Iraq’s national football team will begin its Gulf Cup 27 campaign in Jeddah on Wednesday with a record five Kurdish players in its 26-man squad, according to Kurdish football records.

Iraq will face Oman at 5:30 p.m. Baghdad time at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium in its opening Group A match. The group also includes hosts Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with the top two teams advancing to the semifinals.

The five Kurdish players are defenders Merchas Doski, Akam Hashim, Mohammed Delawar and Youssef Al-Imam, and forward Mustafa Qabil. Doski will wear No. 23, Hashim No. 5, Qabil No. 9, Delawar No. 24 and Al-Imam No. 25.

Doski, who plays for Czech club Viktoria Plzen, has become an established Kurdish player at international level. Hashim developed through football in the Kurdistan Region, while Qabil has also gained recognition in Iraqi football.

At Iraq’s 2026 Star Soccer Awards, Hashim was named Iraq’s Best Defender and shared the Best Player award. Doski was recognized as the country’s Best Professional Player in Europe, while Qabil received the Best Young Player award.

The five-player presence marks a growing contribution by Kurdish footballers to Iraq’s national team. Several Kurdish and Kurdistani players, including Doski and Hashim, were also part of Iraq’s squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup earlier this year.

Iraq is making its 18th appearance in the Gulf Cup. Its first participation came in 1976 in Doha, and the team has won the tournament four times—in 1979, 1984, 1988 and 2023.

Iraq’s most recent title came on home soil in Basra in 2023, when it defeated Oman 3-2 after extra time in the final.

Before the Jeddah tournament, Iraq had played 76 Gulf Cup matches, recording 38 wins, 25 draws and 13 defeats. The team had scored 134 goals and conceded 70. Iraq withdrew from the 1982 and 1990 editions.

Former striker Hussein Saeed remains one of the tournament’s most prominent figures, having scored 17 Gulf Cup goals. He scored 10 goals in the 1979 edition and seven in 1984, placing him level with Saudi Arabia’s Majed Abdullah among the competition’s second-highest scorers, behind Kuwait’s Jassem Yaqoub with 18 goals.

Saeed helped Iraq win the 1979 and 1984 titles and was the tournament’s leading scorer in both editions. Legendary coach Ammo Baba guided Iraq to three of its four Gulf Cup championships, in 1979, 1984 and 1988.

Iraq enters Gulf Cup 27 under Australian coach Graham Arnold, with the tournament serving as part of the national team’s preparations for its upcoming international commitments.

The competition runs from September 23 to October 6 in Jeddah. Eight teams are divided into two groups, with Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in Group A, while Group B consists of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Yemen.

The semifinals are scheduled for October 3, followed by the final on October 6.

For Iraq, Wednesday’s encounter with Oman marks the beginning of its latest bid for Gulf Cup success—and a historic tournament for Kurdish representation in the national squad.