The 21st Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي) was the twenty-first edition of the biennial

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

competition. It took place in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

in January 2013. The competition was originally scheduled to be hosted in the city of

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, but was moved to Bahrain in October 2011 to ensure that Iraq could suitably host the competition in the 22nd edition.

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 ranking The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

s. The draw was held in Bahrain on 18 October 2012.

Venues

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup took place in the

Bahrain National Stadium Bahrain National Stadium ( ar, ستاد البحرين الوطني; transliterated: Stād al-Bahrayn al-Watanī) is the national stadium of Bahrain, located in Riffa. It can accommodate 24,000 spectators and is used mostly for football Fo ...

on 5 January. The event featured the attendance of

Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salman ...

, the

King of Bahrain The King of the Kingdom of Bahrain ( ar, ملك مملكة البحرين) is the monarch and head of state of Bahrain. The House of Khalifa has been the ruling family since 1783. Between 1783 and 1971, the Bahraini monarch held the title of ha ...

, members of the ruling family,

Sepp Blatter Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of ...

, the president of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, ...

, the president of

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

as well as other officials. Blatter commended the ceremony, stating that "The opening ceremony was very nice: 9.5 out of 10 because perfection does not exist". 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 The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

Squads

Group stage

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

Group A

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Group B

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Knockout stage

Semi-finals

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Third place play-off

Final

Goalscorers

;3 goals *

Abdulhadi Khamis Abdulhadi Khamis ( ar, عبد الهادي خميس خضير, born 19 December 1990) is a Kuwaiti footballer who plays as a forward for the Kuwaiti Premier League The Kuwait Premier League (), known as STC Premier League due to sponsorship rea ...

Ahmed Khalil Ahmed Khalil Sebait Mubarak Al-Junaibi ( ar, أحمد خليل سبيت مبارك الجنيبي; born 8 June 1991) is an Emirati footballer who plays as a forward for Al Bataeh and United Arab Emirates national team. In 2006, Ahmed won the ...

;2 goals *

Hammadi Ahmad Hammadi Ahmed Abdullah Al-Daiya ( ar, حمادي احمد عبدالله الدعية; born 18 October 1989 in Samarra) is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a striker for Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and the Iraq national team. Club career T ...

Younis Mahmoud Younis Mahmoud Khalaf ( ar, يونس محمود خلف; born 3 February 1983) is an Iraqi former professional footballer who played as a forward for the Iraq national football team and is currently the second vice-president of the Iraq Footbal ...

Bader Al-Mutawa Bader Ahmed al-Mutawa ( ar, بدر أحمد المطوع; born 10 January 1985) is a Kuwaiti professional footballer who plays for Qadsia and the Kuwait national team, where he usually operates as a second striker. He wears the jersey number ...

Yousef Nasser Yousef Nasser Al-Sulaiman ( ar, يوسف ناصر, born 9 October 1990) is a Kuwaiti professional footballer who plays as a forward for Kuwaiti Premier League club Qadsiya SC. International goals :''Scores and results list Kuwait's goal tall ...

Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Ibrahim Khalfan Al Khalfan ( ar, خلفان إبراهيم خلفان; born 18 February 1988, in Doha) is a retired Qatari international footballer who played as a winger. He was named the Asian Player of the Year in 2006, becoming the ...

Omar Abdulrahman Omar Abdulrahman Ahmed Al Raqi Al Amoudi ( ar, عمر عبد الرحمن أحمد الراقي العمودي; born 20 September 1991) is an Emirati professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Emirati club Al Wasl F.C. and ...

Ali Mabkhout Ali Ahmed Mabkhout Mohsen Al Hajeri ( ar, علي أحمد مبخوت محسن الهاجري; born 5 October 1990) is an Emirati professional association football player who plays for UAE Pro League club Al Jazira Club, Al Jazira and the United A ...

;1 goal * Faouzi Mubarak Aaish *

Hussain Ali Baba Hussain Ali Baba Mohamed ( ar, حسين علي بابا; born 11 February 1982) is a former Bahraini footballer who last played for Bahrain Riffa Club, Al Riffa and the Bahrain national football team. Career Baba first played for Bahrain Riffa C ...

Abdulwahab Al Malood Abdulwahab Abdelrahman Hedaib Isa Ali Al-Malood (Arabic: عبد الوهاب المالود; born 7 June 1990 in Muharraq, Bahrain) is Bahraini footballer who plays for Al-Hidd in Bahraini Premier League as a midfielder. He is a member of Bahra ...

* Abdulla Yusuf *

Dhurgham Ismail Dhurgham Ismail Dawoud Al-Quraishi ( ar, ضرغام إسماعيل داوود القريشي; born 23 May 1994), known as Dhurgham Ismail, is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a left back or left winger for Iraqi Premier League club ...

* Salam Shaker * Abdulrahman Bani *

Abdulaziz Al Salimi Abdulaziz Al Salimi ( ar, عبدالعزيزالسليمي, born 29 September 1991) is a Kuwaiti footballer who is a midfielder for the Kuwaiti Premier League The Kuwait Premier League (), known as STC Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, ...

Ismail Al Hammadi Ismail Al Hammed ( ar, إسماعيل الحمادي; born 1 July 1988) is an Emiratis, Emirati Association football, footballer. He currently plays for Khor Fakkan Club, Khor Fakkan and for United Arab Emirates national football team and repres ...

Majed Hassan Majed Hassan ( ar, ماجد حسن; born 1 August 1992) is an Emirati footballer who plays as a midfielder in Sharjah and United Arab Emirates. Honours ;United Arab Emirates * Gulf Cup of Nations: 2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From le ...

* Mohamed Ahmed Gharib *

Fahad Al-Muwallad Fahad Mosaed al-Muwallad ( ar, فهد المولد, born 14 September 1994) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Al-Shabab. He started his professional career with Al-Ittihad when he was only 16 year ...

Yasser Al-Qahtani Yasser Saeed Al-Qahtani ( ar, ياسر سعيد القحطاني; born 10 October 1982) is a former Saudi footballer who played as a forward for Al-Hilal FC in the Saudi Professional League. He was also captain of the Saudi Arabia national te ...

* Hussain Al-Hadhri * Mohamed El-Sayed ;1 own goal *

Osama Hawsawi Osama Hawsawi ( ar, أسامة هوساوي, born 31 March 1984) is a retired Saudi Arabian Association football, footballer who played as a central defender. After starting out at Al-Wehda, he went on to spend the vast majority of his career w ...

(playing against Iraq)

Team statistics

This table shows all team performance.

Prize money and awards

Prize money

The

football association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

s were given prize money for a fourth place and above finish in the competition in riyals. *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:

References

External links

Official Site

Gulf Cup website
{{Gulf Cup of Nations

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2013 in Asian football 2012–13 in Bahraini football 2012–13 in Omani football 2012–13 in Emirati football 2012–13 in Yemeni football 2012–13 in Saudi Arabian football 2012–13 in Kuwaiti football 2012–13 in Iraqi football 2012–13 in Qatari football Arabian Gulf Cup