Shirt removal leaves Oman's Gulf Cup semifinal spot to a lottery draw with Iraq

Oman's 3-1 comeback win over Kuwait put it into the Gulf Cup semifinals until a shirt-removal yellow card left qualification to a lottery draw with Iraq.

• Oman beat Kuwait 3-1 in Jeddah on Tuesday, with Mus'ab Al-Shaqsi heading the third goal in the 84th minute.
• Al-Shaqsi removed his shirt while celebrating and received a yellow card, leveling Oman with Iraq on points, goals, and cards.
• The Gulf Cup organizers scheduled a lottery draw in a Jeddah hotel to decide who advances with Saudi Arabia, which beat Iraq 2-0.
• Former Oman goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi said on Abu Dhabi Sports that Al-Shaqsi scored a beautiful goal before taking off his shirt.
• The lottery draw at a Jeddah hotel decided that Oman advanced to the semifinals alongside Saudi Arabia, eliminating defending champions Iraq.
• The lottery draw in Jeddah favored Oman, sending it into the Gulf Cup semifinals with Saudi Arabia.
• Iraq coach Graham Arnold argued Iraq should have advanced on FIFA rankings and criticized the Gulf federation's lot-draw tiebreaker.
• Gulf Football Federation competitions committee chief Khalid Al-Moqren denied that Oman was informed of its qualification before the lottery draw.
• Al-Moqren said both teams' representatives inspected the balls for transparency and that the draw was a first in the tournament's history.
• Oman will meet the Group 2 leader, the UAE or Qatar, in the semifinals, while Saudi Arabia faces the group's runner-up.
• Ahmed Al-Rawahi and Nasser Al-Rawahi scored Oman's other two goals, while Shabib Al-Khalidi netted Kuwait's lone goal.