The Arab States have tried to form unions of several non-political organizations. Sport has been one of the main activities used to unify Arabs. Several tournaments and games were created to let Arab participate in sports, in an effort to bring the members of the Arab world closer to each other. Pan-Arab sporting governing bodies include the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees, Arab Athletics Federation, Arab Swimming Confederation, Arab Basketball Confederation, Arab Handball Federation, Arab Rugby Federation, Arab Volleyball Association, Arab Ice Hockey Federation and the GCC Ice Hockey Federation.
Pan Arab Games
The Pan Arab Games were created in 1953 with a grand opening in Alexandria, which hosted the first Games; the games were supposed to take place every four years, like the Olympic Games. Several political problems have made this difficult. The Games included most of the same events as the Olympics. Egypt, with 1,451 medals over the years, is the leader in medal wins, followed by Algeria with 1,134 medals, then Tunisia with 911 medals. Comoros is the only Arab country that has never won a medal at the games.
Arab Olympic Achievements
In nearly 100 years of Arab participation at the Olympic Games, the combined tally of medals won by all Arab countries is 149. In the 21st century, Arab nations constitute almost 11 per cent of the total number of participating nations (204), and have won an average of 11 medals every edition since the turn of the century. Combined, they have achieved their greatest feat at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, winning 18 of the 1,080 total medals whilst achieving the most combined gold medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with a total of 7 gold medals won.
Egypt
Though the modern version of the Olympic games began in 1896, it was not until 1912 that Arabs appeared on the international sporting scene. Egypt became the first Arab country to send an Olympic delegation - fencer Ahmed Hassanein - to the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. Sixteen years later, Egypt won its first two gold medals, in weightlifting and wrestling, and a silver and bronze in diving at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Since then it has maintained its competitive edge over other Arab countries and leads the Olympic chart among Arab nations with a total of 41 medals.
In the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Egypt sent the largest ever Arab delegation of 148 athletes competing in archery, artistic swimming, athletics, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.
Morocco The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles marked a watershed moment for Arab athletics when Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel became the first Arab woman to win a gold medal, participating in the 400m hurdles.
Fellow countryman Saïd Aouita also brought home the gold in the 5000m men's marathon. Moroccan talent continued to emerge as Hicham El Guerrouj returned from the 2004 Athens Olympics with two gold medals in the 1500m and 5000m races. Morocco is second to Egypt with 26 Olympic medals.
Summary MedalNameGamesCountrySportEvent WeightliftingMen's light heavyweight WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman light heavyweight DivingMen's 10 m platform DivingMen's 3 m springboard WeightliftingMen's lightweight WeightliftingMen's middleweight WeightliftingMen's featherweight WeightliftingMen's featherweight WeightliftingMen's light heavyweight WeightliftingMen's featherweight WeightliftingMen's lightweight WeightliftingMen's lightweight WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman bantamweightWrestlingMen's Greco-Roman light heavyweight WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman featherweightWrestlingMen's Greco-Roman flyweight BoxingMen's flyweightJudoMen's openWrestlingMen's Greco-Roman 96 kgBoxingMen's super heavyweight BoxingMen's