Iraq bids farewell to the Gulf Championship through the narrow door after losing to Saudi Arabia.

The Iraqi national football team bid farewell to the 27th Gulf Championship on Tuesday evening, after losing to their Saudi counterpart with a score of 0-2 in the third round of the first group matches of the tournament held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The match kicked off at 8:30 PM at the Al Namaa Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.

The first half of the Gulf clash between the two teams ended in a goalless draw, while the Iraqi team made a forced substitution in the 45+2 minute, with Ibrahim Baish coming in for Mustafa Saadon, who left the field due to injury.

In the second half, the Saudi team managed to score the opening goal in the 54th minute through Abdullah Al-Salem, taking advantage of a misunderstanding between the Iraqi defenders and goalkeeper Ahmed Basal, to steal the ball and shoot it into the Iraqi net. The Saudi team added their second goal in the 69th minute through player Abdullah Hamdan.

In the same round, the Omani team defeated their Kuwaiti counterpart with three goals to one, thus ending the Iraqi team's chances in the competition and officially exiting the tournament from the group stage after tying on points and goals with the Omani team, which advanced due to fair play.