Global InformationKuwait national football team information
 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Al-Azraq (The Blue) (The Blue Wave) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Kuwait Football Association | ||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Sub-confederation | WAFF (West Asia) | ||
| Head coach | Rui Bento | ||
| Captain | Fahad Al Hajeri | ||
| Most caps | Bader Al-Mutawa (196)[1] | ||
| Top scorer | Bashar Abdullah (75) | ||
| Home stadium | Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | KUW | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 139  2 (4 April 2024)[2] | ||
| Highest | 24 (December 1998) | ||
| Lowest | 189 (December 2017) | ||
| First international | |||
 Kuwait 2–2 Libya  (Morocco; 3 September 1961) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Kuwait 20–0 Bhutan  (Kuwait City, Kuwait; 14 February 2000) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 United Arab Republic 8–0 Kuwait (Morocco; 4 September 1961)  Portugal 8–0 Kuwait (Leiria, Portugal; 19 November 2003) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 1982) | ||
| Best result | Group stage (1982) | ||
| Asian Cup | |||
| Appearances | 10 (first in 1972) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1980) | ||
| Arab Cup | |||
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1963) | ||
| Best result | Third place (1964, 1992, 1998) | ||
| Arabian Gulf Cup | |||
| Appearances | 25 (first in 1970) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2010) | ||
| WAFF Championship | |||
| Appearances | 4 (first in 2010) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2010) | ||
| Website | kuwait-fa | ||
The Kuwait national football team (Arabic: منتخب الكويت لكرة القدم) is the national team of Kuwait and is controlled by the Kuwait Football Association. Kuwait made one World Cup finals appearance, in 1982, managing one point in the group stages. In the Asian Cup, Kuwait reached the final in 1976 and won the tournament in 1980.[4]
Kuwait's 20–0 win over Bhutan in 2000 was, at the time, the biggest-ever margin of victory in international football. It was surpassed in 2001, when Australia defeated American Samoa 31–0.
While Kuwait was one of Asia's major football forces from the 1970s to the 2000s, the strength of the national team started to fade slowly from the 2010s, with Kuwait failing in two consecutive Asian Cups in 2011 and 2015, before being disqualified for 2019 edition and missing out on 2023 AFC Asian Cup. The team has also failed to reach any World Cup since 1982.
- ^ "FIFA Century Club des Cent del la FIFA Club de los Cien de la FIFA" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2015.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Asia's greatest national teams: Kuwait (1980s) | Football News | Asian Qualifiers 2022". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2020-06-09.