The 2012 Arab Cup (Arabic: كأس العرب 2012) was the ninth edition of the Arab Cup for national football teams affiliated with the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).

2012 Arab Cup
Tournament details
Host countrySaudi Arabia
Dates22 June – 6 July
Teams11 (from 2 confederations)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Morocco (1st title)
Runners-up Libya
Third place Iraq
Fourth place Saudi Arabia
Tournament statistics
Matches played19
Goals scored47 (2.47 per match)
Top scorer(s)Morocco Yassine Salhi
(6 goals)
Best player(s)Morocco Yassine Salhi
2009
(FIFA Arab Cup) 2021

The tournament was hosted by Saudi Arabia between 22 June and 6 July 2012.[1] It is the second time that the nation has hosted the tournament, the first being in 1985. This edition witnessed the return of Iraq – the most successful team and record holder of the Arab Cup with four titles – after a 25-year absence due to the Gulf War.

Prize money

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The tournament's lead sponsor was Singaporean company World Sport Group[2] who describe themselves as "Asia's leading sports marketing, media and event management company."[3]

The winner received USD$1million, the runner-up received $600,000, the third-placed team received $300,000, while the other participating football associations received $200,000 each.[4]

Teams

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Participating

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Country Confederation Previous appearances in tournament
  Bahrain AFC 4 (1966, 1985, 1988, 2002)
  Egypt (Olympic team)[5] CAF 3 (1988, 1992, 1998)
  Iraq AFC 4 (1964, 1966, 1985, 1988)
  Kuwait AFC 7 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2002)
  Lebanon AFC 6 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1988, 1998, 2002)
  Libya1 CAF 3 (1964, 1966, 1998)
  Morocco (Local team) CAF 2 (1998, 2002)
  Palestine AFC 3 (1966, 1992, 2002)
  Saudi Arabia AFC 5 (1985, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2002)
  Sudan CAF 2 (1998, 2002)
  Yemen AFC 2 (1966, 2002)
Bold indicates champion for that year
1Libya were due to send their under-21 team but instead sent its senior national team.[6][7]

Did not enter

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Draw

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The official draw was held on 6 May 2012 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The remaining 11 teams were ranked based on the FIFA World Rankings of May 2012 before the draw.

Seeding pots Nation FIFA Rankingas of May 2012
Pot A   Saudi Arabia 89
  Libya 39
  Egypt 55
Pot B   Morocco 62
  Iraq 70
  Kuwait 87
Pot C   Bahrain 93
  Sudan 113
  United Arab Emirates 121
Pot D   Lebanon 128
  Palestine 153
  Yemen 156

The United Arab Emirates withdrew from the competition after the group draw had been made; they were initially drawn into group A.[10]

It will be played as tournament with three groups made of four teams each. The organizer country, Saudi Arabia was assigned to Group A.

Venues

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Jeddah Ta’if
Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium King Fahd Stadium
Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 17,000
   

Match officials

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The following referees were chosen for the 2012 Arab Cup.

Referees

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Assistant referees

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  •   Abdelhak Etchiali
  •   Aziz Ali Hasan Al-Wadi
  •   Ayman Dagesh
  •   Sherif Saleh
  •   Ahmad Al-Ruwaili
  •   Fouad Al-Maghribi
  •   Bouazza Rouani
  •   Ramzan Al-Nuaimi
  •   Abdulaziz Al-Asmari
  •   Waleed Ali Ahmad
  •   Bechir Hassani
  •   Ahmed Mohammed Saeed Al-Shamisi
  •   Ahmed Qaid Saif

Squads

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Group stage

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Group A

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Saudi Arabia 2 1 1 0 6 2 +4 4
  Kuwait 2 1 0 1 2 4 −2 3
  Palestine 2 0 1 1 2 4 −2 1
Source: [citation needed]


Saudi Arabia  4–0  Kuwait
Al-Sahlawi   22', 90+3'
Al-Mehyani   51', 56'
Report

Kuwait  2–0  Palestine
Khamis   27'
Al-Rashidi   90+2'
Referee: Hamad Al-Sheikh (United Arab Emirates)

Saudi Arabia  2–2  Palestine
Al-Ruwaili   9'
Al-Zylaeei   85'
Report Abu Saleh   45+1' (pen.)
Al Amour   73'
Referee: Khalid Abdel Rahman (Sudan)

Group B

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Morocco A' 3 2 1 0 8 0 +8 7
  Libya 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3 7
  Yemen 3 1 0 2 3 7 −4 3
  Bahrain 3 0 0 3 1 8 −7 0
Source: [citation needed]


Morocco A'  4–0  Bahrain
El Bahri   17'
Salhi   78'
Al-Hayam   83' (o.g.)
Benjelloun   90+'
Libya  3–1  Yemen
Saad   17' (pen.)
Salama   53'
Al-Ghuwail   89'
Al-Sasi   69'
Referee: Suleiman Jaber (Jordan)

Bahrain  0–2  Yemen
Al-Selwi   53' (pen.)
Baroies   65'

Libya  2–1  Bahrain
Saad   71' (pen.)
Al Ghanodi   74'
Al-Khataal   38'
Referee: Hamad Al-Sheikh (UAE)
Yemen  0–4  Morocco A'
Salhi   10' (pen.), 48', 58', 63' (pen.)
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Amri (Saudi Arabia)

Group C

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Iraq 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7
  Sudan 3 1 2 0 4 2 +2 5
  Egypt U23 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2
  Lebanon 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
Source: [citation needed]


Iraq  1–0  Lebanon
Karim   89'
Referee: Rédouane Jiyed (Morocco)
Egypt U23  1–1  Sudan
Magdi   38' Elamin   80'
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Amri (Saudi Arabia)

Lebanon  0–2  Sudan
Ankba   55'
Bashir   83'
Referee: Suleiman Jaber (Jordan)
Iraq  2–1  Egypt U23
Karim   49'
Abdul-Zahra   75'
Gomaa   45' (pen.)

