One person was killed and dozens injured Thursday when a stampede broke out outside a football stadium in Iraq hours before the Gulf Cup final, medical and security sources said.

Iraq's supporters take their seats early in the day for the evening's final match of the Arabian Gulf Cup between Iraq and Oman at the Basra International Stadium in Iraq's eponymous southern city on January 19, 2023. (Photo: AFP)

Thousands of fans without tickets had gathered outside the stadium in Iraq's main southern city of Basra since dawn in the hope of watching the final between Iraq and Oman, which was due to kick off at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT).

"There has been one death and dozens of slight injuries," a medic said.

An interior ministry official gave the same toll. "A large number of fans, many of them without tickets, had gathered since first light to try to get in," the official said.

An AFP photographer inside the stadium said the turnstiles were still closed when the stampede broke out. Sirens blared as ambulances arrived to ferry the injured to hospital.

Images posted on social media showed a sea of people outside the stadium.