The 11th edition of the Arab Cup, starting next Monday in Qatar, will see significant and impactful changes in the regulations aimed at enhancing the tournament's standing on both the regional and international levels.

This is the second consecutive edition sponsored by the International Football Federation "FIFA" after the 2021 Doha edition, which marked a historic transformation as "FIFA" recognized the tournament for the first time since its inauguration in 1963, giving it an international dimension and significant attention.

The success of the previous edition contributed to the continuing "FIFA" support for the tournament in the next three editions in 2025, 2029, and 2033, which will also be held in Qatar.

The Qatar News Agency reported today, Saturday, that the current edition will witness many changes in line with "FIFA"'s efforts to develop the tournament at the level of regulations, systems, and match value, to give it more momentum.

The most important change considers the matches of the current edition official rather than friendly, as the points from these matches will be counted within the global ranking system for teams issued monthly by "FIFA," a historic shift that gives the tournament an official dimension it had not previously had.

According to the decision, the teams participating in the Arab Cup matches will receive the same ranking points granted to teams in international friendly matches, which enhances the importance of the tournament and doubles its value for the participating teams, especially those aiming to improve their rankings.

The second change in the new edition relates to the revision of the tie-breaking instructions between teams to determine the qualifiers from the group stages to the quarter-finals.

According to the tournament system, 16 teams have been distributed into four groups each containing four teams. The first and second-placed teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.

The 2025 edition features a fundamental change in paragraphs "A.B.C" of Article 13, initially resorting to the goal difference in direct encounters between the concerned teams instead of depending on the total goal difference in all group matches as had been practiced in the previous 2021 edition, then subsequently resorting to the larger number of goals scored in direct encounters between the concerned teams, and should a tie still remain, then subsequently turning to the total goal difference in the group and then the larger number of total goals in the group matches, and finally, relying on fair play "yellow and red cards".

"FIFA" also modified in the Arab Cup 2025 instructions the last criterion for tie-breaking between teams in case of continued equality past fair play, where it canceled the principle of conducting a draw as a last resort, adopting instead the positions from the latest monthly ranking issued before the tournament, whereby the higher-ranked team will qualify, in a step that confirms the adoption of Arab Cup match points within the international ranking system for teams.

The tournament also saw development in terms of monetary prizes, with an increase in their monetary value to 36.5 million dollars, a step that reflects the increasing interest in the tournament and motivates the participating teams.

The first group in the Arab Cup 2025 includes the teams of Qatar, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia, while Morocco competes with Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the Comoros Islands in the second group.

The Egyptian team plays with Jordan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates in the third group while Algeria defends its title in the fourth group alongside the teams of Bahrain, Iraq, and Sudan.