Egypt U23  1–1  Lebanon
Hamoudi   45+1' (pen.) Moghrabi   80'
Referee: Rédouane Jiyed (Morocco)
Sudan  1–1  Iraq
Ahmed   9' Shakir   5'

Best placed runner-up

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The team that finish highest of all group runners-up will also proceed to the semi-final stage. Due to Group A only having three teams in their group, results against teams finishing fourth will not be counted. The best runners-up will face the winner of group A in the semifinals while the winner of group B will face the winner of group C.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Libya 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 4
  Kuwait 2 1 0 1 2 4 −2 3
  Sudan 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 2
Source: [citation needed]

Knockout phase

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The semi-final winners proceed to the final and those who lost compete in the third place playoff.

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
3 July – Jeddah
 
 
  Saudi Arabia 0
 
6 July – Jeddah
 
  Libya 2
 
  Libya 1 (1)
 
3 July – Jeddah
 
  Morocco A' (pen.) 1 (3)
 
  Morocco A' 2
 
 
  Iraq 1
 
Third place
 
 
5 July – Jeddah
 
 
  Saudi Arabia 0
 
 
  Iraq 1

Semi-finals

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Saudi Arabia  0–2  Libya
Al-Sebaee   75'
Saad   90+6' (pen.)

Morocco A'  2–1  Iraq
El Gharib   23'
Salhi   28'
Karim   90+6' (pen.)

Third place play-off

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Saudi Arabia  0–1  Iraq
Report Abdul-Zahra   16'
Referee: Khalid Abdurrahman (Sudan)

Final

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Libya  1–1 (a.e.t.)  Morocco A'
Al Badri   89' El Bahri   5'
Penalties
Al Badri  
Salama  
Al-Sbaai  
Al Ghanodi  
1–3   Salhi
  Jahouh
  Abdessamad
  Gadoum
  Belmaalem

Winners

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 2012 Arab Cup champions 
 
Morocco

First title

[11]

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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There were 47 goals scored in 19 matches, for an average of 2.47 goals per match.

6 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Awards

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  •   Yassine Salhi – was named the player of the tournament, and was the top scorer of the tournament with a total of 6 goals.[12]

Team statistics

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Pos. Team Pld W D L Pts GF GA GD
1   Morocco A' 5 3 2 0 11 11 2 +9
2   Libya 5 3 2 0 11 8 3 +5
3   Iraq 5 3 1 1 10 6 4 +2
4   Saudi Arabia 4 1 1 2 4 6 5 +1
Eliminated in the group stage
5   Kuwait 2 1 0 1 3 2 4 −2
6   Sudan 3 1 2 0 5 4 2 +2
7   Yemen 3 1 0 2 3 3 7 −4
8   Egypt U23 3 0 2 1 2 3 4 −1
9   Palestine 2 0 1 1 1 2 4 −2
10   Lebanon 3 0 1 2 1 1 4 −3
11   Bahrain 3 0 0 3 0 1 8 −7
Total 19(1) 13 6(2) 13 51 47 47 0

Team(s) rendered in italics represent(s) the host nation(s). The competition's winning team is rendered in bold.
(1) – Total games lost not counted in total games played (total games lost = total games won)
(2) – Total number of games drawn (tied) for all teams = Total number of games drawn (tied) ÷ 2 (both teams involved)

Media

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Broadcasting

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Territory Channel
  Qatar BeIN Sports
  Saudi Arabia Al-Riyadiah

References

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  1. ^ الإتحاد المغربي يرفض مشاركة المنتخب في البطولة العربية بالمحترفين (in Arabic). kooora.com. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  2. ^ جوائز مالية محفزة للمنتخبات المشاركة في كأس العرب (in Arabic). Middle East Online. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  3. ^ "World Sports : About us". worldsportgroup.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  4. ^ مليون دولار للفائز بكأس العرب و200 ألف لكل منتخب مشارك (in Arabic). alyaum.net. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  5. ^ المنتخب الأوليمبى يشارك فى كأس العرب بجدة. EFA.com (in Arabic). Egyptian Football Association. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  6. ^ "9th Arab Cup: Easy Win for Libya Against Yemen". Tripoli Post. 24 June 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012. Contrary to expectations Libya fielded the national team instead of the Under 21 side and they proved much too strong for their opponents.
  7. ^ "9th Arab Cup: Libya in action against Yemen Saturday". Tripoli Post. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012. In Group B, Libya, which is scheduled to field its Under 21 team, has to contend with Yemen, its first opponents, Morocco and Bahrain.
  8. ^ الجزائر تعتذر عن المشاركة في بطولة كأس العرب للأمم (in Arabic). Al Jazeera Sport. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  9. ^ الأردن يعتذر عن المشاركة في كأس العرب (in Arabic). Al Jazeera Sport. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  10. ^ a b "UAE pulls out of Arab Cup of Nations after loss of players hits squad". The National. United Arab Emirates. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Morocco wins Arab Cup 2012 title". alarabiya.net. Al Arabia News. 7 July 2012. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  12. ^ "حصاد كأس العرب .. 47 هدفاً و اسود أطلس يعانقون اللقب للمرة الأولى". كووورة - أحمد التيمومي. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.