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).

The tournament was hosted by Saudi Arabia between 22 June and 6 July 2012. 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 24-year absence due to the Gulf War.

Prize money

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

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.

Teams

Participating

CountryConfederationPrevious appearances in tournament
BahrainAFC4 (1966, 1985, 1988, 2002)
EgyptCAF3 (1988, 1992, 1998)
IraqAFC4 (1964, 1966, 1985, 1988)
KuwaitAFC7 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2002)
LebanonAFC6 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1988, 1998, 2002)
LibyaCAF3 (1964, 1966, 1998)
MoroccoCAF2 (1998, 2002)
PalestineAFC3 (1966, 1992, 2002)
Saudi ArabiaAFC5 (1985, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2002)
SudanCAF2 (1998, 2002)
YemenAFC2 (1966, 2002)

Notes

Did not enter

Africa Algeria Comoros Djibouti Mauritania Somalia TunisiaAsia Jordan Oman Qatar Syria United Arab Emirates

Draw

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 potsNationFIFA Rankingas of May 2012
Pot ASaudi Arabia89
Libya39
Egypt55
Pot BMorocco62
Iraq70
Kuwait87
Pot CBahrain93
Sudan113
United Arab Emirates121
Pot DLebanon128
Palestine153
Yemen156

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

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

JeddahJeddahTa’ifTa’if
Prince Abdullah al-Faisal StadiumKing Fahd Stadium
Capacity: 20,000Capacity: 17,000

Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2012 Arab Cup.

Referees

Assistant referees

Squads

Group stage

Group A

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Saudi Arabia211062+44
Kuwait210124−23
Palestine201124−21
Saudi Arabia4–0Kuwait
Al-Sahlawi 22', 90+3' Al-Mehyani 51', 56'
Kuwait2–0Palestine
Khamis 27' Al-Rashidi 90+2'
Saudi Arabia2–2Palestine
Al-Ruwaili 9' Al-Zylaeei 85'Abu Saleh 45+1' (pen.) Al Amour 73'

Group B

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Morocco A'321080+87
Libya321052+37
Yemen310237−43
Bahrain300318−70
Morocco A'4–0Bahrain
El Bahri 17' Salhi 78' Al-Hayam 83' (o.g.) Benjelloun 90+'
Libya3–1Yemen
Saad 17' (pen.) Salama 53' Al-Ghuwail 89'Al-Sasi 69'
Bahrain0–2Yemen
Al-Selwi 53' (pen.) Baroies 65'
Libya0–0Morocco A'
Libya2–1Bahrain
Saad 71' (pen.) Al Ghanodi 74'Al-Khataal 38'
Yemen0–4Morocco A'
Salhi 10' (pen.), 48', 58', 63' (pen.)

Group C

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Iraq321042+27
Sudan312042+25
Egypt U23302134−12
Lebanon301214−31
Iraq1–0Lebanon
Karim 89'
Egypt U231–1Sudan
Magdi 38'Elamin 80'
Lebanon0–2Sudan
Ankba 55' Bashir 83'
Iraq2–1Egypt U23
Karim 49' Abdul-Zahra 75'Gomaa 45' (pen.)
Egypt U231–1Lebanon
Hamoudi 45+1' (pen.)Moghrabi 80'
Sudan1–1Iraq
Ahmed 9'Shakir 5'

Best placed runner-up

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.

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Libya211031+24
Kuwait210124−23
Sudan20202202

Knockout phase

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

Semi-finalsFinal
3 July – Jeddah
Saudi Arabia0
6 July – Jeddah
Libya2
Libya1 (1)
3 July – Jeddah
Morocco A' (pen.)1 (3)
Morocco A'2
Iraq1
Third place
5 July – Jeddah
Saudi Arabia0
Iraq1

Semi-finals

Saudi Arabia0–2Libya
Al-Sebaee 75' Saad 90+6' (pen.)
Morocco A'2–1Iraq
El Gharib 23' Salhi 28'Karim 90+6' (pen.)

Third place play-off

Saudi Arabia0–1Iraq
Abdul-Zahra 16'

Final

Libya1–1 (a.e.t.)Morocco A'
Al Badri 89'El Bahri 5'
Penalties
Al Badri Salama Al-Sbaai Al Ghanodi1–3Salhi Jahouh Abdessamad Gadoum Belmaalem

Winners

2012 Arab Cup champions
Morocco First title

Statistics

Goalscorers

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

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

Team statistics

Pos.TeamPldWDLPtsGFGAGD
1Morocco A'532011112+9
2Libya53201183+5
3Iraq53111064+2
4Saudi Arabia4112465+1
Eliminated in the group stage
5Kuwait2101324−2
6Sudan3120542+2
7Yemen3102337−4
8Egypt U233021234−1
9Palestine2011124−2
10Lebanon3012114−3
11Bahrain3003018−7
Total19(1)136(2)135147470

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

Broadcasting

TerritoryChannel
QatarBeIN Sports
Saudi ArabiaAl-Riyadiah