| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Iraq |
| Dates | 1–10 April |
| Teams | 10 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venues | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Iraq (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Syria |
| Third place |  Libya |
| Fourth place |  Lebanon |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 20 |
| Goals scored | 98 (4.9 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ali Al-Biski (10 goals) |
| Best player | Shidrak Yousif |
← 1964 1985 → | |
The 1966 Arab Cup was the third edition of the Arab Cup hosted in Baghdad, Iraq. The host nation and defending champions Iraq won the title for the 2nd time.[1]
At the tournament's closing ceremony, the chairman of the Arab Cup Organising Committee announced that the next edition of the Arab Cup would be held in 1967 in Damascus, Syria,[2] however, this did not end up taking place.
Participating teams
A total of 10 teams participated in the competition. United Arab Republic initially agreed to take part,[3] but later withdrew.[4] Sudan were invited to participate but declined.[5]
The 10 participating teams were:
| Team | Qualified as | Previous appearances in tournament[a] |
|---|---|---|
| Iraq | Hosts & holders | 1 (1964) |
 Bahrain | Invitee | 0 (debut) |
 Jordan | Invitee | 2 (1963, 1964) |
 Kuwait | Invitee | 2 (1963, 1964) |
| Lebanon | Invitee | 2 (1963, 1964) |
| Libya | Invitee | 1 (1964) |
 North Yemen | Invitee | 0 (debut) |
 Muscat and Oman | Invitee | 0 (debut) |
 Palestine | Invitee | 0 (debut) |
| Syria | Invitee | 1 (1963) |
- Notes
- Bold indicates champion for that year, Italic indicates host.
Venues
| Baghdad | Habbaniyah | Kut | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Kashafa Stadium | Al-Habbaniyah Stadium | Al-Kut Stadium | |
| Capacity: 14,000 | Capacity: 5,000 | Capacity: 5,000 | |
 |
|
|
Squads
Group stage
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iraq |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 7 |
| Lebanon |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 7 |
| Kuwait |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 3 |
| Jordan |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | –2 | 2 |
| Bahrain |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 25 | –28 | 1 |
| Iraq | 2–1 | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
|
| Lebanon | 2–1 | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
|
|
| Kuwait | 4–4 | Bahrain |
|---|---|---|
Group B
Muscat and Oman abandoned their first match against Libya with 10 minutes left due to a disputed decision while they were losing 21–0, and subsequently withdrew from the tournament.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syria |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 5 |
| Libya |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 1 | +13 | 4 |
| Palestine |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 3 |
| North Yemen |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 27 | –27 | 0 |
| Muscat and Oman |
Withdrew | |||||||
| Syria | 7–0 | North Yemen |
|---|---|---|
| Libya | 21–0[n 1] | Muscat and Oman |
|---|---|---|
|
Abandoned in 80' |
| Palestine | 7–0 | North Yemen |
|---|---|---|
|
| Syria | 4–1 | Palestine |
|---|---|---|
|
|
| Libya | 13–0 | North Yemen |
|---|---|---|
|
Knock-out stage
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| April 9, 1966 – Baghdad | ||||||
| Iraq | 3 | |||||
| April 10, 1966 – Baghdad | ||||||
| Libya | 1 | |||||
| Iraq | 2 | |||||
| April 9, 1966 – Baghdad | ||||||
| Syria | 1 | |||||
| Syria | 1 | |||||
| Lebanon | 0 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| April 10, 1966 – Baghdad | ||||||
| Libya | 6 | |||||
| Lebanon | 1 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Syria | 1–0 | Lebanon |
|---|---|---|
|
Third place play-off
Final
Goalscorers
Libya's match against Muscat and Oman is not counted. There were 98 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 4.9 goals per match.
10 goals
8 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
- Ahmed Salmeen
- Naser Waleed
- Hasan Zalekh
- Mahmoud Assad
- Hassan Balla
- Salman Dawood
- Qais Hameed
- Qasim Mahmoud
- Mohammed Najim
- Shidrak Yousif
- Mustafa Al-Adwan
- Ali Al-Shaqran
- Mohammed Al-Khatib
- Mohammed Al-Masoud
- Mahmoud Berjaoui
- Mohammed Chatila
- Abraham Kasabian
- Abdul-Kadir Al-Khatiti
- Mohammed Al-Arabi
- Omar Al-Sheikh Taha
- Ahmed Alian
Notes and references
Notes
- Muscat and Oman withdrew the tournament after its first match against Libya, protesting a penalty free-kick decision of the referee at 80'. The match and results were not counted.
References
- نهائي كأس العرب 1966 - Al-Gardenia
- "3rd Arab Football Cup Tournament Ends". Baghdad News. 12 April 1966.
- "U.A.R. will take part in Arab Cup". The Iraq Times. 22 February 1966.
- "Arab Football Cup tournament in progress". The Iraq Times. 5 April 1966.
- "National Trainer on Soccer Prospects". The Iraq Times. 4 March 1966.
- "Ali Al-Baski, the historical goal scorer for Libyan football ... and the star of records". Al Wasat. Retrieved 10 August 2020.