and collected with it the title of best player in that tournament, bringing the total to 17 scorers.
The former Saudi star, Majed Abdullah, followed in the footsteps of Hussein Saeed and reached the same number after scoring 17 goals in 26 matches he played during his participation in five consecutive editions of the Gulf Cup.
Majed Abdullah appeared for the first time in the Gulf Cup in the fifth edition in Iraq in 1979 and scored 7 goals to take second place in the scorers list. Then he scored three goals in the sixth edition in the United Arab Emirates in 1982, and shared the title of the tournaments top scorer with Kuwaits Youssef Suwaid, Bahrains Ibrahim Zwaid, and Emirates Salem Khalifa.
Majed Abdullah scored a single goal in the seventh edition in 1984, which he did not complete due to injury, before returning in the eighth edition in Bahrain and scoring 4 goals, then he appeared for the last time in the ninth edition in 1988 in Saudi Arabia and scored two goals.
Similar to Majed Abdullah and Hussein Saeeds runner-up position on the list of historical top scorers, Kuwaits Faisal Al Dakhil and Jassem Al Huwaidi shared third place with 14 goals each.
Al Dakhil is one of the legends of Arab, Gulf, and Kuwaiti football after he contributed to Kuwaits qualification for the World Cup in Spain, and he also contributed to the Blues crowning with the only Asian Cup title in 1980.
Al Dakhil appeared in the Gulf Cup in the fourth edition that took place in Doha in 1976 and scored 8 goals and came in second place with Iraqs Ali Kazim, and behind Jassim Yaqoub (9 goals). In the fifth edition that followed in Iraq, he was satisfied with one goal, while in the eighth edition in 1986 that took place in Bahrain, he scored 5 goals for a total of 14 goals, putting him on the list of historical scorers.
The brilliant striker Jassim Al Huwaidi scored the same number of goals as his compatriot Faisal Al Dakhil, as he appeared for the first time in the 11th Gulf Cup in Doha and was satisfied with scoring one goal, before reaching the peak of his giving in the Gulf Cup during the 14th edition that took place in Bahrain in 1998, scoring 9 goals and being crowned the tournaments top scorer, becoming the second player to score the most goals in a single edition after Hussein Saeed. Then, he scored 4 goals in the 15th edition that took place in Saudi Arabia in 2002. 

The list of historical scorers in the Arabian Gulf Cup football tournaments included Qatars football legend Mansour Muftah, who scored 13 goals, the same number of goals scored by Emirates Ali Mabkhout, sharing fourth place together.
Mansour Muftah participated in six editions of the Gulf Cup, where his first appearance was in the fourth edition in Doha in 1976 and scored five goals. He then participated in the fifth in 1979 and scored one goal, and the same in the sixth in 1982, before scoring three goals in the next seventh edition in 1984.
Mansour Muftah missed the eighth edition, but returned to appear in the ninth edition in 1988 and scored a goal as well, before ending his participation in the tournament by appearing in the 10th edition in 1990 and scoring two goals.
As for Emirates Ali Mabkhout, he appeared for the first time in the Gulf Cup in the 21st edition and scored two goals, then he was crowned the top scorer in the 22nd edition in 2014 with five goals, before he was satisfied with a single goal in the 23rd Gulf Cup in Kuwait, then he was crowned the top scorer in the tournament for the second time in its history, which was in the 24th Gulf Cup in Doha in 2019 with 5 goals.
Two Kuwaitis are participating in the list again, but in fifth place, through Yousef Sweid and Bader Al Mutawa, with 12 goals each.
Yousef Sweid was one of the players in the golden Kuwaiti team that won the 1980 Asian Cup and qualified for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. He participated for the first time in the fifth Gulf Cup in 1979 in Iraq and scored seven goals. He then participated in the sixth edition in 1982 and scored 3 goals to share the top scorer title with Saudi Majed Abdullah, Emirates Salem Khalifa and Bahrains Ibrahim Zweid, before completing the 12 goals in the eighth edition in 1986 by scoring two goals.
Bader Al Mutawa, the player who played the most international matches with the Kuwaiti national team, participated in six editions of the Gulf Cup, starting with (Gulf 16) in 2003, where he scored two goals. He also scored two goals in the 17th edition in 2004, and the same number of goals in the 18th Gulf Cup. He missed the 19th Gulf Cup, before being crowned top scorer in the 20th edition in Yemen with 3 goals. He scored two goals in the following edition in 2013, and a goal in the 22nd Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2014, in his last appearance in the tournament.
Three players came in sixth place with ten goals, including Qatars Mahmoud Soufi, Emirates Fahad Khamis, and Saudi Yasser Al Qahtani.
Mahmoud Soufi is the Qatari top scorer in the Gulf Cup after Mansour Muftah. Soufi participated in five editions. His first appearance was in the ninth edition, where he scored a goal. He then scored a goal in the tenth edition in 1990, before scoring two goals in the 11th Gulf Cup in Doha in 1992.
Soufi was crowned top scorer in the 12th edition, along with Saudi Fouad Anwar, with 4 goals. He then scored two goals in the last edition he participated in, which was the 13th Gulf Cup in 1996.
As for Fahad Khamis, he scored two goals in the sixth edition, and one goal in the seventh. The best appearance of the Emirati star was in the eighth edition, which witnessed his crowning as top scorer with 6 goals, before he concluded his Gulf participation by scoring a goal in the tenth edition in 1990 in Kuwait.
Saudi star Yasser Al Qahtani scored ten goals in five tournaments, as he appeared for the first time in the 16th edition in 2003 and scored three goals, and scored one goal in the 17th edition, then scored three goals in the 18th Gulf Cup in 2007, then two goals in the 19th edition, and did not score a goal in his last appearance in the Gulf Cup in the 21st edition in Bahrain in 2013. (QNA)