| كأس الخليج العربي التاسعة | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Saudi Arabia |
| Dates | 2–18 March |
| Teams | 6 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Iraq (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  United Arab Emirates |
| Third place |  Saudi Arabia |
| Fourth place |  Bahrain |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 21 |
| Goals scored | 34 (1.62 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ahmed Radhi (IRQ) (4 goals) Zuhair Bakhit (UAE) (4 goals) |
| Best player | Habib Jafar (IRQ) |
| Bestgoalkeeper | Yousif Obaid (OMA) |
←1984 1990 → | |
The9th Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic:كأس الخليج العربي)[1] was the 9th edition of this tournament. It was held from 2 to 18 March 1988, inSaudi Arabia. It was the second time after 1972 that Saudi Arabia hosted this regional football tournament. The tournament was won byIraq. It was the third title for Iraq after having won the tournament1979 in Baghdad and1984 in Muscat.
All games were played at the newly builtKing Fahd International Stadium inRiyadh. The stadium was built to host the 1988 Gulf Cup and theFIFA World Youth Championship one year later.
Having scored four goals each,Ahmed Radhi from Iraq andZuhair Bakhit from the UAE shared the top-scorer award.Habib Jaafar (Iraq) was voted as best player, Oman's goalkeeperYousif Obaid won the best-goalkeeper-award.
Oman achieved their first victory in the Gulf Cup tournament after beating Qatar 2–1. Before so, the Oman had failed to win a single match in the 14 years prior.
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Iraq | 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 |
| United Arab Emirates | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 |
 Bahrain | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
 Kuwait | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | −1 |
 Qatar | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 |
 Oman | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | −6 |
| Iraq | 1 – 1 | Oman |
|---|---|---|
Shihab 50' | Nasser Hamdan 36' |
| Iraq | 2 – 0 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Radhi 59' Gorgis 72' |
| 9th Arabian Gulf Cup winners |
|---|
 Iraq Third title |
