Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium

Jaber al-Ahmad International Stadium

Shiekh Jaber Stadium Kuwait International Stadium
Aerial view of the stadium in January 2019
Location	Kuwait City, Kuwait
Coordinates	29°16′17.14″N 47°55′07″E
Owner	Kuwait national football team, Kuwait Football Association
Operator	Kuwait national football team
Capacity	60,000
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	2 June 2006
Built	2006–2010 (4 years)
Opened	10 September 2010
Renovated	2015
Reopened	18 December 2015
Construction cost	120 million Kuwaiti dinar (US$394.6 million)
Tenants
Kuwait national team (2010–2011; 2015–present)
Website
https://www.stadjaber.com/

Jaber al-Ahmad International Stadium (Arabic: ملعب جابر الأحمد الدولي) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Ardhiyah area of Kuwait City, Kuwait. Completed in 2009, it is used mostly for football matches and athletics. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 seated spectators, the building is constructed in 4 levels, with 54 corporate boxes and a parking lot with a 6,001-car capacity. It was expected to open in the second quarter of 2010, but the building failed structural-integrity testing and remained closed for nearly half a decade due to a miscalculation by structural engineers. It was finally opened on 18 December 2015. Jaber Al-Ahmad stadium is currently the new home of the Kuwait national football team.^[1]

The stadium was named after late Amir of Kuwait Shaikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Kuwait celebrated their winning of the 20th Arabian Gulf Cup in that stadium.

History

First match

Was an International Friendly between Kuwait National Team and Bahrain National Team ended 2-1 win to Bahrain.

Kuwait v Bahrain

8 October 2010	Kuwait	1 – 2[2]	Bahrain	Kuwait City, Kuwait
	Ahmad Ajab 66'		Ismaeel Latif 9' Fouzi Ayesh 47' Salma Isa 51'	Stadium: Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium Attendance: 10,000

Second match

Kuwait v Vietnam

12 October 2010	Kuwait	1 – 0	Vietnam	Kuwait City, Kuwait
	Ahmad Ajab 66'			Stadium: Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium Attendance: 10,000

Renovations

In 2010 after the 2010 AFC Cup Final problems started to occur to the stadium which led to closing the stadium in 2011. Renovations started in 2014 and ended in 2015.

Re-opening

The re-opening was announced on 28 November 2015 for the 2015 Kuwait Champions Challenge, where late Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah came to the opening. The match was between Kuwait XI and World Stars XI. The Kuwait XI won with a 4–2 score. LET'S PLAY!, the multimedia opening show (which was performed right before the match), was produced by Laser System Europe and Groupe F. It was written and directed by Rodolph Nasillski^[3]

The Kuwait FA at the time were banned by FIFA (starting in October 2015) due to the Kuwaiti Government's interference in sports. With that, FIFA prevented Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo (who both were playing at the MLS), and Xavi (who was playing for Al Sadd SC at the Qatar Stars League) from playing in the match.^[4]

23rd Arabian Gulf Cup

Main article: 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup

the Arabian Gulf Cup returns to Kuwait after 3 years and after the Ban by FIFA has been lifted the AGCFF all decided to switch the host country to Kuwait. Oman were crowned Champions for the 2nd time after beating UAE on penalties in the final.

Group stage

Kuwait v Saudi Arabia

22-12-2017	Kuwait	1 – 2	Saudi Arabia	Group A
18:30	Al Buraiki 60'	Report	Al-Moasher 13' Fallatah 52'	Attendance: 59,762 Referee: Ali Abdulnabi (Bahrain)

Oman v United Arab Emirates

22-12-2017	Oman	0 – 1	United Arab Emirates	Group A
21:00		Report	Mabkhout 28' (pen.)	Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

Saudi Arabia v United Arab Emirates

25-12-2017	Saudi Arabia	0 – 0	United Arab Emirates	Group A
17:30		Report		Attendance: 47,556 Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)

Kuwait v Oman

25-12-2017	Kuwait	0 – 1	Oman	Group A
20:00		Report	Al-Mahaijri 58' (pen.)	Attendance: 58,583 Referee: Saoud Al-Athbah (Qatar)

