The 9th Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic: كأس الخليج العربي)^[1] was the 9th edition of this tournament. It was held from 2 to 18 March 1988, in Saudi Arabia. It was the second time after 1972 that Saudi Arabia hosted this regional football tournament. The tournament was won by Iraq. It was the third title for Iraq after having won the tournament 1979 in Baghdad and 1984 in Muscat.

Quick Facts Tournament details, Host country ...

9th Arabian Gulf Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Saudi Arabia
Dates	2–18 March
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Iraq (3rd title)
Runners-up	United Arab Emirates
Third place	Saudi Arabia
Fourth place	Bahrain

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All games were played at the newly built King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. The stadium was built to host the 1988 Gulf Cup and the FIFA World Youth Championship one year later.

Having scored four goals each, Ahmed Radhi from Iraq and Zuhair Bakhit from the UAE shared the top-scorer award. Habib Jaafar (Iraq) was voted as best player, Oman's goalkeeper Yousif Obaid won the best-goalkeeper-award.

Oman achieved their first victory in the Gulf Cup tournament after beating Qatar 2–1. Before so, the Oman had failed to win a single match in the 14 years prior.