21st Arabian Gulf Cup

The 21st Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic: كأس الخليج العربي) was the twenty-first edition of the biennial football competition. It took place in Bahrain in January 2013. The competition was originally scheduled to be hosted in the city of Basra, Iraq, but was moved to Bahrain in October 2011 to ensure that Iraq could suitably host the competition in the 22nd edition.^[1]

21st Arabian Gulf Cup

كأس الخلیج العربي 2013، خليجي 21
Tournament details
Host country	Bahrain
Dates	5–18 January
Teams	8
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	United Arab Emirates (2nd title)
Runners-up	Iraq
Third place	Kuwait
Fourth place	Bahrain
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	36 (2.25 per match)
Attendance	319,000 (19,938 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Abdulhadi Khamis Ahmed Khalil (3 goals)
Best player(s)	Omar Abdulrahman
Best goalkeeper	Noor Sabri
Fair play award	Iraq
← 2010 2014 →

Seeding of teams

The eight participating teams were divided into two groups, Bahrain (the host nation) were placed in Group A, Kuwait (the holder) in Group B, while the rest of the teams were placed in a pot based on FIFA rankings. The draw was held in Bahrain on 18 October 2012.^[2]

Pot	National Team	FIFA Ranking
A	Bahrain (hosts)	115
	Kuwait (holders)	112
B	Iraq	80
	Oman	95
C	Qatar	101
	Saudi Arabia	113
D	United Arab Emirates	116
	Yemen	157

Venues

Riffa	Isa Town
Bahrain National Stadium	Khalifa Sports City Stadium
Capacity: 23,000	Capacity: 10,000

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup took place in the Bahrain National Stadium on 5 January. The event featured the attendance of Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain, members of the ruling family, Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, Michel Platini, the president of UEFA as well as other officials.^[3] Blatter commended the ceremony, stating that "The opening ceremony was very nice: 9.5 out of 10 because perfection does not exist".^[4] Following the ceremony, Blatter also stated that the organisational level of the Gulf Cup would have to be improved if it was to be a FIFA-sanctioned event and wanted the cup to be played simultaneously with the Africa Cup of Nations.^[4]

Squads

Further information: 21st Arabian Gulf Cup squads

Group stage

All times are local time (UTC+03:00).

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
United Arab Emirates	3	3	0	0	7	2	+5	9
Bahrain	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
Qatar	3	1	0	2	3	5	−2	3
Oman	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

5 January 2013

19:15

Bahrain	0–0	Oman
	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

5 January 2013

21:15

Qatar	1–3	United Arab Emirates
Ibrahim 11' (pen.)	Report	Abdulrahman 13' Mabkhout 29' Ahmed 66'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

---

8 January 2013

16:15

Qatar	2–1	Oman
Ibrahim 56' (pen.) El-Sayed 88'	Report	Al-Hadhri 71' (pen.)

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Mukhtar Al Yarimi (Yemen)

8 January 2013

19:15

Bahrain	1–2	United Arab Emirates
Al Malood 75'	Report	Mabkout 40' Hassan 85'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Ali Sabah Adday Al-Qaysi (Iraq)

---

11 January 2013

17:45

United Arab Emirates	2–0	Oman
Khalil 83', 86'	Report

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Yousef Al-Marzouq (Kuwait)

11 January 2013

17:45

Bahrain	1–0	Qatar
Aaish 25' (pen.)	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Iraq	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
Kuwait	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	6
Saudi Arabia	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	3
Yemen	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

6 January 2013

16:15

Kuwait	2–0	Yemen
Nasser 63' Al-Mutawa 82'	Report

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Banjar Al-Dosari (Qatar)

6 January 2013

19:15

Saudi Arabia	0–2	Iraq
	Report	Shaker 18' Hawsawi 72' (o.g.)

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

---

9 January 2013

16:15

Iraq	1–0	Kuwait
Ahmed 29'	Report

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

9 January 2013

19:15

Yemen	0–2	Saudi Arabia
	Report	Al-Qahtani 33' F. Al-Muwallad 86'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Mohamed Al Zarouni (United Arab Emirates)

---

12 January 2013

17:45

Kuwait	1–0	Saudi Arabia
Nasser 13'	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

12 January 2013

17:45

Iraq	2–0	Yemen
Ismail 16' Ahmed 36'	Report

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Abdullah Al-Hilali (Oman)

Knockout stage

The third place match with Bahrain and Kuwait.

	Semi-finals				Final
	15 January – Riffa
	United Arab Emirates	1
					18 January – Riffa
	Kuwait	0
					United Arab Emirates (a.e.t.)	2
	15 January – Riffa
					Iraq	1
	Iraq	1 (4)
	Bahrain	1 (2)
					Third place
					18 January – Isa Town
					Kuwait	6
					Bahrain	1

Semi-finals

15 January 2013

16:15

United Arab Emirates	1–0	Kuwait
Khalil 89'	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Abdullah Al-Hilali (Oman)

---

15 January 2013

18:45

Iraq	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Bahrain
Mahmoud 18'	Report	Baba 61'
Penalties
Yasin Ismail Salem Mahmoud Sabri	4–2	Husain Aaish Dhiya Al Malood

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Third place play-off

18 January 2013

15:30

Kuwait	6–1	Bahrain
Khamis 35', 38', 54' (pen.) Bani 65' Al-Mutawa 66' Al Salimi 71'	Report	Yusuf 1'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Banjar Al-Dosari (Qatar)

Final

18 January 2013

19:00

United Arab Emirates	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Iraq
Abdulrahman 28' Al Hammadi 107'	Report	Mahmoud 81'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

21st Arabian Gulf Cup winners
United Arab Emirates Second title

Goalscorers

3 goals

• Abdulhadi Khamis
• Ahmed Khalil

2 goals

• Hammadi Ahmad
• Younis Mahmoud
• Bader Al-Mutawa
• Yousef Nasser
• Khalfan Ibrahim
• Omar Abdulrahman
• Ali Mabkhout

1 goal

• Faouzi Mubarak Aaish
• Hussain Ali Baba
• Abdulwahab Al Malood
• Abdulla Yusuf Helal
• Dhurgham Ismail
• Salam Shaker
• Abdulrahman Bani
• Abdulaziz Al Salimi
• Ismail Al Hammadi
• Majed Hassan
• Mohamed Ahmed Gharib
• Fahad Al-Muwallad
• Yasser Al-Qahtani
• Hussain Al-Hadhri
• Mohamed El-Sayed

1 own goal

• Osama Hawsawi (playing against Iraq)

Team statistics

This table shows all team performance.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Final phase
1	United Arab Emirates	5	5	0	0	10	3	+7
2	Iraq	5	3	1	1	7	3	+4
3	Kuwait	5	3	0	2	9	3	+6
4	Bahrain	5	1	2	2	4	9	−5
Eliminated in the group stage
5	Saudi Arabia	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1
6	Qatar	3	1	0	2	3	5	−2
7	Oman	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3
8	Yemen	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6

Prize money and awards

Prize money

The football associations were given prize money for a fourth place and above finish in the competition in riyals.^[5]

• First Place: 2,000,000 Riyals
• Second Place: 1,500,000 Riyals
• Third Place: 500,000 Riyals
• Fourth Place: 250,000 Riyals

Playing awards

The following awards were given:^[5]

Award	Player	Prize money
Fair Play Award	Iraq	200,000 Riyals
Top Scorer	Abdulhadi Khamis Ahmad Khalil	100,000 Riyals
Most Valuable player	Omar Abdulrahman	100,000 Riyals
Best Goalkeeper	Noor Sabri	100,000 Riyals