1988 and 1990, few could have imagined that their rivalry on the football field would be replaced by an altogether more catastrophic one on the battlefield. Because of the Gulf war, football would never be the same again. Iraq and Kuwait were in complete avoidance and never met for more than a decade. Kuwait's Blues had a relative recovery of sorts, winning the Gulf Cup in 1996 and 1998, before securing their record 10th title in 2010. Iraqi football, because of Uday Hussein's reign as head of the football association, would take far longer to recover. When it did, it was in glorious fashion, the Lions of Mesopotamia winning the 2007 Asian Cup. Kuwait vs. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia national football team Results and fixtures 2022 2023 Coaching staff Coaching history Ali Othman and Majid Mohammed (1955) Ahmed Abu Taha (1957) Edmund Majowski (1957–1958) Ljubiša Broćić (1962) Saleh El Wahsh (1964) Gyula Grosics (1966) Dimitri Tadić (1966–1969) Taha El-Doukhi (1970) Ljubiša Broćić (1971–1973) Hassan Nassir (1973) Ljubiša Broćić (1973–1975) Mário Zagallo (1976–1978) Saleh Zakaria (1978) Carlos Alberto Parreira (1978–1982) Antônio Lopes (1983–1985) Malcolm Allison (1985–1986) Saleh Zakaria (1986) György Mezey (1986–1987) Antônio Vieira (1987–1988) George Armstrong (1988) Otacílio Gonçalves (1989–1990) Luiz Felipe Scolari (1990) Mohammed Karam (1990) Valmir Louruz (1990–1992) Paulo Campos (1992–1993) Gildo Rodrigues (1993) Jawad Maqseed (1993) Valeriy Lobanovskyi (1993–1996) Milan Máčala (1996–1999) Dušan Uhrin (1999–2001) Berti Vogts (2001–2002) Radojko Avramović (2002) Paulo César Carpegiani (2003–2004) Mohammed Ebrahim Hajeyah (2004) Slobodan Pavković (2005) Mohammed Ebrahim Hajeyah (2005) Mihai Stoichiță (2005–2006) Saleh Zakaria (2006–2007) Rodion Gačanin (2007–2008) Mohammed Ebrahim Hajeyah (2008–2009) Goran Tufegdžić (2009–2013) Jorvan Vieira (2013–2014) Nabil Maâloul (2014–2015) Boris Bunjak (2017) Radojko Avramović (2018) Romeo Jozak (2018–2019) Thamer Enad (2019–2020) Andres Carrasco (2020–2021) Thamer Enad (2021) Vítězslav Lavička (2022) Rui Bento (2022–) Players Current squad The following players were called up for the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup. Match date: 7 – 13 January 2023 Opposition: , , & . Caps and goals correct as of 13 January 2023, after the match against the Bahrain. Recent call-ups The following players have also been called up to the Kuwait squad within the last 12 months. Previous squads World Cup squads 1982 FIFA World Cup squads – Kuwait Asian Cup squads 1972 AFC Asian Cup squads – Kuwait 1976 AFC Asian Cup squads – Kuwait 1980 AFC Asian Cup squads – Kuwait 1984 AFC Asian Cup squads – Kuwait 1988