FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025: Jordan and Morocco meet in Final 

posted on: Dec 17, 2025

By Jake Harris / Arab America Contributing Writer

The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the first to ever be held in the Arab World when Qatar hosted. A year prior to the tournament, The FIFA Arab Cup was held in the country. It was not the first edition of the competition but it was the first under FIFA’s jurisdiction. It was a curtain raiser for many of the brand new stadiums built as infrastructure for the future World Cup. The competition was on and off throughout its early history, having multiple hiatuses without being played. The inaugural FIFA Arab Cup was held in Lebanon in 1963. Iraq has the most Arab Cups with 4. Saudi Arabia comes second in most cups with 2, with multiple other countries having won 1. 

The “New” Arab Cup

This year’s competition has been the second that has been sanctioned as a tournament under FIFA. Future tournaments are being held in Qatar up until the 2033 edition, likely as a way of building Qatar as a regional hub for big soccer tournaments, building on the World Cup. Algeria won the first FIFA sanctioned Arab Cup in 2021.

Qualification Format

The 2025 FIFA Arab Cup began with a qualifying campaign involving all of the Arab nations throughout Asia and Africa. The 14 lowest ranked Arab nations in the FIFA World Rankings were drawn at random into 7 head-to-head matchups. The 7 winners qualified for the tournament. While multiple qualifying games went down to the wire, the match between Comoros and Yemen was an all-timer. The match ended 4-4 after 90 minutes and went to a penalty shootout. Comoros won the shootout, eliminating Yemen. Palestine, a nation dealing with immense difficulty off the field, qualified via a penalty shootout as well, just making it past Libya in a close match. 

The Group Stage Draw took place on May 25th, 2025 in Qatar. The qualifying teams were placed in 4 groups of 4. Groups B and C proved to be initially challenging. With both groups having two teams that have qualified for the World Cup. 

2025 FIFA Arab Cup

Palestine, drawn into Group A were facing an uphill battle to make it out of the Group. Drawn to face Tunisia, Qatar, and Syria, the Palestinians built on an impressive World Cup qualifying campaign and shocked oddsmakers winning the group. In their opening match they scored a last minute winner against host nation Qatar. 

Qatar had a similarly disappointing campaign as hosts similar to the World Cup in 2022. This is despite their success in other regional competitions. Qatar will look to put it behind them and put together an impressive World Cup campaign in the US, Canada and Mexico. They are in a group with Canada, Switzerland, and a European country still to be decided. 

Jordan vs Morocco, Path to the Final

Jordan, riding off the momentum of qualifying for their first World Cup had a dominant campaign. They won all three of their group stage matches against the UAE, Kuwait, and Egypt. Jordan beat Egypt 3-0 at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al-Rayyan, Qatar. A statement victory over a fellow Arab soccer power. Wins over Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals, and semifinals respectively will have Jordan set for the Final at the Lusail Stadium, the stadium that hosted the World Cup Final in 2022.

Their opponent will be Morocco. The first African team to make a World Cup semifinal has continued their momentum, easily qualifying for the next World Cup. Morocco comfortably qualified from their group at the Arab Cup with a notable victory over Saudi Arabia. Wins over Syria and the UAE in the quarters and semis have them in the final. A chance to cement themselves as the strongest Arab nation in international soccer. 

The final will take place on Thursday December 18th, 2025, at 11:00 AM EST.  These two countries faced off four years ago in the last FIFA Arab Cup. Morocco won the match 4-0, dominating Jordan. Jordan has proven themselves more formidable than four years ago, they have earned their chance at a rematch. Despite this, Morocco are still expected to be favorites.

Both countries now know their World Cup groups for the summer, with Jordan being drawn in a group with World Champions Argentina, Austria, and fellow Arab nation Algeria. Morocco will play in a group with Brazil, Scotland, and Haiti.

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