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.

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.

Venues

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. 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.

Squads

Group stage

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

Group A

Group B

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

Third place play-off

Final

Goalscorers

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

• Osama Hawsawi (playing against Iraq)

Team statistics

This table shows all team performance.

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.

• 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

1. Arabian Gulf Cup
2. 21st Arabian Gulf Cup squads
3. 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup
4. GCC Club Cup
5. 22nd Arabian Gulf Cup
6. Bahrain National Stadium
7. Ahmed Sadeq Al Khamri
8. Saudi Arabia national football team
9. Hind bint Maktoum Al Maktoum
10. Fawzi Bashir
11. 2013 Bahrain national football team results
12. Younis Mahmoud
13. Omar Abdulrahman
14. Yemen national football team
15. 2023 Basra International Stadium stampede
16. Frank Rijkaard
17. Saif Salman
18. Saudi Arabia
19. List of United Arab Emirates national football team managers
20. Iraq national football team