2012 Arab Cup facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
2012 Arab Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Saudi Arabia
Dates	22 June – 6 July
Teams	11 (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 played	19
Goals scored	47 (2.47 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Yassine Salhi (6 goals)
Best player	Yassine Salhi
← 2009 (FIFA Arab Cup) 2021 →

The 2012 Arab Cup was the ninth time the Arab Cup football tournament was held. This competition brings together national football teams from Arab countries. It is organized by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).

Saudi Arabia hosted the tournament from June 22 to July 6, 2012. This was the second time Saudi Arabia welcomed the event. The first time was in 1985. This year, the Iraqi team returned after 25 years. Iraq is the most successful team in the Arab Cup, with four titles.

Tournament Prizes: What Teams Won

The main sponsor for the tournament was World Sport Group. This company helps manage sports events and media in Asia.

The team that won the tournament received $1 million USD. The second-place team got $600,000. The third-place team earned $300,000. All other teams that took part received $200,000 each.

Teams in the Tournament

Eleven teams played in the 2012 Arab Cup. They came from both Asia and Africa.

Participating Teams and Their History

Country	Football Group	Past Appearances
Bahrain	AFC	4 (1966, 1985, 1988, 2002)
Egypt (Olympic team)	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 means the team won the championship that year.

¹Libya was supposed to send their under-21 team. Instead, they sent their main national team.

Drawing the Teams into Groups

The official draw for the tournament happened on May 6, 2012. It took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 11 teams were ranked based on their FIFA World Rankings from May 2012 before the draw.

The teams were put into three groups. Each group had either three or four teams. The host country, Saudi Arabia, was automatically placed in Group A. The United Arab Emirates team pulled out of the competition after the groups were drawn.

Football Stadiums Used

The matches were played in two cities in Saudi Arabia. These cities were Jeddah and Ta’if.

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

Match Officials: The Referees

Referees from different countries were chosen to oversee the games. They made sure the rules were followed.

Main Referees

Group Stage Matches

The tournament started with a group stage. Teams played against others in their group. The best teams moved on to the next round.

Group A Summary

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saudi Arabia	2	1	1	0	6	2	+4	4
2	Kuwait	2	1	0	1	2	4	−2	3
3	[[Palestinian National Authority {{{altlink}}}|Palestinian National Authority]]	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	1

Group B Summary

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morocco A'	3	2	1	0	8	0	+8	7
2	Libya	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7
3	Yemen	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4	3
4	Bahrain	3	0	0	3	1	8	−7	0

Group C Summary

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iraq	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
2	Sudan	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	5
3	Egypt U23	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	2
4	Lebanon	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

Best Second-Place Team

The team that finished second in their group with the best record also moved to the semi-finals. Because Group A had only three teams, results against fourth-place teams were not counted for this ranking. The best second-place team played against the winner of Group A in the semi-finals. The winners of Group B and Group C played each other.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Libya	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4
2	Kuwait	2	1	0	1	2	4	−2	3
3	Sudan	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2

Knockout Stage: The Final Rounds

After the group stage, the remaining teams played in a knockout format. This means if a team lost, they were out of the tournament. The winners of the semi-finals played in the final match. The teams that lost in the semi-finals played for third place.

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

Semi-Final Matches

• On July 3, 2012, Saudi Arabia played against Libya. Libya won the match 2-0.
• Also on July 3, Morocco played against Iraq. Morocco won with a score of 2-1.

Third Place Play-off

• On July 5, 2012, Saudi Arabia and Iraq played for third place. Iraq won the match 1-0.

The Final Match

• The final game was on July 6, 2012, between Libya and Morocco. The score was 1-1 after extra time. Morocco won the championship after a penalty shootout, scoring 3-1.

Tournament Winners

2012 Arab Cup champions
Morocco First title

Morocco won the 2012 Arab Cup. This was their first time winning the tournament.

Tournament Statistics

Top Goal Scorers

A total of 47 goals were scored in 19 matches. 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 for Players

• Yassine Salhi was named the best player of the tournament. He was also the top scorer with 6 goals.

Team Performance Overview

This table shows how each team performed in the tournament.

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	[[Palestinian National Authority {{{altlink}}}|Palestinian National Authority]]	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)

Images for kids

• 

  A placeholder image for a stadium.

See also

In Spanish: Copa de Naciones Árabe 2012 para niños