21st Arabian Gulf Cup

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
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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]

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
A	Kuwait (holders)	112
B	Iraq	80
B	Oman	95
C	Qatar	101
C	Saudi Arabia	113
D	United Arab Emirates	116
D	Yemen	157

Venues

Riffa	Isa Town
Bahrain National Stadium	Khalifa Sports City Stadium
Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 20,000

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

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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

6 January 2013