21st Arabian Gulf Cup


The 21st Arabian Gulf Cup 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 were placed in Group A, Kuwait 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.
Pot
National Team
FIFA Ranking
A
115
A
112
B
80
B
95
C
101
C
113
D
116
D
157

Venues

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2013 Gulf Cup of Nations 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.

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
;2 goals
;1 goal
;1 own goal
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.
The following awards were given:
AwardPlayerPrize money
Fair Play Award200,000 Riyals
Top Scorer Abdulhadi Khamis
Ahmad Khalil		100,000 Riyals
Most Valuable player Omar Abdulrahman100,000 Riyals
Best Goalkeeper Noor Sabri100,000 Riyals