Oman national football team

History

Prior to the turn of the 21st century, Oman's senior team had generally finished in the last place in all the competitions in which it competed. It was not until the mid 1990s under the OFA chairmanship of Sheikh Saif bin Hashil Al-Maskary did Oman start be extremely successful on the Asian football stage. During this period, Oman won the Asian Under 17 Championship in 1996 and the year 2000, as well as reaching the semi finals of the under 17 World Cup in 1995. Oman nowadays exports players to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and also has their captain playing in England. Former Omani captain, Hani Al-Dhabit was awarded the RSSSF 2001 World Top Scorer, with 22 goals; the most goals scored by a player who won the World Top Scorer award till date, and also being the third Arab and only the first Omani to win the award.

The senior team has never qualified for the World Cup, but has qualified for the Asian Cup in the years 2004, 2007 and most recently in 2015. They have reached the Gulf Cup of Nations final three times, and have won it on their third attempt as hosts.

Gulf Cup of Nations performance

Prior to the new millennium, Oman generally struggled in the Gulf Cup of Nations, usually finishing in 6th or 7th place, even when the cup was held in Oman. It was only in 1998 when the national team began to improve its performance, and in the 2003 and 2004 Gulf Cups new talents like Amad Al-Hosni, Ali Al-Habsi, Sultan Al-Touqi, Badr Al-Maimani and Khalifa Ayil made the team more successful.

In the 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations which was held in Saudi Arabia, Oman had once again finished at an unimpressive 5th place, but under the captaincy of Dhofar F.C.'s Hani Al-Dhabit, Oman had accomplished something which was never done before in the team's history in the Gulf Cup, defeating 9-time winners, Kuwait. The match had ended 3–1 with captain Hani Al-Dhabit scoring a hat-trick. Hani also netted a goal against Bahrain, and a consolation goal in a 2–1 loss against Qatar. At the end of the competition, Hani was the only Omani to score goals, and was also awarded the "Top Goal Scorer" of the competition, with a total of 5 goals.

In the 2004 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 Goal Scorer" award of the competition with a total of 4 goals.

In the 2007 Gulf Cup which was held in the United Arab Emirates, the national team again reached the final for a second consecutive time and again lost 1–0 to the hosts U.A.E.. Although Oman lost to the Emirates in the final, they had maintained an undefeated record throughout the competition excluding the final. Once again Ali Al-Habsi had received the "Best Goalkeeper of the Gulf Cup" award 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 the Emirates in goal scoring with 9 goals each after the competition.

Eventually after losing twice in the Gulf Cup final consecutively, Oman had managed to win the 2009 Gulf Cup of Nations tournament as hosts, by defeating regional giants, 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 whole competition. The competition in Muscat was the first for Hassan Rabia, and despite this he managed to score 4 goals making him receive the "Top Goal Scorer" award. Ali Al-Habsi also received his fourth consecutive "Best Goalkeeper Award".

However, Ali Al-Habsi would not go on to feature in the next two Gulf Cup's due to his commitments with his English club team Wigan Athletic. In the 2010 Gulf Cup which was held in Yemen, Oman once again after great performances in the three previous tournaments put up an unimpressive performance, drawing all the three matches of the group stage against Bahrain, the U.A.E and Iraq. Oman could manage to score only one goal in the tournament against Bahrain which was scored by Amad Al-Hosni and hence could not go further in the tournament. Following the bad performances of the team in the regional tournament, the Oman Football Association sacked their then-manager Claude Le Roy on 9 January 2011 who won them their maiden tournament in 2009.

In the 2013 Gulf Cup which was held in Bahrain, Oman again put up an unimpressive performance which was criticized a lot by fans in Oman. Oman could manage to draw only one match against the hosts Bahrain and lost in their other two matches against Qatar and the U.A.E. Oman again could score only one goal and this time it was from the spot by youngster Hussain Al-Hadhri against Qatar which Oman eventually lost 2–1.

Team awards

Oman has not won many team titles. What they have achieved, though, is qualifying for Asian Cup three times in 2004 2007 and 2015. However, they never got out of the group stage. In 2009, Oman won their first Gulf Cup trophy at home in Muscat.

Current squad

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Oman squad within the last 12 months.

Former squads

Personnel

Kits and sponsors

Over the years Oman has had multiple kit providers, of which Grand Sport held the contract for the longest period. Oman has also worn kits provided by Puma, Umbro, Lotto and Adidas.

The national team signed a contract in 2006 with Gulf Air, but the deal ended abruptly in early 2008 and was replaced with a signed sponsorship by Omantel's Oman Mobile.

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 new kit was launched together with a new OFA logo. The new kit was designed for Oman by Taj Oman, an Oman-based company. Later in June 2012, Oman's airline Oman Air became the official carrier of the Oman Football Association.

On February 3, 2014, Oman Football Association is currently confirmed tie-up with Italian sports apparel manufacturer Kappa. A joint venture agreement was signed by sportswear giant Kappa and the 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 large 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. 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, Oman Football Association announced that they had signed an agreement with Asia Sports Marketing to become the exclusive sales agent for the Association.

On 9 September 2015, Oman Football Association signed a one-year contract extension with, Oman Air as the official carrier of the national team. The association said that although Oman Air's ticket allocation in the deal is primarily meant for the senior national team's tours, the OFA has often judiciously availed the privilege for club teams' trips to Salalah for Omantel Professional League (OPL) matches and also for overseas travel of the national age-group squads. On 18 October 2015, announced a partnership with a new mental energizer Energy Drinks Partner, Effect.