Kuwait v United Arab Emirates

28-12-2017	Kuwait	0 – 0	United Arab Emirates	Group A
18:30		Report		Attendance: 24,563 Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

Qatar v Bahrain

29-12-2017	Qatar	1 – 1	Bahrain	Group B
18:30	Al-Haydos 45+5' (pen.)	Report	Ali Madan 57'	Attendance: 23,412 Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)

Semi-finals

Oman v Bahrain

2-1-2018	Oman	1 – 0	Bahrain
17:15	M. Al Jabar 29' (o.g.)	Report		Attendance: 19,534 Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

Iraq v United Arab Emirates

2-1-2018	Iraq	3 – 0 (a.e.t.)	United Arab Emirates
20:30		Report		Attendance: 27,142 Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)

Final

Oman v United Arab Emirates

5-1-2018	Oman	0 – 0 (a.e.t.) (5 – 4 p)	United Arab Emirates
17:30		Report	O. Abdulrahman	Attendance: 56,344 Referee: Ali Shaban (Kuwait)
	Penalties
	Al-Muqbali Al-Mukhaini Al-Mahaijri Al-Ruzaiqi Al-Khaldi		Mabkhout Barman Ismail Barqesh O. Abdulrahman

National Team friendlies

Kuwait v Cameroon

25-3-2018	Kuwait	1 – 3	Cameroon
18:30	Al-Tararwa 61'	Report	Al-Moasher 13' Fallatah 52'	Attendance: 4,762 Referee: Adel Al Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)

Kuwait v Egypt

25-5-2018	Kuwait	1 – 1	Egypt
18:30	Al Ansari 7'	Report	Ashraf 81'	Attendance: 24,322 Referee: )

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC second round

Main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round

Kuwait v Australia

3-6-2021	Kuwait	0 – 3	Australia
22:00 UTC+3		Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Leckie 1' Irvine 24' Hrustic 66'	Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

Kuwait v Jordan

11-6-2021	Kuwait	0 – 0	Jordan
22:00 UTC+3		Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)		Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Kuwait v Chinese Taipei

15-6-2021	Kuwait	2 – 1	Chinese Taipei
22:00 UTC+3	Nasser 14', 71'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Wu Chun-ching 51'	Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

2022-23

2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round

Main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round

Kuwait v Indonesia

8 June 2022 (2022-06-08)	Kuwait	1 – 2	Indonesia
19:15 UTC+3	Nasser 41'	Report	Klok 44' (pen.) Rachmat 46'	Attendance: 6,100 Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)

Jordan v Nepal

8 June 2022 (2022-06-08)	Jordan	2 – 0	Nepal
22:15 UTC+3	Olwan 69' Al-Dardour 82' (pen.)	Report		Attendance: 1,262 Referee: Chae Sang-hyeop (South Korea)

Kuwait v Nepal

11 June 2022 (2022-06-11)	Kuwait	4 – 1	Nepal
19:15 UTC+3	Al-Rashidi 28' Nasser 48', 70' Al-Faneeni 73'	Report	D. Gurung 90+4'	Attendance: 10,360 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee (India)

Jordan v Indonesia

11 June 2022 (2022-06-11)	Jordan	1 – 0	Indonesia
22:15 UTC+3	Al-Naimat 48'	Report		Attendance: 2,410 Referee: Yaqoob Abdul Baki (Oman)

Kuwait v Jordan

14 June 2022 (2022-06-14)	Kuwait	0 – 3	Jordan
19:15 UTC+3		Report	Olwan 62' Al-Mardi 89' Al-Rawabdeh 90+5'	Attendance: 18,170 Referee: Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia)

Indonesia v Nepal

14 June 2022 (2022-06-14)	Indonesia	7 - 0	Nepal
22:15 UTC+3	Dimas 6' Witan 43', 81' Fachruddin 54' Saddil 55' Baggott 80' Marselino 90'	Report		Attendance: 3,145 Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round

Kuwait v India

16 November 2023 (2023-11-16)	Kuwait	0 – 1	India
19:30 UTC+3		Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Manvir 75'	Attendance: 32,786 Referee: Shaun Evans (Australia)