light heavyweight BoxingMen's heavyweight TaekwondoMen's 58 kg JudoMen's −90 kg WeightliftingWomen's 69 kg FencingMen's foil WeightliftingWomen's 75 kg WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman 84 kg WeightliftingMen's 85 kg WeightliftingMen's 77 kgSara Ahmed WeightliftingWomen's 69 kg TaekwondoWomen's 57 kg KarateWomen's +61 kg Modern pentathlonMen's TaekwondoWomen's 67 kg TaekwondoMen's 80 kg WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman 67 kg KarateWomen's −61 kg Modern pentathlonMen'sSara Ahmed WeightliftingWomen's 81 kg FencingMen's épée AthleticsMen's marathon AthleticsWomen's 400 metre hurdles AthleticsMen's 5,000 metres AthleticsMen's 10,000 metres AthleticsMen's 800 metres BoxingMen's featherweight AthleticsMen's 10,000 metres AthleticsMen's 1,500 metres BoxingMen's bantamweight AthleticsMen's 10,000 metres AthleticsMen's 5,000 metres AthleticsMen's 1,500 metres AthleticsMen's 3,000 metre steeplechase AthleticsWomen's 400 metre hurdles AthleticsMen's 5,000 metres BoxingMen's featherweight AthleticsMen's 1,500 metres AthleticsMen's 5,000 metres AthleticsWomen's 800 metres AthleticsMen's marathon AthleticsWomen's 800 metres AthleticsMen's 1500 metres BoxingMen's welterweight AthleticsMen's 3000 metres steeplechase AthleticsMen's 3000 metres steeplechaseMen's Football team FootballMen's competition BoxingMen's light-heavyweight BoxingMen's middleweight AthleticsWomen's 1500 metres BoxingMen's featherweight AthleticsMen's 1500 metres BoxingMen's lightweight BoxingMen's middleweight AthleticsWomen's 1500 metres AthleticsMen's 5000 metres AthleticsMen's high jump AthleticsMen's 800 metres BoxingMen's light-welterweight JudoMen's -90 kg JudoWomen's -52 kg AthleticsMen's 1500 metres AthleticsMen's 800 metres AthleticsMen's 1500 metres GymnasticsWomen's uneven bars BoxingWomen's 66 kg AthleticsMen's 800 metresAthleticsMen's 10,000 mBoxingMen's light welterweightAthleticsMen's 5000 mAthleticsMen's 10,000 mAthleticsMen's 5000 mBoxingMen's light welterweightSwimmingMen's 1500 m freestyleSwimmingMen's 10km marathonAthleticsWomen's 3000 m steeplechaseSwimmingMen's 1500 m freestyleFencingWomen's FoilTaekwondoMen's 80 kgWrestlingWomen's freestyle 58 kgAhmed HafnaouiSwimmingMen's 400 m freestyleMohamed Khalil JendoubiTaekwondoMen's 58 kgFiras KatoussiTaekwondoMen's 80 kgFarès FerjaniFencingMen's sabreMohamed Khalil JendoubiTaekwondoMen's 58 kgIsmail Ahmed Ismail AthleticsMen's 800 metresHoussein Ahmed Salah AthleticsMen's marathonZakaria Chihab WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman bantamweightKhalil Taha WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman welterweightMohamed Traboulsi WeightliftingMen's 75 kgHassan Bechara WrestlingMen's Greco-Roman +100 kgJoseph Atiyeh1984 Los Angeles WrestlingMen's freestyle 100 kgGhada Shouaa1996 AtlantaAthleticsWomen's heptathlonNasser Al Shami2004 Athens BoxingMen's heavyweightMan Asaad2020 TokyoWeightliftingMen's 109+kgAhmad Abu-Ghaush2016 Rio de JaneiroTaekwondoMen's 68 kgSaleh El-Sharabaty2020 TokyoTaekwondoMen's 80 kgAbdelrahman Al-Masatfa2020 TokyoKarateMen's 67 kgZaid Kareem2024 ParisTaekwondoMen's 68 kgAbdul Wahid Aziz1960 RomeWeightliftingMen's LightweightFehaid Al-Deehani2000 Sydney ShootingMen's double trapFehaid Al-Deehani2012 London ShootingMen's trapAbdullah Al-Rashidi2020 Tokyo ShootingMen's skeetFehaid Al-Deehani2016 Rio de JaneiroShootingMen's double trapAbdullah Al-Rashidi2016 Rio de JaneiroShootingMen's skeetHadi Al-Somaily2000 SydneyAthleticsMen's 400 metre hurdlesTareg Hamedi2020 TokyoKarateMen's +75 kgKhaled Al Eid2000 SydneyEquestrianIndividual show jumpingRamzy Al Duhami Abdullah Al Saud Kamal Bahamdan Abdullah Sharbatly2012 LondonEquestrianTeam jumpingMaryam Yusuf Jamal2012 LondonAthleticsWomen's 1500 mRuth Jebet2016 Rio de Janeiro AthleticsWomen's 3000 m steeplechaseEunice Kirwa2016 Rio de Janeiro AthleticsWomen's marathonKalkidan Gezahegne2020 Tokyo AthleticsWomen's 10,000 mWinfred Yavi2024 Paris