| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Saudi Arabia |
| Dates | 3–12 July |
| Teams | 6 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Iraq (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  Bahrain |
| Third place |  Saudi Arabia |
| Fourth place |  Qatar |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 10 |
| Goals scored | 21 (2.1 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Anad Abid (5 goals) |
| Best player | Mohamed Abd Al-Jawad[1] |
| Best goalkeeper |  Mohammed Saleh |
| Fair play award |  Jordan |
← 1966 1988 → | |
The 1985 Arab Cup was the fourth edition of the Arab Cup hosted by Ta'if, Saudi Arabia. The competition returned after nineteen years of absence and was the first one under the auspices of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA). The defending champion Iraq won the title for the third consecutive time.
Qualification
Zone 1 (Gulf Area)
![[icon]](./File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (January 2026) |
Zone 2 (Red Sea)
The tournament was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[2][3]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 6 |
 Sudan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ? | ? | ? | 4 |
 Somalia |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ? | ? | ? | 1 |
 South Yemen |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | –2 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | Somalia |
|---|---|---|
Abdullah  72' (pen.) |
| Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | South Yemen |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Nafisah 36' |
| Saudi Arabia | 3–0 | Sudan |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Nafisah 24' Abdullah 43', 69' |
| South Yemen | 1–1 | Somalia |
|---|---|---|
| Hashim |
Abdi 17' |
Saudi Arabia qualified.
Zone 3 (North Africa)
Mauritania qualified automatically as the other North African teams (Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia) withdrew due to their participation in the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[5]
Mauritania qualified.
Zone 4 (East Region)
The tournament was held in Amman, Jordan.[6]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 2 |
| Iraq |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | 0 |
Jordan and Iraq qualified due to the withdrawal of the other teams in the group.
Qualified teams
Iraq participated with its B team in the final tournament. The 6 qualified teams were:
| Participants | |
|---|---|
| Zone | Team |
| Zone 1 (Gulf Area) | Bahrain |
| Qatar | |
| Zone 2 (Red Sea) | Saudi Arabia (hosts) |
| Zone 3 (North Africa) |  Mauritania |
| Zone 4 (East Region) | Iraq B |
| Jordan | |
Venues
| Ta’if | |
|---|---|
| King Fahd Stadium | |
| Capacity: 17,000 | |
 |
Squads
Group stage
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 4 |
| Qatar |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 2 |
| Jordan |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 |
| Saudi Arabia | 4–0 | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
| Nu'eimeh 45' Azmi 49' (o.g.)Al-Musaibeah 58'Al-Bishi 89' |
Report |
| Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | Qatar |
|---|---|---|
| Mohammad 61' |
Report |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Iraq B |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Mauritania |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 |
| Bahrain | 2–0 | Mauritania |
|---|---|---|
| Shwetar 15', 74' |
| Iraq B | 2–0 | Mauritania |
|---|---|---|
| Mahmoud 42' Abid 60' |
Knock-out stage
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 10 July 1985 – Taif | ||||||
| Iraq B | 3 | |||||
| 12 July 1985 – Taif | ||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 2 | |||||
| Iraq B | 1 | |||||
| 10 July 1985 – Taif | ||||||
| Bahrain | 0 | |||||
| Bahrain (p) | 1 (3) | |||||
| Qatar | 1 (1) | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 12 July 1985 – Taif | ||||||
| Saudi Arabia (p) | 0 (3) | |||||
| Qatar | 0 (1) | |||||
Semi-finals
| Iraq B | 3–2 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Abid 13', 18' Rashid 28' |
Report | Nu'eimeh 47' (pen.) Abd Al-Jawad 88' |
Third place play-off
Final
Goalscorers
There were 21 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 2.1 goals per match.
5 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Hussam Azmi (vs Saudi Arabia)
References
- ↑ "عبدالجواد افضل لاعب".
- ↑ "المباراة التاريخية لمنتخب اليمن الديمقراطي أمام المنتخب السعودي" (in Arabic). Adngad. 21 September 2025.
- ↑ "Majed Abdullah Mohammed - Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. 2 July 2020.
- ↑ "السودان في كأس العرب.. 3 مشاركات ووداع مبكر" (in Arabic). Kooora. 25 April 2021.
- ↑ "كأس العرب 1963 - 2021 (p 26)". kooora.com (in Arabic). Abd El Baset Najar (Author: Mahmoud Qarqura). 15 October 2021.
- ↑ "تفاصيل مباراة الأردن و العراق" (in Arabic). JFA.com. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ↑ "تصفيات كاس العرب" (in Arabic). NIIIIS.com. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