2024-25

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round

Kuwait v Iraq

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10)	Kuwait	0 – 0	Iraq
21:00 UTC+3		Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)		Attendance: 58,000 Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

Kuwait v South Korea

14 November 2024 (2024-11-14)	Kuwait	1 – 3	South Korea
17:00 UTC+3	Daham 60'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Oh Se-hun 10' Son Heung-min 19' (pen.) Bae Jun-ho 74'	Attendance: 22,791 Referee: Shaun Evans (Australia)

Kuwait v Jordan

19 November 2024 (2024-11-19)	Kuwait	1 – 1	Jordan
21:15 UTC+3	Daham 68'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Al-Naimat 21'	Attendance: 22,752 Referee: Nazmi Nasaruddin (Malaysia)

26th Arabian Gulf Cup

Main article: 26th Arabian Gulf Cup

Kuwait v Oman

21 December 2024 (2024-12-21)	Kuwait	1 – 1	Oman
20:00 UTC+3	Nasser 34'	Report	Al-Sabhi 42'	Attendance: 42,445 Referee: Khalid Al-Turais (Saudi Arabia)

Saudi Arabia v Bahrain

22 December 2024 (2024-12-22)	Saudi Arabia	2 – 3	Bahrain
20:30 UTC+3	Al-Juwayr 73' Al-Shehri 86' (pen.)	Report	Abduljabbar 19' Al-Humaidan 38' Marhoon 76'	Attendance: 7,726 Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)

Kuwait v United Arab Emirates

24 December 2024 (2024-12-24)	Kuwait	2 – 1	United Arab Emirates
20:30 UTC+3	Daham 16' M. Al-Enezi 89'	Report	Caio 5'	Attendance: 48,621 Referee: Dahane Beida (Mauritania)

Bahrain v Iraq

25 December 2024 (2024-12-25)	Bahrain	2 – 0	Iraq
20:30 UTC+3	Madan 38', 47'	Report		Attendance: 13,150 Referee: Halil Umut Meler (Turkey)

Kuwait v Qatar

27 December 2024 (2024-12-27)	Kuwait	1 – 1	Qatar
17:30 UTC+3	Daham 74'	Report	Muntari 90+11'	Attendance: 57,742 Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

Saudi Arabia v Iraq

28 December 2024 (2024-12-28)	Saudi Arabia	3 – 1	Iraq
17:30 UTC+3	Al-Dawsari 57' (pen.) Al-Hamdan 81', 86'	Report	Ali 64'	Attendance: 54,942 Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

Statistics

Most appearances & wins

As of 27 December 2024

Country	appearances	wins	draws	loses
Kuwait	20	4	7	9
Oman	5	3	1	1
United Arab Emirates	6	2	2	2
Saudi Arabia	4	2	1	1
Cameroon	1	1	0	0
Bahrain	5	3	1	1
Qatar	2	0	2	0
Egypt	1	0	1	0
Indonesia	3	2	0	1
Iraq	4	0	1	3
Jordan	5	3	2	0
Australia	1	1	0	0
Nepal	3	0	0	3
South Korea	1	1	0	0
Chinese Taipei	1	0	0	1
Vietnam	1	0	0	1
India	1	1	0	0

Goals

• Number of goals scored in the stadium: 158
• Scored in First Half: 62
• Scored in Second Half: 96
• Scored at Extra Time: 0

Records

Most team played in the stadium: Kuwait National Football Team 20 times
Highest scoring Match: 7 Goals Indonesia National Football Team 7-0 Nepal National Football Team
Most team winning in the stadium: Kuwait National Football Team 4 times
Most team losing: Kuwait National Football Team 9 times
First goal in the stadium: Ismail Abdul-Latif
First red card: Hussain Ali Baba

See also

• List of football stadiums in Kuwait

References

1. "World Stadiums - Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
2. Jude
3. "LET'S PLAY! - The Pictures". Archived from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
4. "FIFA stops Gerrard, Pirlo from playing game in banned Kuwait". Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.