AthleticsWomen's 3000 m steeplechaseAkhmed Tazhudinov2024 Paris WrestlingMen's −97 kgSalwa Eid Naser2024 Paris AthleticsWomen's 400 mGor Minasyan2024 ParisWeightliftingMen's +102 kgMohammed Suleiman1992 Barcelona AthleticsMen's 1500 metresSaid Saif Asaad2000 SydneyWeightliftingMen's 105 kgNasser Al-Attiyah2012 London ShootingMen's skeetMutaz Essa Barshim2012 LondonAthleticsMen's high jumpMutaz Essa Barshim2016 Rio de Janeiro AthleticsMen's high jumpMutaz Essa Barshim2020 Tokyo AthleticsMen's high jumpFares Ibrahim2020 TokyoWeightliftingMen's 96 kgAhmed Tijan and Cherif Younousse2020 Tokyo Beach volleyballMen's tournamentMutaz Essa Barshim2024 Paris AthleticsMen's high jumpAhmed Al Maktoum2004 AthensShootingMen's double trapSergiu Toma2016 Rio de JaneiroJudoMen's 81 kg
Football FIFA World Cup Four African and six Asian members of the Arab League have qualified for the FIFA World Cup, with Morocco recording the most notable achievement by reaching the semi-finals in 2022. The 2022 FIFA World Cup was held in Qatar, whilst the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups are set to be held in Morocco and Saudi Arabia, respectively.
Team results by tournament The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA. The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results in the tournament.
For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.
Team1930(13)1934(16)1938(15)1950(13)1954(16)1958(16)1962(16)1966(16)1970(16)1974(16)1978(16)1982(24)1986(24)1990(24)1994(24)1998(32)2002(32)2006(32)2010(32)2014(32)2018(32) 2022(32)2026(48) 2030(48) 2034(48)Total — ו•• R1 R1 ••••• R1 R2 ••R2 TBDTBD5•• R1 × •××× •••• R1 •••••• R1 •R3 TBDTBD4 — •×• R1 ••••••••• R1 TBDTBD2 —••••••••R1 TBDTBD1 — •• R1 ••••••••••• TBDTBD1 — •× R1 ••• R2 • R1 R1 •••• R1 4th QFQ TBD8 — x•••••••••••R1 R1 TBDTBD2 — •••• R2 R1 R1 R1•• R1 R1 R1 TBDQ8 — •×•• R1 •••• R1 R1 R1 •• R1 R1 R1 TBDTBD7 —× • R1 •••••••• • TBDTBD1 Total 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 1 1 4 4 7 32
Legend
1stChampions2ndRunners-up3rdThird place4thFourth placeQFQuarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present: knockout round of 8)R3Round 3 (2026–present: knockout round of 16)R2Round 2 (1974–1978, second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–2022: knockout round of 16; 2026–present: knockout round of 32)R1Round 1 (1930, 1950–1970 and 1986–present: group stage; 1934–1938: knockout round of 16; 1974–1982: first group stage)
QQualified for upcoming tournamentTBDTo be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)••Qualified but withdrew•Did not qualify×Withdrew before qualification / Banned / Entry not accepted by FIFAHostsDid not enter—Not a FIFA member
Football Federations The Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), founded in 1974, is the governing body for football in the Arab world. It organizes several regional competitions, including the Arab Cup and the Arab Club Champions Cup. Since 2021, the Arab Cup for national teams has been organized by FIFA. UAFA also oversees other football-related tournaments, including the Arab Beach Soccer Cup and Arab Futsal Cup.
Other football federations composed entirely of Arab nations include the Union of North African Football (UNAF), the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), and the Gulf Football Federation (GFF).
Confederation of African Football (CAF) Arab states have played an important role in the history of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The confederation was founded in Khartoum, Sudan and is currently headquartered in Giza, Egypt. Shortly after its establishment, Sudan hosted the inaugural Africa Cup of Nation (AFCON). Since then, African member states of the Arab League have hosted 12 editions of the tournament and have won the competition on 12 occasions.
Hosts YearHost Champion Teams11957 321959 351965 671970 891974 8131982 8151986 8161988 8171990 8191994 12242004 16252006 16322019 2435202524 Winners