Musab Al-Shaqsy received a yellow card for taking off his shirt after scoring the 3-1 for Oman against Kuwait, leaving all tiebreaker criteria equal with Iraq and taking the qualification to chance
What seemed like a resolved definition on the field ended with a conclusion that seems straight out of a script. Oman and Iraq were completely tied in the group stage of the Gulf Cup and, to determine which of the two advanced to the semifinals, the organizers had to resort to a draw.
The scene that triggered the unexpected ending occurred during the last match. Oman was beating Kuwait 3-1 and Iraq was losing 2-0 to Saudi Arabia, results that left both teams with four points and the same goal records: four in favor and five against.
Initially, Iraq had a slight advantage for having scored more goals than Oman during the group. However, the third goal by the Omanis brought the second place back into question. And that’s when the most unusual detail of the entire story appeared. After scoring, Musab Al-Shaqsy rushed to celebrate and took off his shirt. Consequently, the referee, as stipulated by the regulations, showed him a yellow card.
What would have simply been another warning in any other match completely changed the classification in this case. Until that moment, Oman had accumulated seven yellow cards against eight for Iraq and was ahead in the fair play criteria. However, the sanction against Al-Shaqsy made both teams end up with eight warnings and eliminated the last difference that could be used to break the tie.
Suddenly, both were equal in absolutely everything necessary: four points, four goals in favor, five against, the same result in the direct confrontation, and eight yellow cards. Since there were also no expulsions that could establish a difference, there was no sporting criterion left to decide who would continue in the competition.
The resolution was so particular that the classification had to be moved from the field to a hotel in Jeddah. There, the officials of the Gulf Football Federation Competition Committee met with representatives from Oman and Iraq to review the referee reports and confirm that the tie was absolute.
Oman ended up qualifying for the next round by draw
Once the absolute tie was verified, the unusual moment arrived: the semifinalist would be determined by a draw. Luck ended up favoring Oman, which secured a spot in the next round, where they will face the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Iraq was eliminated in a way that was hard to imagine before the start of the day.
