The Oman national football team (Arabic: منتخب عُمَّان لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم) represents Oman in men's international football and is controlled by the Oman Football Association.
History
World Cup and Asian Cup
The Oman national football team has made notable efforts in international competitions but has not qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Their best performance in the Asian Cup was reaching the quarterfinals in 2019. The team has shown improvement over the years, and their participation in various qualifiers and tournaments reflects their growing competitiveness in regional football.
Gulf Cup
The mid-1990s under the OFA chairmanship of Sheikh Saif bin Hashil Al-Maskary saw Oman achieve positive results on the Asian stage. Former Omani captain, Hani Al-Dhabit was awarded the RSSSF 2001 World Top Scorer, with 22 goals;[4] the most goals scored by a player who won the World Top Scorer award and being the third Arab and the first Omani to win the award.[5]
In the 2002 Arabian Gulf Cup which was held in Saudi Arabia, Oman finished at 5th place and under the captaincy of Dhofar's Hani Al-Dhabit, Oman defeated 9-time winners[6]Kuwait. The match had ended 3–1 with captain Al-Dhabit scoring a hat-trick. Hani netted a goal against Bahrain and a consolation goal in a 2–1 loss against Qatar.[7] At the end of the tournament, Hani was the only Omani to score goals for his nation and was awarded for being the top goal scorer of the competition, with 5 goals.[8]
In the 2004 Arabian Gulf Cup which was held in Doha, Oman reached the final for the first time in the team's history which was eventually lost to the hosts Qatar in a penalty shootout after the goalkeeping sensation Ali Al-Habsi missed a penalty. Qatar won the match 6–5 on penalties after the match had ended 1–1 at normal time. Amad Al-Hosni was awarded the "Top Goalscorer" award of the tournament with a total of 4 goals.[9]
In the 2007 Arabian Gulf Cup which was held in United Arab Emirates, the team reached the final for a second consecutive time and lost 1–0 to the hosts United Arab Emirates. It had maintained an undefeated record throughout the competition excluding the final.[10] Ali Al-Habsi had received the "Best Goalkeeper of the Gulf Cup" award[11] for the third consecutive time in a row, the most won by any goalkeeper in the 40 years of the Gulf Cup tournament. Oman had tied United Arab Emirates in goal-scoring with 9 goals each after the tournament.[12]
After losing twice in the Gulf Cup final consecutively, Oman won the 2009 Arabian Gulf Cup tournament as hosts by defeating Saudi Arabia in a penalty shootout. Oman won the match 6–5 on penalties after the match had ended 0–0 at extra time. Oman maintained a clean-sheet throughout the tournament.[13] The tournament in Muscat was the first for Hassan Rabia, who managed to score 4 goals making him receive the "Top Goalscorer" award.[14] Ali Al-Habsi received his fourth consecutive "Best Goalkeeper Award".[15]
On 9 May 2012, the Oman Football Association launched the new official team kit to be worn by Oman in their push for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round. The kit was launched together with a new OFA logo. The new kit was designed for Oman by Taj Oman, an Oman-based company.[18] Later in June 2012, Oman's airline Oman Air became the official carrier of the Oman Football Association.[19]
On 8 February 2014, the Omani Football Association confirmed the tie-up with Italian sports apparel manufacturer Kappa. A joint venture agreement was signed by sportswear Kappa and OFA's apparel brand Taj Oman. In a 4-year deal, Kappa will produce the kit worn by all the Oman National football teams bearing the Taj mark and will provide Oman with a range of sportswear specific for the country. The deal will see both the names (Kappa & Taj) on the kit worn by the National teams and on all retail items.[20] Oman Air also renewed its deal on the same day with the OFA till the end of the 2013–14 season. On 16 September 2014, the Omani Football Association announced that they had signed an agreement with Asia Sports Marketing to become the exclusive sales agent for the Association.[21]
On 9 September 2015, the Omani Football Association signed a 1-year contract extension with Oman Air as the official carrier of the team. The association said that although Oman Air's ticket allocation in the deal is primarily meant for the senior national team's tours, OFA has availed the privilege for club teams' trips to Salalah for Omantel Professional League (OPL) matches and for overseas travel of the national age-group squads.[22][23] On 18 October 2015, the Omani Football Association announced a partnership with a new mental energizer Energy Drinks Partner, Effect.[24][25]
